Dear Staff, officers and members of the Independent Guard Battalion,
Greetings! It finally looks like Spring will soon be upon us. I need to know who is planning on attending the Spotsylvania/Wilderness national event the first weekend of May. PACS is asking for a troop estimate. I know the 50 Va is planning on attending as well as the 5 Ky. If we have one more company we will be able to be our own Battalion. With just 2 companies we won't know until we arrive if we will be divided and put with another Battalion or have other co. fall in with us. Let me know soon.

I have another item of importance. This is the last year of my current term of office. With a good deal of  time spent in consideration and thought, I have decided to not run for Colonel of the Independent Guard Battalion at the elections to be held at Hartford City in October. This is my 35th year of re-enacting, and I need to re-charge my batteries. Three things have contributed to my decision. First, I will be 65 in June and my body is telling me to slow down. I am forcing it to do things that is taking me longer to recover from. My feet hurt constantly, my knees hurt most of the time. I am just falling apart and pushing myself is contributing to my deteriation. Secondly, my work is fortunately picking up which takes away time from Coloneling. Lastly, I think new blood is needed in the position of Colonel. I just don't have the time or energy to devote to the guidance of the Independent Guard Battalion, and it is suffering for that. I want the I.G.B. to continue on, and I don't want to drag it down. Those interested in running for any of the Colonel, Lt. Colonel and Major positions must inform the Adj. Lt. Porter 60 days before the elections, which would be end of July-1st of August.

I want this last year of my being Colonel to be a good one for all of you. I have been studying revising some of our Battalion movements and will try one or two of those as well as the normal ones at our Conner Prairie event in May. If I don't see you at the Wilderness 150th event, then I'll look forward to seeing you at Conner Prairie. I remain

your obedient servant,
Dave Julian, Col., Independent Guard Battalion

Dear staff, officers, members and friends of the Independent Guard Battalion,


Greetings! Just a reminder that this weekend is the event at Conner Prairie History Center. The weather looks like 50/50 for rain but warm weather. The event will go no matter what the weather. I plan to be on site by 2:00 pm Friday, and there will be an officers call at 9:00pm Friday night. There are a few things different to add variety to this year's activities. But you must show up to enjoy them. A reminder also that for each co. who has 10 or more men sign in at the registration desk, that co. will get a bounty of $30 mailed after the event, paid by Conner Prairie. Fall Creek Sutlery will be at C.P. in case you need last minute supplies. A quick reminder also that Spring Mill State Park will have a Civil War living History/skirmishes over the Memorial Day weekend as well as a Memorial service at the park cemetery on Monday for the veterans resting there. Then on June 7-9 there is a Civil war event at Rockome Gardens in Arcola, Ill., to take the place of Billie Creek. It is only 15 min. further west from Rockville, In. Lastly, has anyone seen a small package of cigars wrapped in paper? Seems that my messenger has lost it. Time to get ready to meet the yanks, boys. Until next Friday, I remain





your obedient servant,


Dave Julian, Col., Independent Guard Battalion

Dear Officers, staff, and members of the Independent Guard Battalion,


I wish to extend an invitation to all of you to attend a Civil War Event at Rockome Gardens in Arcola, Ill. It is located about 15 minutes west of Billie Creek, and is to be held on the old B.C. weekend of June 8-9. I know some of you have plenty of travel plans already made for the season. I have been invited to be Confederate Field Commander, and so wanted to include those of you who may not be going to the 150 events to come out and rout the Yankees in their own backyard. You can go to their website to get further information.


I remain

your obedient servant,


Dave Julian, Col., I.G.B.

Dear Staff, officers, members and friends of the Independent Guard Battalion,
As I write this, the sun is out and the snow is melting. The season will soon be upon us. Only 4 weeks until spring drill at Ft. Recovery! We have a few manuvers to practice that we will probably use at Gettysburg II, so if you cannot make it to Spring Drill, rest assured we will perform them at Conner Prairie and Reynoldsburg. I have officially been promoted to Brigadier General by Gen. G., to be in charge of 2-4 battalions. More information on that soon. What the headquarters needs now is a better head count of companies from the I.G.B. who will be attending Gettysburg II. I realize it is still a ways off, but that is what HQ has requested. So, co. officers, if you can send me an update of the number of troops you will have under your command, I would appreciate it. I will keep you informed of further developments such as how the scenarios will directly affect the IGB, where we will be camped, and other pertinent info. For those of Irish descent, Happy Early St. Patrick's Day! I will see you soon, and remain

