The
Cause
Vol.XII, No, 1 36th Regiment of Virginia Volunteers, Company A Jan. 1999
In this issue (Click on topic)
Once again, meeting begins new season
Greetings,
It's been a while since I have con-tributed anything to "The Cause" and it sorta feels like some kind of a reunion for me. Yet, I don't have a lot to contribute even now.
Annual meeting
Our annual meeting went very well, We had about 25 or so soldiers out drilling at all times and 30 or more there for the meeting plus quite a few ladies, kids, and other family members.
We ended up having food left over after another delicious meal with even more delicious deserts, In spite of the price for the camp going up we still have done OK, provided all of those who said you'd send me money soon do so. I have the utmost confidence in you, however.
Also, I wish to thank the ladies that worked nearly all day preparing our meal for us. I tend to shy away from actually mentioning names because I always forget someone, but I am thankful to you and I know the rest of the guys are, too.
Elsewhere you will see the list of new officers and NCOs as well as the events we have chosen for the com-ing year. We are little scarce on events due to the fact that we had not heard about many by the time of the meeting and due to one of the battalion events already being can-celed. However, we have plenty of time to work on that with all of the events we have beginning in March until our annual event at Buffalo in May. By then I think we will have our calendar pretty much worked out.
Thanks, old lieutenant
I have every amount of confidence in my staff, some veterans to the job and some new. But I want to take the space to express appreciation to Kevin Cade for the job he has done in the past couple of years as my junior officer. On many occasions he demonstrated his skill on and off the field whether it was drilling, leading the men into a fight, working out details for Carnifex, cooking a meal from his haversack, or editing the newsletter (which means writing most of it, copying it, and mailing it out.) For all of these things I greatly appreciate him.
Typically, when I lose a junior offi-cer it is due to a job change or some other event that totally takes him away from us. This time it was other reasons that brought about Kevin's rumor that he was caught with the Captain's wife after Carnifex is not true! ... (at least I don't think so) In any event, Kevin is still with us and assures us that he will continue to go above and beyond in his work for the 36th Virginia.
Thanks Kevin, for all the work you have done and will continue doing for me and for the unit. Lt. Bishop, I know you will do very well, but you do have a hard act to follow.
Well, other than a brief "State of the Unit" address, I will close for now. I will not be able to make it to the event at Hurricane, but will be at the St. Patrick's Day celebration in Huntington and at the Cultural Cen-ter. See you at one or both places.
Your obedient servant,
Capt. Wm. E. Fife
(Mike Sheets)
1st Leutenant's Report: Are you ready for this?
Notes from the Feb. 6 meeting of 36th Virginia Infantry, Co. A:
Inflation in a stable economy?
A discussion on the cost of the 4-H facility was opened. The cost of the building is rising yearly and will increase to $180 for next year's meeting. Ed Walker volunteered to check on the cost of Camp Virgil Tate as an alternauve sight for next year. Various members of the company volunteered possible sights but no sight was agreed upon at this time. The discussion will resume in May at the Buffalo event.
Bell's Rangers: Yada, yada yada
Lt. Eugene Bell sent a lengthy and articulate correspondence that mesmerized all who managed to stay awake for its reading. Jerry Trautwein read the aforementioned report with tongue-tied zeal. The aforementioned subgroup of the 36th Virginia was once again accepted without reservation. However, Lt. Bell is hereby ordered, under penalty of death, to stop torturing his thesaurus. We are, after all, a civilized community of gentlemen who are compelled in the interest of all ...
Company elections:
| Captain | Mike Sheets |
| Lieutenant | Dan Bishop |
| 1st Sergeant | Scott Williamson |
| 2nd Sergeant | Bob Frampton |
| Corporal | Ed Walker |
| Corporal | Rob Stoler |
| Corporal | Kevin Frampton |
| Corporal | Paul Frampton |
Living history events:
| March 13 | Charleston Cultural Center | Living history similar to what we did a couple years ago. Sheets will do his Boy George impression. |
| March 17 | Downtown Huntington - St. Patrick's Day celebration | Set up a display for recruiting purposes. Hic ... I swear occifer... really am Sean Finn. Really I am." |
| May 1-2 | Tamarack | Living history and James Robertson is going to speak about what a tragic figure Shelby Foote has become. |
| May 15-16 | Buffalo Academy | We will talk about all the stuff we didn't get to at this meeting and probably postpone it for another day (A meeting of Procrastinators Anonymous will follow.) |
| May 30 | Spring Hill Cemetery | Memorial Day Ceremony |
Battalion news:
The battal on bylaws were voted down posthaste in a proper manner by the ember of those who were doing 20th-century impressions in 19th-century clothing.
