Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Fall Muster - Clay Shoot and Covered Dish Supper

Members and friends of the Dragoons of SCV Camp 1524 held their annual fall muster on Saturday October 28th with Philip Edwards and his wife hosting at their beautiful home.  His property allowed for a terrific range to shoot clays out from his back yard while those spectating could sit under the shade of his back porch and canopies erected to cover seating and tables of food.  It was a great turnout with around three dozen members of the camp and their significant others, families, friends and neighbors all enjoying a warm sunny late October day in south central Alabama.  Members in attendance included Commander Waldo with his family, 1st Lt Suttle, 2nd Lt Wade, Adjutant Sutherland, Treasurer Leverette, Color Sgt Dennis and his wife, Quartermaster Myrick, and compatriots Bill Branch and Dede, Rob Schwartz, Tyrone Crowley, Earl Edmundson, Todd Rogers and his son, Conner Blackmon, Dale Boyles and Darrell Haywood along with a number of invited guests and neighbors of the Edwards.  The ladies helped set up the food for a delicious supper which included camp stew, Conecuh sausage, jambalaya, hamburger tot casserole, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, black eyed peas and rice, corn casserole, and desserts including blueberry cobbler, cakes including Mrs. Myrick's yummy hummingbird cake, and banana pudding.  Earl even brought out some bacon wrapped pigeon breasts.  An abundance of delicious food.  Most took the opportunity to get in some clay shooting using two electric throwers Philip set up along with a couple hand throwers.  A range of shotguns including double barrel, pump and semi-automatic 12 gage, 20 gage, 28 gage, and 410 shotguns were all used to shoot clay pigeons and a couple rifles were brought out later to do some additional target shooting.  Enjoyable fellowship abounded for this shoot and supper at this edition of the Camp 1524 fall muster.  

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Final Seasonal Grounds Maintenance at Robinson Springs Cemetery

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Prattville Dragoons once again completed grounds maintenance work at historic Robinson Springs cemetery in Millbrook AL over the last week and a half.  The dry weather had slowed the growth of the grass and the coming cooler weather should make this the final effort for the season.  Brigade Commander Harold Grooms brought his riding mower to cut the large areas of the cemetery and the following day Quartermaster Bill Myrick mowed closer around the grave markers with a push mower.  A few days later, compatriot Rob Schwartz was able to get by with a weedeater to finish the trimming and blow off the grave markers as a finishing touch.  The Dragoons maintain these grounds as part of the SCV Guardian program to care for historic cemeteries where Confederate veterans are interred.  In addition veterans of other wars are buried here along with loved ones of many local families including those who helped establish this area which was known as Robinson Springs and is now a part of Millbrook AL.  

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 at the Autauga County Fair

Members of SCV Camp 1524 manned a booth at the Autauga County Fair this past week, greeting fair-goers every day the fair was open from Tuesday thru Saturday, October 10-14th.  Dragoon 2nd Lt Karl Wade led the effort getting the booth for the fair, signing up volunteers and, manning it himself every shift.  Karl was also there along with Commander Waldo, Adjutant Sutherland, Quartermaster Myrick and compatriot Jeff Potts for setup on Monday afternoon the day before the fair opened.  The Dragoons offered free mini-Battle flags, SCV coins and Alabama Division educational posters as well as candy for the kids.  They also offered for sale flags, tags, totes, wallets, ballcaps, and mugs all emblazoned with Confederate or other historic emblems with proceeds helping the camp's treasury for all the camp community activity expenditures.  But the chief purpose of the camp's booth was to provide an opportunity for members of the camp to meet and greet friends and neighbors as they passed by on their way to the midway.  Three or four members were at the booth at all times and in addition to selling merchandise, there were many opportunities to speak with folks about the Cause and the true history of the War for Southern Independence.  Workers included compatriots Rob Schwartz, Dale Boyles, Larry Miller, Brigade Commander Harold Grooms, Eric Davis, Todd Rogers, Darrell Haywood, Color Sgt John Dennis, Treasurer Billy Leverette, Tyrone Crowley, the camp's newest member Lee James, and others.  The Dragoons were warmly received throughout the length of the fair.  

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1624 Chaplain's Column for October 2023 - False Teachings

“He replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them.” ”

—Luke 21:8

Over the last few weeks we have heard alot about false teachings and prophets. Recently we have heard that Andy Stanley, son of the late Charles Stanley, and Pastor of the Atlanta megachurch, Northpoint Church, has held "conferences" to promote inclusion of the gay lifestyle  in church. Trying to wrap it in a "diversity" bow, Stanley has committed the error (sin) of changing the Word to conform to the world. The Church is to be the opposite. We are to be a bulwark against the pro-Sodomite and anti-religious sentiment of the world around us. Stanley is just one of many that I could list. But  this should not surprise us. The Bible has warned us of this for thousands of years. Jesus warned us of the false prophets. So did the Apostles Paul and Peter.