your obedient servant,
Dave Julian, Col., Independent Guard Battalion

Dear officers, staff, members and friends of the Independent Guard Battalion,
Greetings from the snow fields.
On January 26 of this year, the winter meeting was held at Conner Prairie. There were troops and officers from 7 different companies of IGB members. The meeting was called to order at 1:00pm and Col. Julian made us all feel welcome and thanked us all for coming out on such a cold, wintry day.
First item to be discussed were safety issues of the past season. One incident was brought up that had the potential for disaster. A soldier who is not a regular but known to some of us was in a battle line but chose to pull a sidearm and advance on someone on the other side and fired at a very close range. Calm heads prevailed and tempers calmed down after a while. The solution is to make sure none of the men in the ranks have revolvers. They don't need them!  Only co.and battalion officers should be carrying sidearms, and if loaded show them to other battalion officers for inspection. We need to ensure that unauthorized use of sidearms does not occur.
Next up was the discussion of the 150th Anv. events the battalion should attend in 2013.  Chancellorsville was voted no. Gettysburg II is a yes. This is the GAC/PACS event. We have almost 40 signed up and I know of at least 2, maybe 3 other units who have told me they were going but not registered yet. Chickamauga for now is a no. Too many"not sures" to make the decision yes. I believe If two Companies would go then others from IGB member groups may want to go as well. I plan on going no matter what, just don't know who I will be.
We then discussed how many Max.Effort Battalion events there should be, and the consensus was to not have any more than 3 Max. Effort Battalion events. For 2013 those are Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Gettysburg II, and Hartford City, In.
Other events at which 2-4 companies will be in attendance are Spring Drill at Ft. Recovery, Ohio, Conner Prairie, In., Jackson, Mi., Caeser's Creek, Ohio, and Camp Allen, Ft. Wayne, In. All or part of the Battalion staff will be at these events. There are other local events at which member companies will attend, so keep in touch with your fellow IGB members and support them if possible. All event dates are posted on the new web site that the Major has designed, and can be found by going to the old web site and clicking on the link shown.
At the end of the meeting there was a general discussion about some co. didn't have enough members to go to the max events. That is one reason why the IGB exists, so you have member companies to fall in with and you won't be shunned by other groups. If anything, once they know that you belong to the IBG they may try to steal you away for the event! The assembly was given the order to break ranks at 3:30 pm.
These minutes presented by Col. Dave Julian, I.G.B.
This is what you missed if you could not attend the meeting. Keep the telegraph humming and keep your heads down. I will see most of you at Spring Drill. Until then, I remain
your obedient servant,
J. David Julian, Col., Independent Guard Battalion

Dear Staff, Officers, members and friends of the Independent Guard Battalion,

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas to you all!

The date for the Winter meeting has been set to be Jan. 26., 2013 at the Conner Prairie History Museum at 1:00pm Indianapolis time. Be prepared to ask questions about Gettysburg and Chickamauga, present other regional events to attend and discuss general subjects for the betterment of the I.G.B. We will also talk about the possibility of a winter battle at Spring Mill State Park in Southern Indiana in mid-Feb or early March. I also want to remind you that the Indianapolis Assembly Ball will be the last weekend of February, more info will be available at the meeting. Stay warm, and I remain

your obedient servant

Dave Julian, Col., I.G.B.

Dear Officers, Staff and Members of the Independent Guard Battalion,


Greetings! This weekend is the last scheduled event on the I.G.B. calendar. I know the numbers will be down as many of you at Perryville have informed me that you will not be able to attend. However, it does wrap up a great season for the I.G.B., and I will be there. The theme is Shiloh, and we have been asked to help set up the Sat. morning scenario where we overrun the yankee camp which will be set up in the field below the middle fence w/ the cabin. We need extra dog tents and or blankets to make it look good, and will gather them up right after the battle. For members in Ohio....I do not think I will be able to attend the conference in Columbus, Ohio put on by Bob Minton later this month. We need a representative of the IGB to go to it. I believe I know of at least 3 members who are going, so let me know for sure if we will be represented. It is not too early to be thinking about a location for spring drill next year. Think about it and telegraph your ideas to me. Just received a new dispatch that says yankees are descending upon Hartford City, so come up as quickly as you can. I remain


Your obedient servant,


Col. Dave Julian, I.G.B.

Perryville and Gettysburg Registration

Dear Officers, Staff and members of the I.G.B.


Greetings!


For those of you not present at Ft. Recovery last weekend, you missed a good time and after Friday night's storm the rest of the weekend was great. It has come to my attention that the Gettysburg registration online form is not clear about the battalion placement, just like Perryville. So, for each registration, where you put your unit name continue and place the Independent Guard Battalion name on that same line after your unit name. You only have until Sept. 15 to register for Perryville, and the fee for Gettysburg is $25 per person until Dec. 31, then it goes up. We are attending the GAC Gettysburg under Gen. Geusero and the PACS Brigade. Hope to see you at Perryville, and if not, then at Hartford City. I remain


your obedient servant,


J.D. Julian, Colonel, Independent Guard Battalion

2012 Annual Meeting Results

Dear Staff, Officers, members and friends of the Independent Guard Battalion,

Greetings!

