As a bit of background, the 9th Battalion is a reenacting community of Confederate units in the northeastern United States and Eastern Canada, with member units from Vermont, New York, Ontario, and Quebec. These units are organized as an early war legion, containing infantry, cavalry and artillery companies, as well as signal and other support units, and comprise the northernmost battalion of the 1st Division, Army of Northern Virginia, headquartered in Richmond, VA.

My involvement as a Provost Marshal began during the filming of TNT's "Killer Angels", later released as "Gettysburg". There was an incredible amount of theft in the camps. Every day brought new reports of stolen equipment ... everything from canteens, haversacks, and hats, to muskets and revolvers, and even to tents, poles, and the tent pins! To prevent the loss of our equipment, we established a camp guard to stay behind during the day's filming to both watch and guard our company street. As I was still nursing an injured back, I ended up with the majority of these duties. Over the course of the next few seasons, this role progressed from company street guard, to overall camp guard, and eventually to appointment as our first Confederate Provost Marshal.

With little available as research material on the Confederate Provost, I've leaned heavily on Kenneth Radley's "Confederate Watchdog: The Confederate States Army Provost Guard" to develop my impression. This impression encompasses many historical aspects of the Confederate Provost, and which also includes enforcement of "lights out", night fire watch, and physical security of the entire Confederate camp. Feel free to refer to the more detailed information contained below in the Provost Links section. The first links contain information I've collected or written for use by new Provost. The last two links comprise a small picture gallery, but, even with the pics in thumbnail, the galleries may take some time to load.

John M Prushko, Maj
Co H, 4th Rgmt Va Vol Cav
Provost Marshal, assigned
9th Btln Hq, 1st Div, ANV

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last site updates: 25 Aug 05