31 December, 2008 - This has certainly been a year of trials and preserverance.  2008 was a difficult time for many in our country and certainly in the world of historical interpretation.  We have seen financial markets in near collapse, fuel prices taking our hard earned money, spending cutbacks in many institutions, and many more reasons to panic.  The TBM has had a few setbacks during the troubles of the year.  We were unable to attend several of the events we had planned on and our first hosted event was cancelled, due to NPS spending issues.

Our members volunteered their time in archives and historic sites and we travelled to many great locations in support of some great organizations; such as the Armory Guard, the WIG, the SCAR, and Historic Brattonsville.  These are some top notch groups, and we are lucky to have worked with them.

2008 saw a group we support make tremendous inroads in preserving land at the Kinston, NC Battlefield.  The Lenoir Couty, NC Battlefield Commision bought several acres of land, including last 200' of original earthworks.  We have not worked with this organization yet, only made a small donation, but over the next few years we hope to spend some time with them to protect the land and assist with work.  We are hoping this will lead to a living history event or even a battle recreation on the actual site.  We should not say that yet, but we are hopeful.

We spent countless hours transcribbing letters and diaries to bring you more first-person research material.  We hope to have may more letters and diaries over the next few months.  I still have work to do on both the Lowry, Fewell, and McConnell pages.  We can find no more valuable research then in the words written 150 years ago by the people we try to honor.  Remember, if you come across any material from the Tramp Brigade, we would love to read it, and if we can, post it for others.

2009 should be a great year.  We are set to attend a few high-quality events and will continue several preservation projects with the South Carolina Archives and the South Caroliniana Room.  We also hope to begin mapping some historic sites in Charleston and begin raising money to place a historic marker at a causeway built by the Seventeenth South Carolina.

There is a lot of work to come.  We hope you have enjoyed this website over the last year, and we strive to continue bringing you quality first-person research material.  Please come and grow with us into 2009, and the first place you can find the TBM is at the Charleston Civil War Show on 10 January.