Prattville Dragoons Camp Meeting for May 2023 - Celtic Confederates

The Dragoons of Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 held their monthly meeting on Thursday May 11th at the Masonic Lodge in Prattville.  Rob Schwartz entertained early arrivals playing his guitar and singing some good country ad period songs.  He also led everyone in the Invocation to start the meeting.  Color Sgt Dennis led everyone in the pledge to the US flag and salutes to the Confederate Battle Flag and Alabama state flag.  Commander Waldo then recited the SCV Charge.  Brigade Commander Grooms then swore in the remaining camp officer who was unable to attend the previous month's camp picnic, new 1st Lt Tyler Suttle.  Stuart then highlighted upcoming events including the Division Reunion and Forrest's Birthday Celebration at Ft. Dixie.  Everyone was encouraged to help at the camp's booth at the Cityfest which followed just two days after the meeting and to attend the Reunion as the business session is open to all members.  

The presenter for this camp meeting was Tyler Suttle who spoke on Celtic Confederates.  Following the Jacobite uprising, many Scots emigrated to America with the Appalachian mountains the destination for many of these settlers.  Tyler was wearing a kilt with his family's traditional tartan pattern but explained that there is no historic record of any Confederates wearing kilts into battle during the War Between the States; some Union dress uniforms consisted of tartan pants in some predominantly Scottish units.  Confederate General John B. Gordon who was shot and wounded nine times during the WBTS was a descendent of Scots from Aberdeenshire and his family had served in the British army including against Napoleon.  President Jefferson Davis' family hailed from Wales his 4th great grandfather emigrating from that area of Britain.  Generals J.E.B. Stuart and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson were of Scot-Irish ancestry.   Jackson's family emigrated to America following a penal sentence served on a Northern Ireland plantation.  

Many Irish American immigrants moved to North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland following the potato famine which struck Ireland earlier in the 19th century.  Irish fought on both sides during the War for Southern Independence.  Many were granted entry into the United States contingent on serving in the US Army during the War.  There were instances reported that Irish refused to fight in some skirmishes when they realized they were literally shooting their Irish brothers.  Confederate General Patrick Cleburne was born in Cork Ireland and served in the British Army.  He led Confederate troops at Chickamauga and Shiloh often at the front lines handing ammunition to his troops.  He was killed in 1864 at the Second Battle of Franklin (TN) with eleven bullet wounds.  Cleburne has the distinction of being the highest ranked foreign born Confederate officer.  Cleburne was among the first Confederates to endorse the emancipation of slaves for their service in the Confederate Army but this idea was rejected at the time.  He was famously quoted as saying, " It is said that slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all.  Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is not all our enemy are fighting for,  It is merely a pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties. Surrender means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the War; will be impressed by all influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision."    

Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Dragoons at Prattville's Cityfest

Members of the Prattville Dragoons manned a booth at the annual Cityfest on Main Street on Saturday May 13th setting up around 7am and staying all day til 4 o'clock in the afternoon, greeting passers-by, offering free mini-Battle flags and SCV coins and educational posters.   The camp also had mugs, car tags, ball caps, tote bags, and bandanas for sale.  The men had conversations with a number of interested fair-goers and one person actually provided a $100 donation to the camp for their ongoing Southern heritage work.  Quartermaster Bill Myrick helped setup and manned the booth all day long doing yeoman's work on a warm mid-May day in Prattville Alabama, especially on the asphalt on Main Street.  Commander Waldo and Adjutant Sutherland also helped Bill setup the canopy and tables and get ready for the opening and crowds arrival.  Compatriots Larry Miller and Tyrone Crowley helped early in the morning and Don Drasheff and Darrell Haywood arrived later in the morning.  Color Sgt John Dennis, Thomas Griffith and Rob Schwartz helped in the afternoon including breaking down the booth at the conclusion of the fair.  Thousands of people from Prattville and across the state of Alabama attend Cityfest so it is a tremendous opportunity for the Dragoons to greet their friends and neighbors and showcase the local Sons of Confederate Veterans camp and raise money for the camp's projects and initiatives. 

