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

Greetings! I will be so glad to have our battalion back in action. I am so tired of being with other re-enacting groups that seem to have forgotten the basic battalion formations at the 150th events. We will brush up on the fundamentals of battalion parade, left dress and who and where the sgts go during the basic moves of the battalion. I have seen all sorts of maneuvers by other battalions and scratch my head wondering what manual from which they got their interpretation. We will be doing 3 battles at H.C.,two on Sat for the 1st & 2nd days of G-burg and one on Sun. for the 3rd day of Gettysburg. Bring plenty of ammo. We will be doing some type of tactical Sunday morning, but earlier than usual as the yanks have invited us to participate in a memorial service for one of their members who recently passed away. This will be at 9 am on Sunday. We will be busy at Hartford City. Also, a reminder that if you are planning on attending Ft. Allen at Ft. Wayne, on the last weekend of this month, please register soon so they can get a head count for the free dinner for us on Sat. evening. Go to their web site (http://www.oldfortwayne.org/) to sign up. I will see you soon and I remain

your obedient servant,

Dave Julian, Colonel, I.G.B.

Excellent Job!

Dear Pards of 150th Gettysburg,


Greetings! I hope you have all made it safely home or to areas of comfort. I cannot thank you enough for letting me have the great time I had as Brig. Gen. It was a new learning experience for me, and a highlight of my re-enacting experiences. I was extremely proud to turn around at Picketts' Charge and see my boys of the I.G.B. behind me. You have all shown a great amount of respect for our forebearers who fought and died during the Civil War. I am pleased with every one of you. Please pass along my sentiments to your men. Have a great summer, and I'll see you at Jackson, Mi. towards the end of August, and the elections. I remain,


your obedient servant,


Dave Julian, Colonel, 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.