ALABAMA

Reported by Barry Wynn

Standing Lt to rt are;Corporal Jeff Snow,Lieutenant Bonzo Redmon,and Captain Pat McMurry.Kneeling Lt to Rt are;

Sergeant Barry Wynn,Sergeant Mike Lanford,and Lieutenant Howard Wallace.

Picture was taken in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery,Alabama

at the Monument honoring the Confederate dead.

1D Troopers Corporal Jeff Snowman Snow,Sergeant Barry Crockpot Wynn,and Sergeant Mike Jackal Lanford pose in

 front of the portrait of Confederate President Jefferson Davis at the State Archives in Montgomery,Alabama.

The 1D Mechanized Cavalry Heart Of Dixie Run for May 7th through 10th 2020 is set.We have some great rides and

events planned in the Mobile area.We have a great band and some great food for all who attend.

The motel will be the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Spanish Fort,Alabama.For reservations call 1 -251-370-1160

 and identify as SCV Mechanized Cavalry. The room cutoff date is April 16th.The rate is $99 per night for a king and $109

for a double .The host campground will be Ft Blakeley State Park.For everyone that's planning on camping at Ft. Blakley State Park

for the Heart of Dixie event from May 7 thru May 10 2020, you'll need to call 251-625- 2773 and reserve your spot.

All RV sites are pull thru with full hook ups....1 day deposit in advance....30 bucks a night or 175 for a week.

Y'all come down.We guarantee a great time!

1D Mechanized Cavalry had a great turn out and started off 2020 celebrating General Robert E Lee day at the "Cradle of the Confederacy"

 Montgomery,Alabama.Lt to rt kneeling is;Sergeant Snake Anderson,Sergeant Crockpot,Sergeant Jackal Lanford,Captain Pat McMurry,

and Tim Hobbs.Standing Lt to rt is;Sergeant John Tomlin,Lieutenant Johnny Charles,Lieutenant Duck Wallace,Lieutenant Bonzo Redmon,

Lieutenant Chop Atkins,Eddie Sullivan,James Shockley,Corporal Jeff Snow,and Corporal Don Owens.

1D Captain Pat McMurry gave greetings and welcome to all in attendance on behalf of 1D Mechanized Cavalry at the

Robert E Lee celebration in Montgomery,Alabama.We in 1D are proud of our Captain and the great job he does representing us all!

Sergeant Mike Jackal Lanford of 1D's North Central Platoon pays his respects at the gravesite of the great

Hank Williams in Montgomery, Alabama after the Lee celebration at the State Archives.

At the Capitol Oyster Bar in Montgomery,Alabama,1D Troopers and OCR Sisters

getting together for food and fellowship after a day of celebration.

1D Troopers Sergeant Mike Jackal Lanford and Corporal Jeff Snowman Snow with OCR Sister Shannon Lanford

observe the Confederate Artifacts at the Alabama State Archives History Museum.

1D's Corporal Ryan Preston of Southern Platoon proudly displays his ancestors flag as he

 celebrates General Robert E Lee's Birthday in Mobile,Alabama.

1D's First Sergeant and Northwest Platoon Trooper Johnny Hamby is shown receiving an award from State OCR President Lisa Green

 at their Lee Jackson Banquet in Haleyville,Alabama.This is an Annual event the Winston County Grays SCV Camp and

 Jenny Brooks Johnson OCR Camp put on every year and they always do a great job.

Sergeant Brian Snake Anderson,James Barnes,and Corporal Jeff Snow represented 1D's South Central and Central Platoons at

Eldridge Children's Home in Eldridge,Alabama.

1D Alabama and Alabama OCR support this cause and make a huge contribution every year for this event.

Here in 1D we appreciate and recognize the work our OCR Sisters do in support and help for the preservation of our

Confederate History and Heritage.Lt to rt are; Yvonne Russell, Lisa Wallace,and Shannon Lanford.Thank you ladies !

Lt to rt around the table are;North Central Platoon Sergeant Mike Jackal Lanford,SCV member Tristan Dunn,

Captain Pat McMurry, Central Platoons Corporal Jeff Snowman Snow,and Sergeant Barry Crockpot Wynn.In Birmingham,Alabama.

 OKLAHOMA

Reported by John Karlak (AKA) GHOST

HOLIDAY SPIRIT

1st Battalion Company F Oklahoma Mechanized Cavalry, made a run over the holiday on behalf of the entire 1st Battalion to the

John 3:16 mission in Tulsa to drop off $1000 worth of new blankets, sleeping bags, and other cold weather items.

