On Thursday evening September 9th, 26 members and friends of the Dragoons met at the Prattville Masonic Lodge for their monthly camp meeting. Compatriot Rob Schwartz opened the meeting playing his guitar and singing "I Sang Dixie". Chaplain Brantley then offered an Invocation and Color Sergeant Dennis led everyone in the pledge to the US flag and salutes to the Alabama state and Confederate Battle flags. Commander Waldo recited the SCV Charge and then provided information for upcoming events for the camp including the Dixie butt fundraiser distribution, the camp's booth at the Autauga County Fair, the Fall Muster clay shoot and BBQ, the Thanksgiving canned food drive and, the camp's donation for the defense of Florence (AL) "Eternal Vigil" Confederate monument.
Tyler Suttle was the guest speaker. Tyler was a member of the camp before moving away but has recently returned and is rejoining camp 1524. Tyler works for the Autauga Northern railroad as an engineer and shared his passion for rail history particularly around the War for Southern Independence. A fabulous slide show was presented which began by showing a photograph of the Union Pacific big boy locomotive and Tyler explained the nomenclature describing the construction of the giant steam engine, a 4-8-8-4 being a locomotive with a four wheel leading truck for stability, two sets of eight driving wheels and a four wheel trailing truck to support the firebox. The 4-4-0 was the primary locomotive design during the WBTS. This type didn't have brakes (although the cars did) and so they would glide to a stop or use reverse to stop. They burned wood for steam as coal came into use more in the 1880s. The Memphis-Charleston was the main east-west railroad line in the Southern states during the War but the South had relatively few railroads compared to the North which was a function of the industrialization of the regions. The more railroad lines provided an advantage to the North being able to transport large numbers of troops and goods quickly long distances. The North also standardized the gage (width) of the tracks where there were different lines in the South which required offloading the cargo and transporting it to other cars on the different tracks, a logistical issue. The Union army tried mounting cannons and mortars and guns to rail cars as new military weapons. Richmond, Savannah, Chattanooga, Memphis, Charleston, New Orleans and Atlanta were the primary rail hubs in the South with large yards for moving cars across the rail system. Atlanta was the second largest and hence was a target for Sherman in his campaign in 1864. Munitions were transported thru these rail hubs and often stored temporarily in round houses in the center of the yard from which the rail lines dispersed in different directions. Following the WBTS, the transcontinental railroad was constructed from Council Bluffs, Iowa and San Francisco, California by the Central and Union Pacific Railroads, meeting in Promontory, Utah in 1869, opening up the west to expansion and settlement.
Commander Waldo then closed the meeting and Chaplain Brantley sent everyone off with a Benediction. It was another enjoyable meeting and a number of members and friends were in attendance who had been unable to make meetings due to the COVID and other issues.
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