Colonel William Calloway
1st Louisiana Battalion (Retd.)

April 7, 1999

All Units, 1st Louisiana Battalion

Gentlemen,

I wish to thank you all for the opportunity of serving as your commander for the last seven years. It has been a pleasure and honor to lead the Brigade/Battalion since it's beginning until now. We have accomplished a great deal in these seven years, moving from a new organization of three units and about 80 members in 1992 to the current strength of ten units and over 300 members. We have greatly improved the quality of our local reenactments and have, in the last year, moved onto the National scene with formal recognition in the First Confederate Division. None of this would have been possible with out each of your support and encouragement.

A leader is only as good as his men and I have had the best. Louisiana and her Civil War veterans are rich in their honor and heritage and rightly deserve to be honored and remembered as Louisiana's by Louisiana's. While we have accomplished much, there is still much to do and we must remain ever mindful of the trust placed in us to carry on the memory of our ancestors. I trust you will support and encourage those who now are charged with leading you in the same exemplary fashion that you supported me, for they can only be as successful as their support, both on and off the field. Please, Gentlemen, keep Louisiana together, strong and moving forward.

In closing I know a little of how "they" felt when on the last day "it" was all over. Years of friendship and camaraderie through good times and bad, bad in a brief moment, come to an end and they stacked arms and went home. It is a very strange feeling. I will carry with me memories to last a last time. Memories of good friends gone and never seen again, of the spectacle of massed infantry lines a mile long and seventy gun cannon lines, of campfires, songs, freezing weather and burning heat, sweat, mud, dust, bugs, floods and most of all of the friendship that comes from sharing a common dream. For in the end, friendship is indeed the greatest gift we can give one another and I have been blessed with an abundance. Thus it is my duty to bid you all "an affectionate farewell". I thank you for the opportunities you have given me, for the many kindness' you have shown us and for the memories that will last a life time. We will miss you all, God Bless each of you and, Viva La Louizzanne!!!

I remain, as ever, most respectfully.

Your Obediant Servant,
Colonel Wm Calloway