It’s about that time again. It’s time to shake out the cobwebs and get in gear both figuratively and literally. It’s time to get ready for F Company’s Annual Meeting. It will be held on Saturday, February 20^th at the 1^st Sergeant’s church in Ashland. The meeting will get underway at 10:00am and we should be done by 2:00pm if not before. We will be going out to eat afterwards. This is our very important organizational meeting where we elect officers, determine our schedule for the year, and discuss other important company business. The company inventory will be there so you may purchase any needed items. Please make plans to be there. More information about the meeting and directions to the church are included in the 1^st Sergeant’s report. Anyone coming in from out of town on Friday night is welcome to stay at my place. You will have to put up with my parents but that should be no problem. I have done it for years!

Another date to keep in mind is one month later, March 20^th and 21^st. This is the weekend for our Camp of Instruction. It will of course be at Fort Harvie / Camp Pate. Rain Date is the following weekend, March 27^th and 28^th. Please make the appropriate plans to be there.

Well, that is it for now, short and to the point. I will see everyone at the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted,

Captain Turley

General Order 101-10:

Regarding: F Company Annual Meeting

To Whit: Uniform of the Day will be, F Company T-Shirts and Hats

Inspection of uniform will be made and group photograph taken

(Additional shirts and hats will be available)

By Order of Company Commander: Captain Turley

Gentlemen,

                    Our annual meeting is almost here. The season will begin before you know it. Please make sure you go through your gear to make sure everything is ready to go. The meeting will be on Saturday, February 20th at 10:00 A.M. at the Ashland Church of God in beautiful downtown Ashland, Va.. The address is 407 Myrtle St., Ashland, Va. 23005. Directions will follow in the newsletter. I will be arriving by 9:00 A.M. if at all possible to get set up. We will be covering a lot of material, so please be on time so we can get started on time. There will be time included to shop our inventory for needed items like powder and caps or other items you may wish to pick up. Please be prepared to pay dues and any money owed for missed events. For those members on the executive committee, we will be having that meeting on Friday, February 19th at 6:00 P.M. at the church also.

     We will attempt to go out to eat after the Saturday meeting. I will try to get something set up with a restaurant in town so they will be expecting us. I look forward to seeing everyone and to getting the season started.

Respectfully,

1st Sgt. Gammon

August 9, 1862 the men of the F Company became engaged in a desperate struggle for survival, they entered the engagement with 18 men and by the end of the day only 6 remained.

This engagement was the battle of Slaughter’s Mountain or Cedar Mountain, not to be confused with Cedar Creek. Slaughter’s Mountain is located near Culpeper VA on the Culpeper Orange Turnpike, as it was known then. John Worsham, a member of F Company and author of One of Jackson’s Foot Calvary, describes in great detail this engagement. For those of you who own this book, or have the ability to go online and read the account, I would strongly suggest it.

The conflict was a pre-cursor to Antietam or Sharpsburg and Lee’s 1^st invasion of Maryland. According to Worsham, by the time of Antietam only 2 men remained active in F Company and they were referred to as the "guerillas" of the 21^st. This is also one of the reasons that F Company was not present at Gettysburg the following year as they were sent back to Richmond and Camp Lee to refit and recruit and were not ready when the ANV which included the rest of the 21^st Virginia began the Gettysburg campaign. Worsham also states that the 21^st was awarded its battle flag for its actions at this battle.

We now fast forward to 2000 when the current battlefield site came under pressure by a developer and the then ACWPS put together an effort to save this site from development. I am proud to say, that the re-constituted F Company stepped up and the then members pledged $2000 toward the site preservation. This pledge was fulfilled and we specifically purchased acre #99 out of the 151 acres to be saved. Acre 99 was the location that the 21^st occupied during the engagement. I had the honor of walking the site before F Company made its pledge. The modern day road has been moved some 500 yards from the original, but I was able to follow the original road and imagine how, why and where the 21^st was positioned on that fateful day. The now, CWPT has since kept its promise making the site part of the Civil War Trails program. I am happy to report that they kept their promise as we kept ours and the site is complete. I had the pleasure to return to the site on August 1^st of 2009 and was able to follow the path, stand along the reconstructed fence and faced in that same awkward direction, looking up at Slaughter Mountain, just as the original F’ers must have. To see the plaque, read our names, see the tour sign that cites the 21^st by name on acre #99 was thrilling. After 23 years with F Company, I realized once again why I still do this. I thank all of you past and present who helped accomplish this very rewarding experience for me. I took several pictures of the site and have placed them on the web gallery. I would encourage you all to check them out. I would even suggest that we consider this site and the nearby Brandy Station as a possible muster event for next year. Thanks again to all those of you who serve.

Respectfully submitted,

Jack Alexander

Ashland Church of God

407 Myrtle Street

Ashland, VA. 23005

Take I-64 East toward RICHMOND

Merge onto I-295 South via EXIT 177 toward AIRPORT/WASHINGTON/NORFOLK

Take the I-95/US-1 exit, EXIT 43, toward RICHMOND/WASHINGTON

Take the US-1 North exit, EXIT 43C, on the LEFT toward ASHLAND

Merge onto I-95 North via the exit on the LEFT toward WASHINGTON

Merge onto VA-54 West via EXIT 92B toward ASHLAND

Turn LEFT onto US-1/South WASHINGTON HWY

Turn RIGHT onto MYRTLE ST

407 MYRTLE ST is on the LEFT

Take I-64 West toward WILLIAMSBURG/RICHMOND

Merge onto I-295 North via EXIT 200 toward WASHINGTON

Merge onto I-95 North via EXIT 43A on the LEFT toward WASHINGTON

Merge onto VA-54 West via EXIT 92B toward ASHLAND

Turn LEFT onto US-1/South WASHINGTON HWY

Turn RIGHT onto MYRTLE ST

407 MYRTLE ST is on the LEFT

Take I-95 South toward RICHMOND.

Merge onto VA-54 West /ENGLAND ST via EXIT 92 toward ASHLAND

Turn LEFT onto US-1/South WASHINGTON HWY

Turn RIGHT onto MYRTLE ST

407 MYRTLE ST is on the LEFT

Take I-95 North toward Richmond.

Merge onto VA-54 West via EXIT 92B toward ASHLAND

Turn LEFT onto US-1/South WASHINGTON HWY

Turn RIGHT onto MYRTLE ST

407 MYRTLE ST is on the LEFT