Upcoming Confederate Events Announced by the Prattville Dragoons

The following events were announced in the July Camp Dispatch:
July Camp Meeting, Thursday July 10 at 7pm, Shoney's in Prattville on Cobbs Ford Rd.  
 

Work Days at Indian Hills Cemetery.  Saturday 2 August and Saturday 16 August 2014, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  All Dragoons and our neighbors and friends are encouraged to come and help. From the junction of Highways 82 and 14 in west Prattville, go north (toward Tuscaloosa) on Highway 82 for two miles.  Turn left onto County Road 86.  Go 1.6 miles and you'll see Indian Hills Cemetery on your left.

N B Forrest Birthday at Ft Dixie - 12 July 2014, starting at 3 p.m.  Great Southern gathering featuring fried catfish and all the fixins.  Guest speaker and music. Takes place at “Fort Dixie” (Home of Butch & Pat Godwin) in Selma, Alabama.

Dixie Butt Distribution, 16 August 2014 - Dixie Butts will be exchanged for ticket stubs from 7-9 a.m. at Fatman's BBQ, at the Marathon Gas Station, Main Street and Memorial Drive in Prattville.  Tickets will be distributed beginning with our July meeting, and each member of the Dragoons will be asked to “Buy One and Sell One”.  This is our only fundraiser of the year, and the proceeds allow us to continue successfully to answer the SCV Charge.  A (very) limited number of butts are available for sale that morning at Fatmans but advanced orders are recommended.

SCV National Reunion - Charleston, South Carolina, 16-19 July 2014. For further information as it becomes available, go to http://www.scv.org

Dragoons in Prattville 4th of July Parade

SCV Camp 1524 participated in the Prattville 4th of July parade yesterday with an entry including two golf carts and five additional walkers.  Dragoons included Commander Stuart Waldo and son Forrest, Adjutant Wayne Sutherland and former Brigade Commander Bill Myrick.  Bill walked with his wife Peggy and threw candy to the children lining the entire parade route down Court Street, Main Street and Northington.  Stuart's entire family also participated including wife Kerri and her father and all the little ones who rode and threw candy and handed flags to the parade spectators.  3rd National Confederate mini flags were handed out and these again proved immensely popular with kids rushing the golf carts and all 250 flags were gone midway down Main Street as children and adults alike screamed for them.  Dave Thompson, former member of the SCV Semple Camp in Montgomery, and his wife also participated.  The golf carts were adorned with U.S. flags, Confederate Battle Flags and even a Bonnie Blue.  Kerri's father had music playing including Dixie accompanied by each U.S. military branch service songs.  The weather was wonderful in the morning during the parade with low humidity and temperature in the seventies, a welcome respite from the oppressive summer heat.  Another enjoyable parade with the Dragoons participating in a great community event and getting the Confederate Battle Flag out in front of our neighbors, following the Charge.

Prattville Dragoons, Friends and Family at the 4th of July Parade

Golf Carts with Flags

Selfie with Dragoons Parade Entry Midway Down Main Street

Adjutant Sutherland Carrying the Camp Banner

"12 April" - Book Promotion

Gary Cole of Bullard TX and a member of the General Joseph L. Hogg SCV Camp 972 in Rusk, Texas was promoting his recently published historical novel, 12 April. The attached summary provides a brief introduction to the book which is based on the life of Richard Wesley Cole, a private in the Confederate Army who rode with General Nathan Bedford Forrest during the war. Alabama Division and compatriots of The Prattville Dragoons Camp 1524 will enjoy the many references to General Forrest and Fayette County, Alabama. The book includes the Confederate military service of two Alabama soldiers and the dedication of the Confederate Monuments in Jasper and Fayette, Alabama. 12 April will be a welcome addition to each Compatriot's personal library.

