SCV License Plates Commemorating the Confederacy

As has been seen in the newspaper recently, with the Sesquicentennial upon us, SCV members and others in many states have been attempting to commemorate this significant and important milestone in history with vehicle license plates emblazoned with the SCV or Confederate emblems.  Some state legislators in their astounding and prejudiced ignorance continue to maintain that the Confederate Battle Flag is a symbol of hatred and oppression and should not be placed on these license plates.  A concerted effort by SCV members should be made to contact these politicians and demand that these plates honoring these true Confederate patriots and libertarians be made available.  Here is an open letter sent to one such vocal misinformed Florida Congress-woman. 
I read with disappointment your statements and position regarding the attempt by John Adams to have a Confederate Heritage license plate created and made available for purchase by Florida drivers for their personal automobiles. His and the federal judge's position that such plates are protected under freedom of speech is a Constitutional question for which you have no legal standing to object. Your ignorant objections on the grounds that you ignorantly believe that the Confederate battle flag stands for oppression and racism to ignorant people just exemplifies your ignorance. My ancestors fought for the Confederate States of America and I believe, thousands of informed educated Sons of Confederate Veterans members, and other potential Florida tourists similarly believe that the flags of the Confederate States of America including the Battle Flag were raised and carried by people defending their homeland against an unConstitutional invasion of aggressors attempting to force the Confederate States back into a Union from which they legally seceded. My forefathers who fought for the South were not slave owners and to infer that they would risk their lives to defend their neighbors legal right (upheld by the United States Supreme Court at that time in our history) to own slaves is preposterous. I can understand why blacks like yourselves who have not been otherwise educated to the true history of the War Between the States might believe that the Northern states attacked the South in a grand crusade to emancipate the slaves in the South but that would ignorantly ignore the historical facts of the period. Lincoln who has been exposed as the most tyrannical President in the history of our country but who the ignorant masses cling to as some mighty moral emancipator provides the following personal quotes to frame the root cause for the conflict - "Free them and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this." Or how about, "There is no right and ought to be no inclination in the people of the free States to enter into the slave States and interfere with the question of slavery at all." Or maybe, "It does not follow that social and political equality between whites and blacks must be incorporated because slavery must not." Hmm, let's try, "It is nothing but a miserable perversion of what I have said to assume that I have declared Missouri or any other slave State shall emancipate her slaves. I have proposed no such thing." Or from the Lincoln Memorial itself, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and it (is) not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it." Ah, so the Emancipation Proclamation was a ploy to gain political favor and advantage to continue the bloodiest war in our history. The War Between the States and the flags which flew over the Confederate lines on the battlefields of that terrible struggle represent a struggle of these Confederate States to uphold the soverign rights guaranteed them originally when joining the Union to secede as a final recourse against an over reaching overburdening federal government which had imposed unfair tariffs penalizing the South's economy and which refused to lose the South's wealth and income should those States secede. Follow the money - as Lincoln also said, "I say that we must not interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists because the constitution forbids it and the general welfare does not require us to do so." Ol' U.S.Grant was a slave owner. Robert E. Lee, not. Many in the South believed the institution to be morally repugnant but for those who profitted, they profitted for the good of Lincoln's pocket books and they were only product's of their time in history. Don't Monday morning or 21st century quarterback the morality of these God fearing righteous people who in actuality need only have referred to the Bible for historical justification of and blessing for the institution of slavery. Indeed, if you count yourself a Christian, you probably have these plantation owners to thank for instilling in your forebears these Christian principles. The institution of slavery was widely recognized and bound anyway to have run it's course in American history and would be replaced by the mechanized productivity of the industrial revolution within a few short decades so please don't ignorantly maintain that 600,000 people died in a struggle based on what amounts to a moot point. Please study your history and hopefully with an open mind you will discover that the true patriots and God fearing brave defenders of liberty and States Rights were the citizens of the Confederate States of America who proudly flew those banners including the Battle Flag. I am very proud of my given names and proud that my great great grandfathers fought alongside these great Confederate Cavalry officers and I will fly the Confederate Battle Flag from my home and on my vehicle's bumper whether it be on a license plate or on a sticker to proclaim my undying admiration for the honor and glory with which they were Confederate Veterans.
Regards, Stuart Forrest Waldo, SCV Camp 1524

Our Southern and Confederate Inheritance

Last Thursday's Prattville Dragoons monthly camp  meeting was exceptional.  After recognizing Junior and Elaine Surles for their donation of the beautiful Dragoons flag and Commander Chris Booth highlighting upcoming SCV events, Alabama 2nd Lt Commander Gary Carlyle led those gathered in two inspirational songs before delivering a truly inspirational message.  Gary called on us to never forget the ghosts of our ancestors and that we are heirs to their Confederacy.  We have the choice to either claim or sell our inheritance of the honor, valor, truth and glory with which they founded and defended the Confederate States of America.  He presented historical facts establishing the importance Southerners have had in the nation's history.  Jefferson and Madison, Southerners, authored the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  The most decorated soldiers in our country's history were Southerners.  The most significant battles and action of the Revolutionary War occurred on Southern soil.  Southerners have always demonstrated a strong Protestant work ethic, ingenuity and dedication which has proven to be the engine for agricultural and industrial productivity and economic prosperity. Southerners have always been a God fearing people, "clinging to their guns and Bibles" as has been interestingly stated by a current politician, contrasting with the secularism of the North.  It was these values which the freed slaves took forth after emancipation to become today the most successful, wealthiest, Christian "people of color" the world has seen.  And while no slaves were ever brought into this country by any member state of the CSA, wealthy Northerners profited from American Indian slavery and the African slave trade for centuries - the Revolutionary War was largely a war centered on slavery commerce and unrepresented British taxation of it.  A most interesting history lesson, on Southern "firsts" and "mostests" that are not taught in school.  Dragoon Tyler Suttle was so inspired by what he heard that at the end of Gary's talk Tyler got up and testified about his own Appalachian heritage.  Here are a couple of photos from the camp meeting.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Monthly Meeting

