| Dear Mr. President (Ira)
& Elf Associates, At the last event,
Chancellorsville, our unit was somewhat in the limelight having been the color company.
Overall our unit does a nice field impression. However, I would like to bring
to attention the things we need work on along with solutions to correct them.
1. Gaiters(black) - Chancellorsville was a 63' event. No
other unit in the NR was wearing them.
Solution: Leave
them home
2. Kepis - Among our ranks are a few
gift shop style kepis.Your lid tops off your impression. Our unit should be wearing the
1858 Regulation forage cap (see Echoes of glory, page 182 Enlisted Men's Headgear) for
examples.
Solution: Order
Recommendations -
1858 Reg. Forage Caps -
Dirty Billy, 7574 Middlesburg Rd., Detour,
Md.,21757, 410-775-1865
Greg Starbuck(also available through Levi Leadbetter) P.O. box 30948 Savanah Ga., 31410 -
919-897-1027
Brad Keune, 19 Pleasant St., Rockville, Conn. 06066 - 203-972-4022
Civilian Campaign Hats -
Tim Allen 1429 Becket Rd., Eldersburg, Md
21784 - 410-549-5145
3. Too Much Stuff - I saw knapsacks that
would have never made it beyond the Camp to Parking Lot distance. Along with furniture. We
need to think about carrying only what we would need when doing these types of events.
It's ok to have loads of stuff when doing garrison or a living history with permanent
camps(even that is questionable).
Solution: Knapsack and
Haversack Packing 101, The Watchdog Fall 1999. I handed this out at the company meeting
last January. Its very informative as to how and what to pack in order to be comfortable
and authentically correct.
These suggestions are only to benefit our
unit, which in the 80's & 90's was one of the more Authentic Federal units in hobby.
We need to uphold that reputation and keep up with our brother units in the NR.
V.P.Ertel |