Reenactments:
| March 27-28 | Hurricane, WV | Not voted maximum effort, but everyone is going anyway, so show up for this non-maximum effort, maximum effort event. |
| April 10-11 | Marysville, Ohio | Battalion Spring Drill - This is a time for all us guys to get close to one another ... really, really, close .. really, really close .. Puh-lease bring toothbrush and paste (of course some of us just soak.) |
| Sept. 11-12 | Summersville, WV | Carnifex Ferry - This is our event. Even though some of those 49th guys are a little upset we didn't practice nepotism and award them the tactical last year, we do hope a few of them will show up. I mean, a Carnifex without the 49th is like Christmas without Santa Claus it's like the 4th of July without fireworks ... it's like ..... |
| Sept. 17-19 | Chickamauga, NW Georgia | Chickamauga - This one is big... really big... and the Confederates get to win. PS. We may have to galvanize. We have to stop being such good losers. |
Other events:
Rich Mountain (July 10) was proposed and tabled till Buffalo. Cookie also proposed Buffington Island (July 17)... also tabled. However, he didn't know when it was exactly and well ... we need that information. I suppose we could just reenact there every weekend and hope someone shows up sometime. Cookie will get back to us at Buffalo on this one.
That's all folks and as two of my favorite tragic figures, Bartles and James, would say, thank you for your support."
Lt. Dan Bishop
Dues are due !
Time to pay ddes for the 1999 reenactment year if you haven't done so already. Dues for this year are $15 per person for the year Each additional member in the same household needs to pay an additional $7.50. However, there is a $30 cap per household. It sure helps put with our bookkeeping if you pay your dues with a check. lt should be made out to The 36th Va. Infantry. Mail to: Mike Sheets, 1399 14th St., Huntington, WV 25701
State of the Unit
By Michael Sheets
If were to look at the activities of Company A, 36th Virginia Infantry from mid-September until December of the past year; I'd have to have some doubts about the unit. We had only three members attend a maximum-effort event only a few hours from our home. Then, not more than two thirds of what I had expected showed up at Guyandotte.
But, when I consider that in the summer we had just attended the largest and one of the most rigorous reenactments ever held, Gettysburg, and the stress of the very successful Carnifex Ferry event, I'd have to conclude that we were a little burnt out. But, even then the fear that things were slowly slipping away still lingered. Then came our annual meeting and drill. In short - I am pumped up again!
While we have a few nay-sayers out there and those who are convinced the unit has ceased to exist, I think our drill, the enthusiasm felt there, and the efficiency of our business meeting pretty much speaks for the "State of the Unit" with out much further comment needed. But, you know I will make a few more comments, of course.
Basically, my comments are more on what I want to be saying in the next such address. We do need to recruit. We have been very successful with that just since Carnifex, but we still need to bring in more people. I'd love to see 30 to 40 of us on the field together by the end of the year.
I want us to continue improving the "platoon/squad" work that we have begun.
I want us to use this year's Carnifex, since it should be a small event, to fine tune some of the rough areas.
Finally, we need to continue to search out a good supplier for our uniforms. We have run into some problems in that area this past year and that has fouled us up a little. However; I am sure that will work out.
So, to sum it up, THE STATE OF THE UNIT IS GOOD. It continues to be good, and I feel confident it will improve to be even better.
Platoon & squad assignments
The following assignments were made by the officers and NCOs after our company meeting. The purpose of this arrangement is to facilitate attendance and administrative work at events.
| 1st Platoon | Capt. Mike Sheets
1st Sgt. Scott Williamson |
2nd Platoon | 1st. Lt. Dan Bishop
2nd Sgt. Bobby Frampton |
|
| 1st Squad | CpI. Ed Walker
Mike Clarey Keith Drake Calib Frame Steve Frame Bob Long Josh Morris Terry Wass Tim Wass |
3rd Squad | CpI. Rob Stoler
Brett Hart Bob Ratchiff Steve Mace Ernie Page Randy Purcell Orange Quinn Adam Watson Scott Webb |
|
| 2nd Squad | Cpl. Kevin Frampton
Kevin Cade Jeff Cook Dwain Hamlin Dave Mercer Gary Price Dave Thompson Jason Williamson
|
4th Squad | Cpl. Paul Frampton
Mark Farnsworth J.R. Frampton Scott Jackson Jeremy Kennedy Dale Nelson Jerry Trautwein Ed Nutter Paul Skeens |
Other notes
E-mail additions and corrections
Ernie Page's e-mail address was incorrectly listed in last month's newsletter. It should be: Dixiwarior@aol.com
Terry and Marlene Wass can be reached at: tmwass@msn.com
Bob Long has a new address which is: b1ong3343@aol.com
On the air
Mike Sheets reports that he has been getting lots of inquiries on the WMUL radio program since many of us missed it. According to Sheets:
"lt was pretty decent. We made our bayonet charge to the music of "Last of the Mohicans," some of my favorite music. There was too much canned music for my taste and they over-played the phrase "See the Elephant," but again, that was the name of the program. Other than that, it was good. They will be sending me a copy of the program and I can make copies of it for those who are interested."