If we look at Revelation 13:11-18, we are given seven (7) signs of a false prophet. Some of those signs are that they promote the teachings of Satan, not God. Another is that he deceives people to follow false teachings. Those are just two but they can be applied to what we see in many Churches today. The "feel-good" philosophy of Joel Olsteen comes to mind. The "prosperity gospel" of Creflo Dollar to name another.

I am going to delve into this more in a future article, but I have included the musings of Pastor Greg Laurie, of Harvest Church, on his thoughts on false teachings and prophets:

"In the times in which we’re living, we should be aware of religious deception. Jesus said that in the last days, there would be an explosion of it, culminating in the appearance of the ultimate deceiver, the Antichrist.

We should look out for cults and groups who say they’re the way to God and that their leader, guru, or teacher is the Messiah. Today, in addition to relatively established cults, newer groups have sprung up. There has been a literal explosion of mysticism and spirituality in recent years.

But for the most part, it has not been a return to biblical Christianity. Rather, it has been a New Age mixture of everything under the umbrella of so-called spirituality.

People basically have a do-it-yourself divinity. They say things like, “I don’t believe in organized religion, but I am a very spiritual person. I draw a little from this belief and a little from that belief. It all will get us to Heaven or closer to God.”

However, the Bible tells us that in the last days, Satan will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. They will be condemned for not believing the truth.

We need to realize that whenever there is the genuine, there always will be the counterfeit. The devil is the great deceiver and the great counterfeiter. Jesus said of him, “He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44 NLT).

The devil is an expert at offering substitutes for the real thing, with enough truth to make it believable and enough error to destroy us.

That is why we must be students of Scripture. The Bible tells us to test the spirits to see if they’re really of God (see 1 John 4:1). We must stop believing the false teachings that come our way. Far too often, we in the church are gullible because we allow our feelings and emotions to direct us instead of looking at things through a biblical lens. We must learn to think biblically and compare everything to what the Bible teaches.

We also need to understand that all religions do not teach the same thing. To believe otherwise is to ignore what the Bible teaches. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT).

If you are a true Christian, then you must believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God."

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Commander's Column for October 2023 - A Weaponization of the Federal Government Agencies

 It is frightening to witness the weaponizing of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the federal Justice Department against those who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 elections.  Every day it seems new charges are brought against President Trump by state attorney generals installed by Soros to pursue these very tactics and lawsuits.  Dozens have now been imprisoned for attending rallies in Washington on January 6, 2021 supporting President Trump, calling for an investigation into voting irregularities and, entering the capital building.  Conflicting evidence shows people in a frenzy at the gates to the capital where Ashli Babbitt was shot while other tapes show an orderly procession of people seemingly touring the halls of the capital escorted by capitol police.  Subsequently, the FBI has executed arrests of many of these protestors who attended the rally including those who entered the capital building and some are facing many years incarceration under charges of insurrection.   The photos and videos of the arrests are alarming with heavily armed FBI agents swarming residents and places of business and handcuffing citizens as they lead them off to jail under questionable charges with secretive trials.  Calls for the release of all the tapes showing the capital building are ignored.  Evidence of federal agents acting as instigators in the rallies is ignored.  The mere grounds defining those rallying and protesting as mounting an insurrection seems ridiculous as the only people armed on January 6th were the capitol police.  These arrests and imprisonments should be frightening to American citizens believing in our First Amendment rights as these actions certainly seem to be an infringement of our rights to assemble and free speech by a weaponized federal bureau bent on protecting those in power including President Biden and his administration.  

These actions by an American President of course are not without precedent.  Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus and arrested dozens of political opponents as threats to his administration and to the federal government existence.  “On September 17, 1861, fully one third of the members of the Maryland General Assembly were arrested, due to federal concerns that the Assembly "would aid the anticipated rebel invasion and would attempt to take the state out of the Union."” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_in_the_American_Civil_War#:~:text=On%20September%2017%2C%201861%2C%20the,of%20the%20Union.%22%20Although%20previous)  Arrests for hypothetical possibilities.  Earlier in the spring of that year, “Baltimore Mayor Brown,the city council, the police commissioner, and the entire Board of Police were arrested and imprisoned at Fort McHenry without charges.”  Following the May Supreme Court ruling that the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus was unconstitutional and “Lincoln's dismissal of Chief Justice Taney's ruling (he) was criticized in a September 1861 editorial by Baltimore newspaper editor Frank Key Howard (Francis Scott Key's grandson), (and) Howard was himself arrested by order of Lincoln's Secretary of State Seward and held without trial. In all nine newspapers were shut down in Maryland by the federal government, and a dozen newspaper owners and editors like Howard were imprisoned without charges.”