SCV Camp 1524 Dragoons Continue Ground Maintenance Work at Historic Robinson Springs Cemetery

AL Division SWC Brigade Commander Harold Grooms and compatriot Rob Schwartz worked at Robinson Springs Cemetery on Saturday May 13th to complete lawn maintenance there as part of the SCV Guardian Program to care for the final resting place of Confederate veterans.  The historic cemetery is also the gravesite of many of the area's founders and veterans of other wars.  Harold rode his lawn mower to cover the wider areas of the cemetery and Rob trimmed around the tombstones and grave markers to finish.  Rob also continued work to clean the headstones which he has done over the last year to make the headstones look brighter.  This was the May cemetery workday at Robinson Springs cemetery located in Millbrook AL; many other compatriots were working the booth at Prattville's Cityfest the same day these two men were working hard on the cemetery lawn here. 

Prattville Dragoons Chaplain's Column for May 2023 - They Did Not Understand

 

Luke 18:31-34

 

Can you imagine trying to explain to someone who lived in 1873, 150 years ago, that people would be using cell phones in the future to communicate. First of all, they did not even know what a telephone was much less a cell phone. Alexander Graham Bell didn’t get his first patent awarded for the telephone until 1876. AT & T wasn’t even formed until 1885. We did not have a phone in our house until the 1960’s. So, no matter how hard you tried to explain what a cell phone was, it would fall on deaf ears. They would not understand. It was way beyond even their imaginations. In 1870, having a telephone in your home was unimaginable, much less that people would one day be carrying a small device around with them and that they use it to talk to someone who was on the other side of the world, via satellites. What’s a satellite? What’s a computer? It is hard to believe that 150 years ago, these inventions did  not exist. So, trying to explain any of these inventions to someone who lived 150 years ago,  would be almost impossible. They would not understand. Well, 2000 years ago, Jesus tried to explain to His disciples that He was the Son of God, that He was going to die for the sins of mankind and three days later rise from the grave. He tried to explain this on three separate occasions and each time they did not understand. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record all three of the occasions. Luke records the last time Jesus tried to explain to the disciples what was going to take place, He was on His way to Jerusalem to die in Luke 18:31-33. READ Luke 18:31-33. On two previous occasions, Jesus had given them this same message and they did not understand. In Luke 9:18-22, we read of the first occasion. READ Luke 9:18-22. After telling them the first time, how did they respond? Matthew records Peter’s response in Matthew 16:22. Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Jesus. He did not want to hear these words that Jesus had spoken. Peter said, “Never Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Jesus responded harshly to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Peter was thinking of himself rather than Jesus what Jesus was trying to tell them. Jesus was doing His Father’s will and Peter wanted Jesus to stay with them. He certainly did not want Jesus to die. Right before this encounter with Jesus, Peter responded to a question that Jesus asked him. Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter believed that Jesus was the Son of God but he did not understand. The second time Jesus told the disciples about what would soon take place is recorded in Luke 9:44-45.  READ Luke 9:44-45. How did the disciples respond after the second time. Luke wrote that they began arguing over which one of them would be the greatest. Matthew 17:23 tells us that the disciples were filled with grief. Mark wrote that they did not understand what he meant but were afraid to ask him about it. So, after telling the disciples on three separate occasions that He was going to Jerusalem to die and be raised three days later, the disciples did not understand. You may be wondering why couldn’t they understand. These same disciples had seen the miracles Jesus performed time and time again. There are 37 miracles recorded in the Gospels. Luke 18:34 tells us that the disciples did not understand because its meaning was hidden from them and they did not know what he was talking about. The disciples walked with Jesus for three years and Jesus knew that they would not understand until they saw Him after He had risen from the grave. We realize this when we read what the Apostle John wrote in John 12:16 – “At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.” God doesn’t expect us to understand. He expects us to believe. We have the privilege of hindsight. The disciples did not. They were participants of prophesy being fulfilled. When they saw Jesus after He had risen from the grave everything that He told them and everything He did took on a new meaning. Their understanding became even more apparent when Jesus departed and the Holy Spirit came. In John 14:26, Jesus told the disciples “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Acts 1:8 Jesus told the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Acts 2 records the Holy Spirit filling the disciples. The disciples now understood. They became witnesses for Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  We are not always going to understand why God does what He does. Remember He doesn’t expect us to understand. He expects us to believe. The disciples did not understand what Jesus was telling them until after they had seen Him resurrected. They even began to understand more and more when the Holy Spirit came upon them. However, a lost person does not understand anything spiritually. Only when they put their faith and trust in Jesus for their salvation do they begin to understand, like scales being removed from their eyes. They become filled with the Holy Spirit who teaches, convicts, and guides them to a better understanding. As Christians, there will always be things or circumstances that we fail to understand but one day, all will be revealed to those who know Jesus Christ.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Commander's Column for May 2023 - Know the Truth of the Cause

