June 2004 Newsletter

Spotsylvania; a weekend that I'm thankful I didn't miss. In addition to raising $ for battlefield preservation, a cause near and dear to this Captain's heart, it turned out to be an event that I'm sure we will all long remember. Friday night was wild, with the heavens opening up to greet us with horizontal sheets of rain and gale force winds that toppled tents and dropped trees. When it hit, I found myself in the leather maker's tent, watching flying belts and brogans, and a screaming leather maker's wife yelling "get out, we don't have insurance!!" So I evacuated to the tent next door, and found myself in the company of the merry banjo makers, who were singing and passing a bottle of brandy while sections of their canvas tent tore off and blew away. I helped steady one of the tent posts, and made myself some new best friends that evening. Making my way to the earthworks, Pvt. Harris and I set up headquarters, and settled in to a lovely, drenched, mosquitoed night's slumber. Ah, the wonderful comforts of true campaigning. The next day, Saturday, was really valuable for two things in particular, the lecture by historians Ed Bearss and John Hennessey, and most importantly, I feel, our interaction with the public. I continue to have folks mention to me how much they loved taking their kids through the trenches and visiting with the hardened veterans of F-Company and other units, as they ducked under the she- bangs and navigated their way along the trenches. I do believe that the history bug was planted in many a young person's imagination that day, and that if this war lasts long enough, we will see some new recruits join up, based on this experience. The battle late that day became a bit confused, as battles have a want to do, but it was hot, and it was a new experience to fight from behind log-reinforced earthworks. Best of all, was the fact that we drove the perfidious Yankees back across the field from which they came. Their inglorious retreat was witness by many hundreds of good Virginia citizens, gathered as spectators on the far side of the field. I do believe I heard cheers for our brave boys who held the Bloody Angle against the enemy. Then came Sunday. At first light we were in our firing positions in the works. A moment I will never forget was Lt. Turley and I standing above the depression, looking down the line in half light of early dawn, and seeing the fires, and the boys in gray in the trenches, and then the thunder behind us of a Confederate horse artillery battery roaring by at full gallop; a true historical moment. It was just about then that a messenger came up and reported that our company, along with the rest of the Confederate right could stand down; there would be no action on our side of the line that morning. So I watched as everyone, men and officers, relaxed and took their ease. But a moment later, from my vantage point above the works, I could see through the mist in on the far side of the field, Yankee skirmishers, and they were headed our way at the run. Not far behind, I started to make out closed ranks of blue, and immediately realized that they too were headed straight for us. With barely a thought, I ordered "Load", which our men did with their usual promptitude, and then "Fire", as the rest of the line to our right looked to us and then scrambled to get into place, realizing that we had indeed been skunked. The battle began in earnest from that point, and a fine action it was, too. There was lots of confusion, gunfire, skedaddling out of the trenches in front of the Yankee surprise onslaught, and then a brilliant counter attack by our combined forces in which we supported an under strength company on our right. I am proud to be able to mention that it was that first volley from F Company that alerted our troops to the danger, and probably saved our position from being totally surprised and overrun. And all of this after being given the order to stand down, nothing to happen on our front this morning. I smell a big fat dirty Yankee trick here. We must call for an investigation.

*********************
On to Cold Harbor. I really hope that a good number of you men can make it. Let's commemorate the 140th anniversary of this important battle with a good turnout. Let us show the Park Service that F Company is one of the best and most reliable reenactments units in the field. Also, remember your soldier. For this weekend, any interaction you do for the public should be in his name. You can tell folks that your impression is of Pvt._____________, of F-Company, 21st VA Volunteer Infantry. It will make it more interesting for them, for us, and for the memory of the original F Company that we have the honor to represent.

The year got off to a good start with the Spotsylvania Reenactment. But I guess that depends upon ones perspective. If you got there Friday night, you may not have thought so. I was unable to arrive until Saturday morning. As I passed through the vendor and Sutler areas, I thought it was odd that some of them had not put up their tents even though they had put out their wares. Then I ran into some of our men. They proceeded to tell me about the thunderstorm that soaked them and covered them with mud. So, from that perspective, maybe it wasn’t such a good start. But attendance was excellent. We had two more men than had signed up for the event. Mr. Lawrence arrived on Saturday and Mr. Norman came in later that same evening. The trenches that had been constructed for the event were awesome: the best I’ve ever seen. We were able to make use of them in the two battles; one Saturday evening around dusk, and the other for our dawn battle on Sunday. The Captain got his first taste of commanding the unit under battlefield conditions and he did fine. He makes an outstanding commander. This event was cut short because of it being Mothers’ Day. After Sunday’s dawn battle, everyone left to go home and do his family duties. Despite the shortness of the event, I think everyone had a good time. Next is Cold Harbor. See you there.

