New Page 1

Article I - Statement and Purpose

The Confederate Brigade of the reenactors of the American Civil War, in order to present the lives of the men and women from the Confederate States of America do hereby establish these bylaws to facilitate the above mentioned purpose. These bylaws replace in full any former rules, regulations, and manuals specific to the operation of the Confederate Brigade of the RACW. These bylaws are superseded by the bylaws of the RACW, local, state and federal laws and the Constitution of the United States.

Article II - Brigade Officers and Organization

Section 1 - Brigade Staff

1. The Confederate Brigade officials shall consist of:

A. Brigade Commander

B. Chief of Staff

C. Brigade Sergeant Major

D. Provost Marshal

E. Brigade Clerk

F. Brigade Treasurer.

G. The Company Commander from each Unit

2. Other members may be added to the Brigade staff with the amendment of these articles by the Brigade.

3. The Brigade Commander is responsible to consult with all unit commanders regarding any expenditure of funds that shall exceed more than $50 or 20%, whichever is greater, of the available monies in the Brigade Bank account should one be established.

4. All candidates for offices within the Brigade must be members in good standing of the RACW for at least one year up to the time of his candidacy.

Article III - Duties and responsibilities of the Brigade Staff

Section 1 - Brigade Commander

1. Plan and implement all Brigade activities for RACW sponsored events.

2. Coordinate battlefield reenactment scenarios the respective RACW Brigade Commander's counter part.

3. Act as the Brigade's liaison at events with the Administrative Board representatives and the event coordinator.

4. Between events and throughout the year, the Brigade Commander is the representative to the Board of Directors from the Brigade.

5. Coordinate Brigade activities with the Board of Directors, event coordinator or event committee.

6. Principle spokesperson for the Brigade.

7. Enforce the rules and regulations of the RACW. and support the decisions and directives from the Board of Directors.

8. Communicate with such Brigade Commander's RACW. counterpart in a manner to maintain friendly relations between Brigades

9. The Brigade Commander is ultimately responsible for all that occurs within the Brigade.

10. The rank of the RACW. Brigade Commander shall be that of Lieutenant Colonel except in certain scenarios that the Board of Directors may dictate the need for a higher rank or until changed by amendment to the RACW bylaws.

Section 2 - Chief of Staff

1. The position of Chief of Staff shall be an elected term of one year.

2. The Chief of Staff may also be the commander of an existing unit within the RACW Confederate Brigade and will not relinquish his duties of said unit.

3. The Chief of Staff will assume the role of the Brigade Commander in battle scenarios that the Brigade Commander 'dies’ ,and will lead the Brigade in the absence of the Brigade Commander.

4. The rank of the Chief of Staff shall hold rank equaling the highest ranking unit commander.

5. The Chief of Staff will perform any other such duties as delegated by the Brigade Commander.

Section 3 - Brigade Sergeant Major

1. The Brigade Sergeant Major will be elected by the Brigade.

2. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

3. Ensuring that proper military decorum is observed by all NCOs and enlisted at Brigade headquarters.

4. Field duties shall include accompanying the Brigade Commander on the battlefield and gathering stragglers to form squads to lead back to the line of battle.

5. Such other duties as are delegated to him by the Brigade Commander.

6. All Brigade staff members will be present for Chief of Staff Call each duty day in full uniform and accouterments.

Section 4 - Provost Marshal

1. The Brigade Provost Marshal will be elected by the Brigade.

2. The Brigade Provost Marshal must be a member in good standing of the RACW for one year including the current year.

3. Maintain order and furnish security for designated areas.

4. Maintain constant contact with his representative in the other Brigade and with the representatives of the Safety Committee.

5. Support the Administrative Board, the Brigade Staff and the Judge Advocate in enforcing the rules and regulations of the organization.

6. Assist the trauma response team in clearing the area around a medical emergency pursuant to the trauma response plan. Keep a copy of this plan at Brigade headquarters.

7. Assist the Safety Committee in the event of a disturbance during a public battle which threatens the safety of participants or spectators.

8. Coordinating with the Brigade Staff, create rotating rosters for camp guards during the duty day and a night watch/ picket duty beginning at quiet hour.

9. Command and post the provost safety detail for each battle.

10. The provost will hold no field command duties but may hold the rank of second lieutenant.

11. Perform any other duties as delegated to him by the Brigade Commander.

Section 5 - Brigade Clerk

1. Candidates for the office of Brigade Clerk shall be determined as outlined in the RACW Organization & Bylaws.

2. The position of Brigade clerk shall be an elected term of one year.

3. The Clerk shall be responsible for maintaining all accurate brigade records at and between RACW events.

4. The Brigade clerk shall be available during the "public time" between battles, for assisting at brigade headquarters in the areas of information, applications for membership, registration of guest reenactors, and any such other duties as are delegated to him by the Brigade Commander.