 It was a great ride, and for a good cause.

OLD DOUGLAS WAS IN HIS COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Reported by John Polo (Cracker's webmaster)

SCV Kirby Smith Camp, Jacksonville FL - Overseas member

A few days ago I was talking with my son about "Old Douglas," a dromedary (one hump) camel, that came to serve with the

43rd Mississippi infantry during the Civil War. Also we were talking about the horses in the war, The Civil War is not normally called a horse's war,

 but it most certainly was: cavalry and artillery horses, draft and pack horses and mules.

My son Johnny Polo is  a student at the Archeology - Paleontology at the University in Seville (Spain), he looked at me with a smile on

his face and told me : "" It is, after all,  "Old Douglas", that was in his house, in his country, the horses had  suffered an extinction

 but  returned to USA, a single hypothesis posits that horses survived the ice age in North America, Equidae in North America ultimately

became extinct, but returned with te Spanish Conquistadores, The first horses to return to the American continent were 16 specifically

identified horses brought by Hernán Cortés in 1519. Subsequent explorers, such as Coronado and De Soto brought ever-larger numbers,

some from Spain and others from breeding establishments set up by the Spanish in the Caribbean.

Also  "Old Douglas" come home,  even though today Camels can only naturally be found in parts of Asia, the Middle East,

 and Africa, Camels are actually thought to have originated in the USA around 40 million years ago. 

 It’s thought that they migrated to Asia shortly before the last Ice Age, though there were still Camels in North America as recently

as 15,000 years ago before they became extinct in the Americas. The world's oldest camel fossil was found in Kansas, in the mid-1930s.,  

 for one reason or another, we can say  "Old Douglas", was in his country of origin. ""

Brief history of Old Douglas

It is not known how Douglas, a dromedary (one hump) camel, came to serve with the 43rd Mississippi infantry during

the Civil War. He was a gift to Colonel W. H. Moore, who assigned him to carry the instruments and knapsacks for the

 regimental band. Douglas participated in the Battles of Iuka and Corinth under Major Generals Sterling Price and Earl Van Dorn,

respectively, before being shot by a Union sharpshooter on June 27th, 1863, during the siege of Vicksburg.

Douglas was well loved by the humans of his regiment, less so by the horses. On one occasion, Douglas is said to have

spooked one of the horses into stampeding through a camp near Iuka, injuring horses and soldiers, possibly killing

some of the former. Soldiers climbed trees to get out of the path of destruction.

Douglas routinely broke free of his tether, but usually used his freedom to graze, never wandering too far from the regiment.

 On that fateful day in 1863, though, he wandered into no man’s land between the Union and Confederate armies, and paid the ultimate price.

United States Camel Corps

The United States Camel Corps was a mid-19th-century experiment by the United States Army in using camels as pack

animals in the Southwestern United States. While the camels proved to be hardy and well suited to travel through the region,

 the Army declined to adopt them for military use. The Civil War interfered with the experiment and it was eventually abandoned;

 the animals were sold at auction. In 1836, Major George H. Crosman, United States Army, who was convinced from his experiences in

the Indian wars in Florida  that camels would be useful as beasts of burden, encouraged the War Department to use camels for transportation.

 In 1848 or earlier, Major Henry C. Wayne conducted a more detailed study and recommended importation of camels to the

 War Department. Wayne's opinions agreed with those of then Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi.

Davis was unsuccessful until he was appointed as Secretary of War in 1853. When US forces were required to operate in arid and

desert regions, the President and Congress began to take the idea seriously. Newly appointed as Secretary of War by

President Franklin Pierce, Davis found the Army needed to improve transportation in the southwestern US, which he and most

 observers thought a great desert. In his annual report for 1854, Davis wrote, "I again invite attention to the advantages to be

anticipated from the use of camels and dromedaries for military and other purposes....

On March 3, 1855, the US Congress appropriated $30,000 for the project. In later years, Edward Fitzgerald Beale reportedly told his son, Truxtun, that

the idea of using camels came to him when he was exploring Death Valley with Kit Carson.

 Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, sympathized with Beale, and Beale persuaded his friend and kinsman Lieutenant David Dixon Porter to

apply for command of the expedition to acquire the camels.  The account is not supported by Beale's diaries or papers.

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