This past weekend we attended the event at Jackson, Michigan and I believe all had a good time. Drill went as expected as the 4 companies present had not drilled together for a year, but were pulling together by the end of the weekend. The cost of travel and the 150th events had taken their toll on the regional events. The I.G.B. had a total of 49 troops take the field. Medich's Battalion, always large at this event, only had 65 take the field. The battles were unique as we had a 1st half and 2nd half to each days' battles. It was nice to have a break in the action and it did extend the time the spectators had to see the action as we had time to rest and re-group at half time. On Sunday we had our Annual Battalion Staff Elections. This year Colonel, Lt. Colonel and Major positions were up for election. The proposed slate was Dave Julian for Colonel, Duane Clark for Lt. Colonel, and Russ Judge (1st Tenn.) for Major. As per the battalion by-laws, these were the only people who submitted requests to run for staff positions by the end of July deadline. We had proxy votes from the 44th Tenn., 9th Ky, and 5th Ky. Present for the meeting were members representing 1st Tenn., 50th Vir, 12th South Car., and 14th South Car. The candidates were introduced and members given time to ask questions of the candidates. After a short time and no more questions asked, the Sgt. Major Len Kizer made a motion to accept the slate of officers as presented, 2nd by Capt. James Lemon of the 50th Vir. and all Co. voted yes.

Next on the agenda was short discussion about who was going to Antietam. One co., 5ky., is going to the one in which Gen. Gesuero (PACS) is in command, not the B/G Alliance. A few other battalion members are going to fall in with the 5th Ky.

We have also been asked by two organizations to fall in with them at 150th Gettysburg next year. Huckabee's Division asked us at Shiloh to register with them and the B/G Alliance. We have also been asked by the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee (GAC) of whom Gen. Gesuero and PACS are in charge. After debate it was decided that the battalion would go to Gettysburg with PACS, GAC and Gen. Gesuero. All present were in agreement that this would be the best choice for the battalion. With no other business, the meeting was adjourned and the Battalion went back to drilling. Have a safe Labor Day weekend and I'll see you at Ft. Recovery in 2 weeks. Lastly, I thank all of you for voting me to another 2 yr. term. It is still fun!!!!

I remain your obedient servant,

Dave Julian, Colonel, Independent Guard Battalion

ATTENTION REENACTORS, ARE WE LOSING OUR HOBBY?

by Warner Todd Huston

With the recent and widely panned, at least by reenactors, release of the "Unfinished Civil War" by the History Channel and with the several anti-Confederate moves made in the states of Wisconsin and Ohio as well as the greatly over reported and inflamed Confederate flag controversy in several southern states since 1999 It seems that we face a crisis of immediate and far reaching proportions in the hobby of Civil War reenacting today. Add to that litany of recent actions, several southern states are also banning the wearing of the Confederate flag in schools. And worse of all we are hearing rumors that the NAACP has decreed that Civil War reenacting is a "racist" endeavor. Add a generous dollop of Democrat lawmakers that want to make it harder or impossible to buy black powder firearms or own black powder and we have big troubles a commin'.

So what does this mean to we reenactors? After all, we are just putting on a pageant for the public, having a little fun and helping to further the remembrance of those fellows that came before us, right? Some might say that we have gotten a pass from the evil gaze of the radical left, as well as the far right ( Let us be sure of the definitions here... Radical Left: banners of anything having to do with the south, white people and history in general and Far Right; Those who wish to eliminate anything Not connected to the aforementioned). We have been left alone to carry on our little hobby, amuse the public and bring in a few dollars for our local governments, museums or favorite battlefield preservation society since the 1960's. That is quite a bit longer than "they" let us carry on in 1865.

But it is coming to crunch time, folks. If the current anti-reenacting trend continues it is not very hard to imagine that we might be legislated right out of a hobby or simply just "politically corrected" to the point where governments and museums feel it just isn't worth the protests they'll get to put an event on. Then what? We go to all private property? Will that really solve the problem? I cannot imagine that any government will lay off us whether we are on private property or not, if it goes that far. We are in the beginnings of a bad direction for the hobby, very bad.