Lincoln justified his actions saying “that the American people will, by means of military arrests during the rebellion, lose the right of public discussion, the liberty of speech and the press, the law of evidence, trail by jury, and Habeas Corpus, throughout the indefinite peaceful future”.  Something like 14,400 civilians were arrested by Lincoln during the lead up and course of the War for Southern Independence.  Lincoln moved the enforcement of these arrests from the State Department to the War Department in 1862 placing “the program always in the hands of persons who were firm believers in its necessity as a means of saving the Union” including Joseph Holt, judge advocate general.  The Merrick Garland of 1862 as it were.  It seems that Lincoln’s arrests were effective as there was little opposition to the enforcement measures, “Clement Vallandigham was the most famous politician in Dayton, Ohio, but his arrest in the night — despite a mysterious shrill whistled signal and three shots the victim fired into the air to alert friends — brought few people even curious to see what was happening. True, a mob the next night set fire to the offices of the local Republican newspaper, and one rioter was shot by a soldier while trying to cut a water hose in use to douse the fire, but the riot was quickly put down without loss of life. There were indignation meetings in most of the major cities of the North following Valiant Val's arrest, but this was orderly protest organized by politicians with some stake in preserving the system.”  This lackadaisical laissez faire attitude persists today in questioning authority even such overbearing use of prosecution threatening very individual freedom and liberty.  Lincoln’s arrests focused on Confederate citizens with a large percentage claiming Jefferson Davis as their President and those refusing an oath of loyalty.  A parallel could certainly be claimed that those jailed for the January 6th “insurrection” claim Trump as their President.  (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/idx/j/jala/2629860.0005.103/--lincoln-administration-and-arbitrary-arrests?rgn=main;view=fulltext )

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

Battle of Bibb Furnace Reenactment – Sat and Sun, Oct 7-8^th at Brierfield Ironworks Park

 

Autauga County Fair – Tuesday Oct 10^th thru Saturday, Oct 14^th , 5pm-10pm (noon-10pm Sat) at Autauga Cty Fairgrounds

 

Fall Muster – Saturday, October 28^th, 10am at Philip Edward’s place in Posey’s Crossroads

 

26^th Annual Bill Anthony Memorial Battle for the Armory – Fri-Sun, Nov 10-12^th on Rifle Range Road in Tallassee AL

 

Prattville Christmas Parade – Friday Dec 1^st starting at 7pm on Court St thru downtown Main Street, Prattville

 

Dragoons Christmas Social – Friday Dec 8^th starting at 6pm at Buena Vista mansion in Prattville

 

Salvation Army Red Kettle Bell Ringing – Saturday Dec 16^th from 9am-8pm at Winn Dixie, Prattville

Prattville Dragoons at the Alabama Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Yellowhammer Jammer

A great number of members of Camo 1524 attended the 1st Annual Yellowhammer Jammer sponsored by the Alabama Division SCV on Saturday September 30th at Confederate Memorial Park in Marbury AL.  Eleven members were there helping with the camp's booth and enjoying the festival.  They included Commander Waldo (whose wife dropped by also), 2nd Lt Karl Wade, Quartermaster Myrick, Treasurer Billy Leverette, Brigade Commander Harold Grooms, Color Sgt Dennis and his wife, and compatriots Darrell Haywood, Tyrone Crowley (and his wife), Rob Schwartz and a surprise when Wyatt Willis was spotted.  Also, Comms Ofc Doug Butler helped in the reenactment area showing what an encampment would have looked like during the War Between the States.  The camp set up a booth to sell camp stores to raise money for the National SCV Museum at Elm Springs and it was a good success with flags, totes, mugs, and license plates being sold.  There was an artillery battery with cannons firing salvos every so often.  There was a period encampment too setup by the Order of Confederate Rose where they demonstrated how to make cream butter.  The Children of the Confederacy had a booth and tables where kids could play cornhole beanie toss, hula hoops, balloons, and they even enjoyed a magic show put on by past-Commander Gary Carlisle.  There was even a hot dog eating contest.  Two camps offered food including boiled peanuts and beef jerky and the Division had a tent with lunch offerings of BBQ pork sandwiches and hot dogs with chips and sodas and another with popcorn and cotton candy.  The main attraction was a stage where a number of entertainers sang and played including former Division Commander Carl Jones plus Mutt Cooper, Brendan Young, Ally Knight and the Unreconstructed Band.  Former SCV Commander-in-Chief Chuck McMichael was the guest speaker.  The park chapel and museum and of course the veteran's cemeteries were also open to walk thru.  It was a very enjoyable day sitting under the shade of the canopy under the tall pines with the last warmth of the Alabama summer making for a wonderful day for all, young and old.