Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive |
Battle of Prairie DeAnne formally dedicatedBy Wendy LedbetterPublished Wednesday, May 30, 2007 in the Nevada County Picayune Let me take you back to the spring of 1864. Those were the words of David Sessor, curator of the Depot Museum, to those gathered for the dedication of a wayside sign commemorating the Battle of Prairie DeAnn. Sessor explained that the Civil War was underway and that Union forces had an eye toward capture of Shreveport - a major gateway for Southern river travel. As the Union Army left Little Rock in April of that year, their route was destined to take them through the area now known as Prescott. It was here that Union and Confederate troops clashed. The Union regiment decided their supplies were insufficient and turned their course toward Camden and - they hoped - a source of supplies. Though the Confederate Army was greatly outnumbered, the two forces tangled, first at Elkins Ferry and then at Prairie DeAnn. The battle is the reason for a new wayside sign on the grounds of the Moscow Cemetery. Moscow Church was active until 1989. Only a few years ago, a Moscow Association was revived to oversee the property. The property itself has a significant local history, other than as a battlefield. Historian and archivist Peggy Lloyd said Moscow Church and Cemetery is all that remains of an antebellum village that predates Prescott proper. Lloyd called the tombstones of the cemetery a roll call of the early settlers. According to Lloyd, the property was owned by Lavenders and there were merchants, businesses and homes, all active in the village. Then Prescott was formed and those business people moved to a location closer to the railroad. The cemetery remained a popular burial place for many more years, Lloyd said. Rev. Jerry Westmoreland said he was pastor at Moscow in the late 1960s. He said services were held one Sunday afternoon each month. Westmoreland recalled a particularly hot August Sunday and said the congregation decided to move the meeting outdoors under a shade tree. He said a wasp stung him on the neck and that a parishioner immediately offered up a wad of chewing tobacco as an antidote to the wasp poison. And I didnt miss a beat, he said. First United Methodist Pastor David Kassos invited those present to think back to a time before established churches when circuit preachers on horseback were a common practice. And then preachers became like me, Kassos said. Too fat to ride horses. Kassos urged the audience to remember the dedication of those who had fought, served and died in order to make life better for those who followed. The audience was made up of community members and third graders from Prescott Elementary School. One guest said shes especially pleased with the dedication and the sign. Carolyn Lavender Dodson, formerly of Prescott and currently of Hope, is a direct descendant of Thomas and Rebecca Lavender - former owners of the Moscow property. I love it, Dodson said. Im so proud of it. Search | Nevada County Picayune by date | Gurdon Times by date |
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