My pastor had another sermon which struck a chord as very applicable to the Sons of Confederate Veterans Charge.  We are to defend the Confederate soldier's good name and guard his history.  The sermon was around 2 Kings 1:2-17 where Elijah was beckoned by King Ahaziah as having foretold his death for turning from God to consult with a god Baal-Zebub regarding recovery from his injuries.  

The sermon asked, “Where do you go for the truth?”  Over the past decade, the American public has learned not to trust the main stream media as they have proven to be agenda driven political puppets.  Fortune recently reported that half of Americans believe the media intentionally deceive their viewers (https://fortune.com/2023/02/15/trust-in-media-low-misinform-mislead-biased-republicans-democrats-poll-gallup/).  Gallup surveys showed only 34% of respondents trusted the media (https://news.gallup.com/poll/403166/americans-trust-media-remains-near-record-low.aspx ).  Meanwhile, trust in the public education system is plummeting with the attempt to indoctrinate children with Critical Race Theories and LGBQT+ agendas including requiring non-binary pronouns and sexualized elementary books in classrooms.    It is abundantly clear that the public school system has failed the American public and it began long ago with the patriotic revisionism of our history books.   Confederate General Patrick Cleburne stated, “Surrender means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy, that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; learn from Northern school books THEIR version of the war and taught to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects of derision.”  Indeed, it should be noted that the United States has never fought on the wrong side of any war, according to your children’s history books.  Just don’t follow the money. 

So when confronted with the uneducated bias of those who learned their history from these Northern school books and teachers, “How do you react?”  We are beseeched to do or duty and ensure that our children are taught true history.   We are in a struggle to counter the modern narrative of white privilege with our children even when the reality of affirmative action DE&I admissions, hiring, and promotions is an obvious proof of exception.    BLM activists seek to instill a Critical Race Theory curriculum in highs schools and colleges to revise history to suit their racist agenda.  Many are turning to home schooling and many more to private schools for their children’s education.  Our camp is active on social media but on those platforms, there are many who seek to instigate inflammatory attacks and besmirch the honor of our Confederate ancestors.  It is imperative that we take the offensive and the high road and consistently reiterate the truth of the Cause for which they fought, the real reasons for secession and the War for Southern Independence in debate which we hope will inform and persuade and affect our very communities even in legislation.

“Do you want to know the truth?”  The common derogatory insults spewed at us include our apparent defense of treasonous enslavers which they maintain proves our racist white supremacist bigotry.   These Twitter and Facebook historians possess unparalleled confirmation bias, looking for evidence and substantiation only to support what they already believe and were indoctrinated. They attempt to impose their woke presentism on us by ignoring or worse being ignorant of the pervasive racism of their heroes Lincoln and Sherman despite quotations cited supporting their own 19^th century views of white supremacy.  They ignore historical facts of the Causes of the Southern states’ secession and struggle for an independent Confederate States of America, the history of New England states’ secession movements,  the Morrill Tariff, Lincoln’s socialist ambitions to redistribute wealth to finance Northern industrialization and railroads, the Corwin Amendment, Lincoln’s first inaugural address stating he had no right or inclination to interfere with Southern institutions, the rejection of the Confederate’s Peace Delegation, the Emancipation Proclamation issued as a war measure which freed no slaves in any northern held states or territories,  the admission of West Virginia to the Union as a slave state, Lincoln’s attempts at recolonization of blacks to Africa and South America, the unconstitutional acts of Lincoln including the invasion of what he viewed to be states in rebellion and the suspension of habeas corpus, the war crimes perpetuated on the Southern populace and, the inalienable right of self-determination guaranteed by our very own Declaration of Independence.  Grant had the slaves, not Lee.  New Jersey had the slaves after Texas’ Juneteenth.  And more and more inconvenient truths. 