The monthly camp meeting for the Prattville Dragoons will be held on Thursday at the Shoney's on Cobbs Ford Road near I-65 in Prattville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  Dinner for those who come hungry is available off the menu or the Shoney's bar starting around 6pm and the program starts at 7pm.  The agenda will include welcome of guests and reminders for the upcoming Alabama Division Reunion May 21st as well as the National Convention in Montgomery in July.   The program will also include recognition of the wonderful recent donation of the Prattville Dragoons flag by Junior and Elaine Surles as well as a guest speaker.  We invite you to attend for an evening of comradery.

Dragoons at the Prattville Cityfest

The Prattville Dragoons manned their booth at the Cityfest thru afternoon temperatures in the upper 80s but it was a good day.  Dragoons who helped on Friday and/or Saturday or stopped by to lend support included Wayne Sutherland, Tom Snowden, Stuart Waldo, Tyrone Crowley, Bill Myrick, Harold Grooms, Karl Wade, Wyatt Willis, Larry Miller, and Tyler Suttle.  Over a dozen people signed the sheet requesting further information about the camp and the Sons of Confederate Veterans - prospective members.  Interest is high right now certainly due in part to a recognition that we are celebrating the Sesquicentennial of the founding of the Confederate States of America and the War for Southern Independence.  The Communications Officer has emailed each of these folks and is inviting them to our monthly camp meeting at Shoney's and we need to encourage them and make them feel welcome as they definitely are.  Literature, CDs and posters were made available to anyone who was interested and many certainly were.  Many small battle flags were also handed out to children and other Cityfest attendees and it was great seeing these waving in the breeze on Main Street of downtown Prattville.  Below are some photographs from the Cityfest.

Visit the Prattville Dragoons at the Prattville Cityfest

Saturday, May 7th members of the SCV Camp 1524 Prattville Dragoons will be manning a booth at the Prattville Cityfest.  The booth is number 86 on Main Street and is just a half block down from the Prattaugan Museum at 102 E. Main.  The museum features Daniel Pratt memorabilia, local family history, Civil War room, county artifacts, and genealogy information.  The historical marker in the front yard facing Main St provides a history of this home on the National Register of Historic Places.  In the front parlor, the Prattville Dragoons were organized.  Come to downtown Prattville, see the Prattaugan Museum and peruse the Cityfest vendor booths including the Dragoon's where you can pick up information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the camp.  Should be a beautiful warm sunny Alabama May day. 

Prattville Dragoons 1861 Departure Reenactment

Confederate Memorial Day, Monday April 25, members of the SCV Camp 1524 Prattville Dragoons conducted a memorial laying of a wreath at the monuments at Fourth and Washington Streets in Prattville; placement was made by Quartermaster Jeffrey Potts and Brigade Commander Bill Myrick. It was a well performed and well attended event with exceptional reenactment performances by SCV members including Tyrone Crowley playing the part of Daniel Pratt as well as school children from Prattville Christian Academy. Invocations and Benedictions were offered by Chaplain Tom Snowden, welcome remarks were provided by Commander Chris Booth, 1st Lt. Commander Harold Grooms, 2nd Lt. Commander Stuart Waldo and Brigade Commander Bill Myrick.  After the reenactment of Daniel Pratt's address and the presentation of the Dragoons flag, the program concluded with a rousing rendition of Dixie led by Chaplain Snowden and 1st Lt. Grooms.  The following is an excerpt from the Prattville Progress which provided coverage for the event. 

Local SCV group re-enacts 1861 Civil War sendoff

Members of Prattville Dragoons, Camp 1524 of the Alabama Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans, gathered with members of other SCV camps Monday to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the departure by the first local troops to join Confederate forces.
The sesquicentennial ceremony included a re-enactment of the presentation by ladies of the former Prattville Male and Female Academy, where Prattville Primary School now stands, of the flag the local troops carried into battle. It also included an improvised version of the speech likely made to the gray-clad soldiers by Daniel Pratt.
Monday's re-enactment and series of short speeches, which was attended by about 100 people at the site of the monuments to the CSA troops, also served as the local celebration of Confederate Memorial Day, an official state holiday.

and some photos from the event:

Tragedy in Alabama

Wednesday April 27th, 2011 will be a day long remembered in Alabama as a day of tragedy as fierce storms spawned tornadoes causing massive damage and loss of life.  Current estimates place the number of dead well over 200 in the state of Alabama and neighboring states totaled approximately 100 additional as the storm system moved thru the South.  Many citizens of Alabama were either immediately affected or had friends or relatives who either experienced this devestation or, tragically, loss of loved ones.  The following is an excerpt from the SCV Alabama Division Commander:

Gentlemen,

Yesterday and last night was harrowing for many in Alabama. Many of our brothers were in the thick of the bad weather. Please keep them and their families in your hearts and prayers.
 
I am most concerned about our members in the Pleasant Grove and Tuscaloosa areas, but these were just the worst hit. There is quite a bit of
incidental damage all across the northern half of the state. When your house or family are hurt, it does not matter to you if you were not in a large disaster area, it is still a disaster to you.

May God be with you all, and with our members in travail.

Sincerely,

Robert Reames
Alabama Division Commander
Sons of Confederate Veterans.