Once more into the breech! This year we’ll be starting with a bang. The annual meeting is in a couple of weeks and everyone should attend. Barring any ice storms and such, the date is set for February 24. It will be at the Ashcreek Community Building in Mechanicsville, VA. Please see the enclosed map. Contact your corporal, so that we can get a good head count for lunch prior to Feb 15. There will be the customary $10.00 cover charge for attending, this covers the cost or your lunch, coffee, drinks and the room. I was able to keep the cost down a little better this year and get the tables and chairs from the local Fire Station by asking, Mrs. Sins (our EMT). I hope to have them delivered on Friday night and we all will be setting them up just prior to the meeting Please plan to be there at 0945 and the meeting will start promptly at 1000, don’t be late! Here is the meeting agenda;

F Company, 21^st Virginia
Annual Membership Meeting Agenda
24 February 2000
0945 - 1630 hours

President/Captain – Ken Jones,
Vice President/1^st Lt. – Tony Turley,
Secretary/1^st Sgt. – Scott Wilson,
Treasure – Jack Alexander,
Member at Large – Joe Pearson.

Please remember any F Company member, in good standing, can be nominated for any position. If the membership approves this slate of officers, the appointed corporal positions will need some realignment. The military leadership of the company will make that decision after the meeting.

An example of a battle shirt will be on display for all to see and order at the annual meeting. This battle shirt is based on an original worn by a member of the 4^th Virginia. This shirt is worn over top your regular shirt. The estimated cost will be around $70.00 to company members, $100.00 for non company members. F Company members will take precedent to all others. Orders will be taken at the annual meeting to get a bulk order of the cloth needed for the battle shirt. If you are not able to attend the meeting and still want one you need to contact the 1^st Sgt. prior to the meeting. No orders will be taken without payment. The $70.00 should cover everything, cloth, piping, labor, buttons. If not, those that ordered one will be notified of the cost and be expected to pay this amount. Delivery will not occur until it is completely paid for. Checks will be made out to F Company, and once your check is received you will be place on the list, so save up your money. Orders after the February meeting may not be completed prior to the 1^st Manassas event. I have just found out that we may have another use for this shirt at South Mountain. They are cracking down on the impression guidelines for that event. A battle shirt would work out great for this 1862 event. Minor alterations to your current jacket could also be done by adding piping tape to various parts. We will discuss this more at the annual meeting.

Many of you may not know this but Mr. Courson and Mr. Pearson have volunteered to do the cooking at the COI. Much to their dismay, hominy is on the menu as a requirement. Since the company has a huge bag of hominy, I will not let it go to waste. Otherwise, be ready for a culinary delight prepared by the loving hands of these two gentlemen. The preparation, serving, and cleanup details will be still split up between all the membership, as always. Mr. Courson and Mr. Pearson will be very involved with the meals from start to finish.

Some other concepts that will be taught at the Camp of Instruction, for a lack of better description I am calling it "field crafts". Thanks to some of the veterans that have volunteered to teach these abilities. Also, so everyone is prepared, bring everything you own, there will be a full kit inspection for the veterans on Saturday morning. The recruits will be to busy drilling. We are checking to make sure that you have the required F Company uniform and equipment or are working on it and have a schedule to complete your equipment acquisition. See your member kit for required equipment or the attached checklist that will be used during the inspection. The next newsletter will be the one with all the information about the COI.

Mr. Ramsey will be selling books at the annual meeting. The company has also amassed some inventory for you to select from. I would suggest that if you need replace something in your equipment now is the time. For those that are still lacking a few things to complete their required F Company uniform and equipment, this is the time also. We will have all the equipment at the annual meeting for you to select from. Bring your checkbook if you would like to make some purchases.

Inventory on hand:

Cartridge Box                7 @ $100/ea
Cap Pouch                     6 @ $24/ea
Bayonet Scabbard        3 @ $40/ea
Cotton Socks                 36 @ $8/pr
F Co. T-shirt                  4 @ $10/ea
Sm. VA Button               24 @ $75/ea
Lg. VA Button               40 @ $1.25/ea
Script ‘I’ Button             24 @ $1.25/ea
Tin Canteen w/sling   3 @ $40/ea
Tin Plate                         5 @ $15/ea
Tin Cup                         5 @ $15/ea
Haversack                       2 @ $45/ea
Gray Blanket                 13 @ $25/ea
Shell Jacket (small)       1 @ $75/ea
10 pack .58 ammo         5 @ $10/ea
GA Frame Belt             1 @ $19/ea
Percussion Caps         11 @ $8.50/tin

If an item is not listed, there are none in inventory. Please contact Mr. Stafford for information concerning prices and availability of items.