Section 6 - Secretary/Treasurer

1. This office shall be open to anyone in the Confederate Brigade.

2. The secretary/treasurer shall keep the official minutes of all officer's and general meeting of the Brigade.

3. He/she shall keep track of all bank accounts and account for the spending of the bank accounts of the Confederate Brigade.

4. Secretary/Treasurer shall not hold any other Brigade Office.

Article IV - Recall Procedure

Confederate Brigade recall procedures shall follow guidelines as set forth in the RACW Organization & Bylaws, Article V.

Article V - Safety

1. The Confederate Brigade shall observe all safety rules as set down in the RACW bylaws.

2. All members of the Confederate Brigade shall be expected to read and be familiar with these rules before engaging in any unit event or activity.

3. Each company commander and First Sergeant shall make sure that each individual can pass a test on basic safety before said individual is allowed on the field. The safety form must be signed by the individual and two NCOs.

4. Each company commander shall be responsible that any new individual is given a copy of the RACW safety rules upon enlistment.

5. The basic rules of safety including distance shall be reviewed before the first engagement at any event public or private.

Article VI - Elections

1. Election of Brigade Staff shall be on a yearly basis and shall take place no later than October 1 of the calendar year.

2. After September 15th of each year the Brigade Commander shall appoint an election administrator to administer Brigade elections.

3. The election administrator must be over 21 years of age and not currently running for any Brigade office.

4. The election administrator shall then at Brigade expense have ballots printed and mailed to each voting age member of the Brigade with the address for the ballots to be returned to and the date, set by the brigade staff, that said ballots must be returned.

5. The election administrator shall count the ballots.

6. After the votes are counted and verified the results shall then be presented to the President of the RACW, the Brigade Commander, the company officers of the Confederate Brigade, and those running, and provide election results to the editor of the RACW newsletter for insertion in an upcoming issue.

7. All members of the Brigade, being defined as: All members of military units and all non-combatants attached to the individual units, 14 and over, shall have the right to vote on all Brigade issues to include Brigade staff members.

8. Non-combatants may not vote on issues of a military nature.

9. All members to be eligible to vote must also have current RACW dues paid.

10. The Brigade Commander shall call a Brigade meeting at the September event of the year for the purpose of nominations for the Brigade Staff for the next calendar year.

11. Notification shall be made 30 days prior to such meeting. All nominations will be made in accordance with Roberts Rules of Order.

12. Any member may at any time between the Nomination meeting and the time that the ballots are printed may present his intention of candidacy for office in writing to the election administrator.

Article VII - Minors

The Confederate Brigade shall adhere to the bylaws as set down in Article XI, Section 2 of the RACW bylaws regarding Minors.

Article VIII - Amendments

Any proposals or amendments that will effect or change these bylaws shall require a 2/3 majority of those voting.

Proposals or amendments may be suggested by any member by submitting, in writing, said change to the Brigade Commander.

Article IX - Miscellaneous

1. Areas where RACW and Brigade rules remain silent are left to the individual units to regulate as they see fit.

2. No unit may create rules that conflict with RACW or Brigade rules. Each unit may create bylaws that are more stringent, but may not relax any rules set forth in this document.

3. All rules of the host park, private landowner etc. shall be obeyed without question.

4. Open fires may not be built any closer than 10 feet from tents.

5. NCOs in the Confederate Brigade must be at least 18 years of age and a member in good standing of the RACW for at least one year.

6. Members in violation of RACW or Confederate Brigade bylaws may immediately suspended from the event and asked to leave the event site. Suspension from an event will carry a year’s probation.

Article X - Addition of New Units

1. Any existing company within the Confederate Brigade may change their unit designation with the consent of the majority of the Company membership.

2. Any such change in designation shall take place in the year following the vote to change.

3. The Confederate Brigade will recognize a new unit while in compliance of Article VI of the RACW Organization & Bylaws and after meeting approval by the Confederate Brigade staff.

Article XI - Accountability

1. The Brigade Commander is accountable to each and every member of the Confederate Brigade. Because of this the Commander is responsible to communicate his actions to the board of officers on a quarterly basis and shall hold a general Brigade meeting at least twice a year. Other meetings may be held if requested by the membership, or deemed necessary by the Brigade Commander.

2. If at any time the Brigade Commander does not maintain communication with the company commanders, he may be subject to recall, courts-martial or both.

3. It is also the responsibility of each company commander within the Brigade to keep the Brigade Commander apprised of all actions that said Company and its members are attempting to do. This allows the Brigade Commander to give a complete report on the Brigade activities to the RACW board as a whole.

Article XII - Ratification

Ratification of this document shall be achieved by following approved RACW procedures.

Article XIII - Rank Ratio & Authenticity

1. The RACW Confederate Brigade and all units within it must represent a unit or regiment that existed as a part of the Army of Northern Virginia between 1862 and 1865.