Richard's story begins in Tuscaloosa County on the Alabama frontier during the early 1800's. The first chapter of the book references the War of 1812, the Creek Indian War, and the issues of States' Rights and the strict interpretation of the Constitution that emerged intact from the second war with Great Britain and ultimately divided the Nation. It discusses the division of the Mississippi Territory into the Alabama Territory and the State of Mississippi and Alabama's entry into the Union as the 22nd State. It tracks the growth of Alabama's population from 9,046 in 1810 and follows Richard's experiences common to growing up on the Alabama frontier, including a 100-plus mile trip to the U.S. General Land Office in Huntsville to Patent his forty acres of land. Chapter Two discusses Richard's weeks-long move from Fayette County in 1840 to the Mississippi frontier.

When the War Between the States came, Richard lived in Black Hawk, Mississippi. All of the issues of the era, including States' Rights, slavery, secession, and the brutality of the war and Reconstruction were experienced by Richard and his family and were common to the experiences of families in Alabama and the rest of the South.

"12 April" Front and Back Book Covers

Confederate Summer Travels

Prattville Dragoons Camp Commander Stuart Waldo was sure to bring his Confederate Battle Flag on his summer travels to proudly promote the Cause.His recent column in the Camp Dispatch implored camp members to similarly take their Battle Flags on their trips and share their photos - more to come.

Daytona International Speedway - FL

Flatbed Ford in Winslow AZ

Standin' on a Corner in Winslow AZ

Prattville Dragoons Newest Friend of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Member

SWC Brigade Commander David Brantley recently visited his father and surprised him with a Friend of SCV membership.  This entitles him to an Associate Membership to the SCV and Prattville Dragoons camp! This is a wonderful way to honor those friends and family who are compatriots sharing with us an understanding and appreciation of the Cause. 

Commander Brantley Presents his Father with his Friends of the SCV Certificate

Dragoons Attack Indian Hills Cemetery

A lot was accomplished at Indian Hills on Saturday June 7th, under the leadership of Dragoon Benny Harris and with lots of sweaty work by Dragoons.  1Lt Cmdr Harold Grooms set the example with his energetic, non-stop piling of wood on the burn pile, inspired by the memory of his uncle, who "showed him how" to work when Harold was a boy.  Our thanks go to Lt Cmdr Grooms, 2Lt Cmdr Chris Booth, Larry Spears, Wayne Sutherland, Tyrone Crowley and his brother Tom, and Allen Herrod for their part in the day's labors.

As mentioned before, this cemetery contains the graves of some Confederate soldiers, among them Lt A Y Smith who received the first Dragoon flag from Abigail Holt at the location of the Dragoons monuments back in April 1861.  Still a lot of work to do, but a terrific start to the restoration of the historic Indian Hills Cemetery.

From the Montgomery Advertiser of June 13, 2014 story written by Prattville Dragoons 1st Lt Harold Grooms -

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/progress/2014/06/13/dragoons-attack-indian-hills/10503795/

Dragoons attack Indian Hills

This time it wasn't with muskets and bayonets, but with chain saws, weed eaters, axes, etc.

The Prattville Dragoons Camp 1524, Sons of Confederate Veterans "attacked" Indian Hills Cemetery Saturday, June 7 in an effort to reclaim it from the carpetbagging and scalawagging kudzu and other "enemy" forces infesting the area.

Indian Hills serves as the final resting place of numerous Confederate veterans many of whom served in the ranks of the original Prattville Dragoons, the unit organized and equipped by Daniel Pratt. Lt.

A.Y. Smith who received the unit colors from Miss Abby Holt as the unit marched off to war is one of the many interred there.

While the battle is far from over, the first skirmish clearly belonged to us!

1st Lt Grooms Helping Light Brush Fire

Adjutant Wayne Sutherland Cleans Grave Site

2nd Lt Chris Booth Cleans Brush and Undergrowth

Comm Ofc Tyrone Crowley and Neighbor James Buckley Gather Debris

Allen Herrod with his Equipment at the Cemetery Cleanup

Project Leader Benny Harris with other Dragoons