So what have we done wrong, you ask? We have all lost a great chance to inform the public as to just what it is we are doing, I believe. For far too long we have neglected to talk to the public and our conversations with them for their edification is the key to informing the public that we are not neo-klan members, nuts or a danger to society. Only a slobbering Klan member wishes to return to the days of chattel slavery and the days of believing that "all men are created equal" has come into it's own to truly MEAN all men are created equal. Naturally, we do not uphold slavery and, therefore, we are not a band of Klan members bent on disrespecting the Nation's African Americans. This HAS to be reinforced amongst the public to thwart those who wish to whitewash all allusions to southern history and the civil war. We have taken our hobby for granted for too long.

Let me say here that slavery WAS a major cause of the Civil War. But so was the tariff issue, the principles of self-government and the right of secession. We cannot and should not try to divorce the war from the issue of slavery. However, we must teach the public that the attitude between whites and Negroes is quite different today than it was in the antebellum United States and absolutely cannot be judged by the same criteria. Few white people thought that the black man was in any way equal to the white man and this attitude was pervasive in the North as well as the South. Those who imagined that blacks could attain the same rights as a white were looked upon as kooks, rabble rousers and fools. These abolitionists were widely shunned by most people. Oberlin college, a hotbed of abolitionist sentiment and teachings in Ohio had many of it's students attacked in the streets by members of the public at large and were often looked upon as trouble makers locally. And that is just one small example.

Even many scientists had determined that the black man was the intellectual inferior to the white man in the 1800's and this idea was held as accurate by scientists thought out the world, not just the United States. We must remember that this attitude was not changed by the conclusion of the war, either. The horrendous Jim Crow laws that survived up until this century are a post civil war phenomena not a pre war one. The level of race hatred that rose throughout the south, a hatred that transformed the Ku Klux Klan from a political advocacy group to a hate group, was a result of failed Northern governmental policy and a festering assumption of white supremacy that resulted from the assurances of a bygone era. An era that the civil war tried to wipe out and only partially succeeded in so doing. The civil rights movement of the late 50's and the 1960's finally began to make things right in this country and we must look with pride on that uniquely American experience, as well.

Further, let us never forget, that the Klan was not a strictly southern plague. The Northern state of Indiana, for instance, had the largest gathering of Klan members in the early 1920's and has consistently had a larger membership for Klan organizations of any state in the union, ever. The state's governor, senators and states officials were in the pockets of the Klan for many years until a particularly powerful Klan kingpin was accused and convicted of the heinous rape of one of his female employees whom he persuaded to accompany him on a train trip for some extra money (She commited suicide on the train after the incident because of the horrendous attack prompting the investigation). Many of the Federal government's most stringent anti-Klan sanctions and statements were a result of the troubles in Indiana in the 1920's, not only in the civil war or even just post civil war south. Further, it is well known that many Northern states had Jim Crow like laws previous to and during the Civil War. Illinois, for one, did not allow blacks to own property, for instance.

So, what can we do? We TALK to the public at civil war events. Sure, many of us do this already, but can you truthfully say that we ALL do it as aggressively as we must? We teach the travails of the soldier, his longing for home, the privations that he endured, the bravery of his deeds and his love of his comrades and country. And we mention that,sadly, the African American was thought to be a lesser human in those days, by most white people North OR south. We should not dwell upon the point but we have to show the public that we are not in this as advocates of racism and we cannot slide by the subject without mentioning it at all, either. We must prove to the general public that we are historians, simply presenting history, with all it's blemishes and blotches. Not crazy nuts that seem out of step with good sense and Christian principles.We are Americans, proud of our history and trying to instill into the American public the same pride. We must not forget our history. We must not celebrate our past misdeeds lest we forget them and perpetrate them again, but we have to memorialize our forefathers lives and struggles for our American identities sake.

How should we go about confronting this issue? We should appoint at least one well informed member of our organization who has a rapport with the public to be the man who focuses attention upon the history we wish to preserve. First person characters are a great addition to the hobby but it does not work for the public unless it is clear to them exactly what is going on and why, so those elected to be the connection man between the reenactors and the public should not go into first person too often so that the public can identify with him. He should take EVERY opportunity to make presentations and have talks with those visiting our civil war encampments. Additionally, we must be sure that your "front man" is well informed about our history, not just the guy who blabs the best. Also, it is incumbent on each and every one of us to inform the public about the civil war, so we must not sit back and let the front man do all the talking, either.

This will be the key to our future in the hobby. If we cannot get the visiting public on our side we will end up on the loosing side of this battle. Benjamin Franklin was said to have remarked that the Founding Fathers had given us a republic if we could keep it. To keep it and our little slice of Americana we MUST exercise our duties as Americans and speak out. For the sake of our hobby and our history. We MUST not let it be taken away from us. To paraphrase good Mr. Franklin again, if we do not hang together with this we will surely hang separately.

Contact Warner Todd Huston with your response, criticism, or suggestions