“Truth is truth”…whether you believe it or not.  Sometimes truth is ugly or uncomfortable.  There are no SCV members espousing a return to indentured servitude but, we shouldn’t deny the existence of the institution of slavery from which many Northern as well as Southern industries and families benefitted in the first two centuries of our nations founding and existence.   Property rights were constitutionally protected and Supreme Court rulings of the day reinforced those and fugitive slave laws.  But not-so-righteous abolitionists sought not to free slaves to empower them with equality and suffrage but as they implemented Northern Jim Crow laws forbidding them to reside in Northern states, prevent the spread of slavery to newly opened western territories, and encouraging freedmen recolonization, simply to instigate domestic violent uprisings and cause untenable poverty and cohabitation in the Southern states.   “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (NKJV)  “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” – John 8:32 (NKJV)  Seek the truth and proclaim it.

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

 

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

 

Dragoons May Camp Meeting – May 11^th  6pm, Masonic Lodge, Prattville AL  

 

Prattville Cityfest – the Dragoons booth on Main Street, Saturday May 13^th , Prattville AL

 

Battle of Cuba Station Reenactment – May 27-28, at Fort Gaines, Gainesville AL

 

Alabama Division Reunion – June 9-11^th , Athens AL

 

Ole Bedford’s 24^th Annual Birthday Celebration - July 29^th, 3pm with catfish supper at 6pm at Fort Dixie, Selma AL

SCV Camp 1524 Dragoons Attend Tallassee Armory Guards Confederate Memorial Day Program

The Alabama Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1921 Tallassee Armory Guards hosted a Confederate Memorial Day event on Saturday April 29th. The event was held at Camp 1921 Fort Talisi in downtown Tallassee and was to celebrate their monument park project there with the unveiling of a statue of General Thomas Stonewall Jackson. The plans include the addition of statues for General Robert E Lee, President Jefferson Davis and General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Fort Talisi serves as the meeting place for Camp 1921 and also has a museum and library there. Four Dragoons from SCV Camp 1524 were in attendance including First Lt Tyler Suttle, Quartermaster Bill Myrick, and compatriots Rob Schwartz and Tyrone Crowley. Tallassee Camp Commander Hughey opened the ceremonies with others speaking including the keynote speaker Grover Plunket. Dana Casey Jones presented a check on behalf of the First Capitol Flaggers towards future statues! Afterwards the ladies provided a delicious spread of snacks for all to enjoy inside Fort Talisi.

Prattville Dragoons at the UDC Confederate Memorial Day Event at Selma's Old Live Oak Cemetery

Four members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 attended the UDC Confederate Memorial Day event on Thursday April 27th at Selma's historic Old Live Oak cemetery.  The Confederate Memorial Circle there at Old Live Oak was refurbished by Friends of Forrest and was the location for the program.  The Circle is the final resting place for hundreds of Confederate veterans and was enhanced to it's impressive current condition with a cannon on pedestal, a President Jefferson Davis memorial chair, historic Confederate flags on display, commemorative pavers around walking paths and the monument pedestals and, a bust on pedestal of Gen. Forrest.  Quartermaster Myrick and compatriots Schwartz, Altieri and Paul Whaley were in attendance at the moving tribute which included everyone naming one of their Confederate ancestors and a bell was rung in their honor.  SCV Chaplain-in-Chief Gary Carlyle was the guest speaker and also led everyone in singing Southern songs including Dixie.  By all reports it was a terrific afternoon made a great success even more so by the afternoon thunderstorms staying away.