Commander

1^st Sergeant’s Report

1. Upcoming Annual Membership Meeting (24 Feb 01) - Specific information on place and location of this meeting is contained elsewhere in the newsletter, so my point in commenting on this is for each and every member of the company to participate by both attending the meeting and contributing! Not only do you elect your officers and pick the 2001 schedule of events, but it is your opportunity to express your individual opinion about the direction, purpose, and management of the company. I told you in an earlier editorial concerning the national presidential election that every vote does count, and as we now know that is more than true!

2. Passing of Chuck Hillsman- On the 17th of December, my wife Jeanne and I had the sad duty of representing F Co. at the funeral of Chuck Hillsman at Amelia CH along w/another old F Co. member Phil Cavanaugh. Chuck has served since the 125th anniversary as a major commander in Confederate living history and his contributions will be terribly missed. He put forth a huge amount of leadership, hard work and good humor in helping to further the aims of this hobby. He has been called more than once the "last of the Southern gentlemen", and I always found that to be true w/Chuck. We become friends and comrades at the NPS Gettysburg park 125th celebration when he served as the regimental commander and I was the regimental SGM, and I for one will miss his congenial humor and smiling demeanor as will the entire CW living history community.

3. Final 1st Sergeant's Column- This is my final column as 1st Sergeant of F Co., 21st VA. Yes, I will miss being the 1st Sergeant, but the world moves on and as I discovered over thirty years ago in Vietnam, absolutely no one is irreplaceable! I will continue to soldier w/F Co, however, I need to start laying the groundwork for future employment as I prepare for retirement from the federal government so need to give up the demands of this position. My passing makes it imperative that you as members attend this upcoming annual membership meeting, so you can select a new First Sergeant/Secretary of the company, because this individual has duties both on and off the field that must be accomplished for the good of the membership. I have really enjoyed my 12 years of service as the company's senior NCO, and have appreciated more than a little bit all the assistance I have received from all the members of this company over that time.

This event is scheduled to be held Mar 17-18. It is held on the grounds of the Jamestown Heritage Park. In the judged living history you are competing against some of the best living history/demonstration units in the country.

Due to past incidents with some yahoo units, for the present time registration is limited to invited units only. There is a three to four year waiting list to get invited. The 41st has an invitation and I would be glad to add any one who wants to come. I will talk to Mr. Egnor about the registration package he received.

There are some nice things about the event. One is that you get all the firewood you would ever want to burn(Mr. Pearson). Of course a squirrel was perched on it a few minutes ago but still. They provide a meal Saturday night which is usually catered by one of the better restaurants in the area. Last year it was the Surrey house.

The event is very living history intensive. Depending on the weather (if nice) you can get 5 to 7 thousand visitors a day. The event is advertised nationally and some people come specifically to see it.

The event is judged. Units are not required to be judged but it is a good measure of how you stack up as living historians. A simple thing such as a price inside a period book written in ball point pen can be the difference between winning and losing. The 41st has done pretty well considering the small number of people we have had. We have taken quite a few overall firsts and other awards such as uniform or drill competition. In the past we have done scenarios such as militia recruiting, winter huts, behind the lines at Petersburg (no digging allowed) and our Virginia Military Timeline.

The unit would be required to do a demonstration on the field for the spectators. This event lasts no more than fifteen minutes and a lot of times its just some unit demonstration of how they fought. We have done things like early war vs. late war confederate or haversack/ knapsack demonstration.

Pvt. B. Gregory

This may be a very good event for us to come along with the members of the 41^st and get some living history experience at this national event. Also, it would be a good time to see other Military groups throughout the various timeframes. One thing not to be missed is Mr. Ward will be participating in this event with his WWII group. We will talk about it at the annual meeting, however, contact Mr. Gregory now if you would like to attend so we can see if there is any interest.

Mr. Ward will have a table at the annual meeting, where he will be selling items belonging to an old member, including:

Shell jackets, Trousers, F Co. Kepi, F Co. Militia Shako, Slouch hats (one Tim Allen flat top and one Stetson Beehive), Socks, Shirts, F Co. Knapsack, Boots from Missouri Boot and Shoe, Original gun tools, inkwells, etc., Plates, cups, etc., Cartridge Boxes, Cap Pouches, Belts, Hand made Scarf, and Sleeping Hat

Although all items are historically accurate and of the highest quality, not all are approved for F Co. usage (such as some jackets, trousers, etc.). Information will be available at the meeting from the uniform committee pertaining to these items.