1st Sergeant’s Report

Cold Harbor is upon us and we have 16 members signed up for the event, which once again is a great number for a living history. I had a discussion with Mr. Sanders of Richmond Battlefield Parks and he said that anyone wishing to arrive on Friday night could do so. If not, see you Saturday morning.

The company has already paid for rations for the company to the 3^rd VA Inf. They are going to supply us with rations for Saturday night dinner only. I don’t even know what they are going to give us but bring your skillet and make sure your haversacks are full of food just in case.

Mr. Sanders wanted me to remind everyone that the Richmond Battlefield Parks is hosting a living history at Gainsmill on June 26 and 27. It will be very similar to the Cold Harbor event and even though it is not a company event he wants to let everyone know in the 21^st VA that they are invited.

The Cedar Creek event sign up sheet has been sent out and the following 15 members were signed up: Capt Ramsey, Lt Turley, Wilson, Firth, Stafford, Pearson, Catlett, Gammon, Gregory, Lawrence, C. Perry, May, Ward, Schirmer, Harris. There will be no walk-ons and no substitutions after Sept 1.

The South Mountain Living History on Sept. 11-12 is approaching. I only have 9 members signed up for the event and would like a few more. If you did not originally sign up for the event and would like to attend let me know.

“The Aftermath”

For those that missed this event…for me, it started off on a hot and sunny note on Friday afternoon. Before nightfall, it looked like a scene out of the Ten Commandments. Black skies above, high winds on the move, and that familiar green cast that isn’t a good sign of things to come. Privates: Courson, Ward, Gregory, Harris, and myself had already placed four tree trunks across the trench area that we were calling home for the weekend and were almost finished securely tying down our canvas and ground clothes as an overhead canopy to those trunks as we could hear the groan of the storm parting the trees as it made itself known. As we crouched under the shelter, it felt like a fire hose was spraying us at full intensity from our side, but we were probably at the safest location when all was said and done. Other than a premature nature shower, we were pretty much left unscathed. Unfortunately, the Sutlers, Union, and Confederate camps did not fair as well. Finally after the onslaught had ended (for the time being), Captain Ramsey and Private Harris made their way to the trenches and gave us updates on the areas that were affected the most by this Class III tornado that welcomed us to Spotsylvania. Private Gregory and myself headed back to our wagons to lick our wounds and dry out. Meanwhile, back at the trenches, the Captain and Private Harris set up their shelters inside the tree line despite the continuation of lightning. After I dried out at my wagon, I began my long march back to the trenches. About 1/3 of the way back, the second wave of downpours commenced. I literally triple-quicked my way back to the wagon, but not before getting my second bathing in one day (and it wasn’t even a Saturday night). Finally, after my second course of drying, I remained at my wagon until just before sunrise. That was the extent of the foul weather for the entire weekend. Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to get to an event a day early, but you know what? The fool inside of me actually enjoyed the experience to some extent, and it will definitely be a story to tell for years to come. Privates Courson and Ward managed to find a barn to spend the rest of Friday night, and we were all fresh as daisies come Saturday morning. For those who had to leave after Saturday’s typical battle debacle, the entire weekend was worth it just for the Sunday morning assault. Privates: Price, Norman, Courson, Ward, Harris, and myself slept in the trenches Saturday night, while Captain Ramsey along with Lieutenant Turley, and Private Lawrence stayed under shelter inside the wood line. Present for the weekend included: Captain Ramsey, Lieutenant Turley, 2^nd Sergeant Firth, Corporal Pearson, and Privates: Gammon, Harris, Ward, Lawrence, Gregory, Price, Courson, May, and Norman. Yes indeed, you read correctly. Mr. Norman showed up on Saturday evening to spend the night with the trench boys and to fight along side us on Sunday. And Sunday’s fight was the best we’ve seen in awhile. A lot of action, holes to plug, advancing, retreating, and putting up a good scrap. The Captain learned quickly under fire and also partially lost one of his major assets, some of his voice. But it was worth every command to walk away with a good fight under your belt. I was pleasantly content as I left the event. There were some downs, but the ups outweighed them by far. Plus, I even managed to be at home by 10:00 a.m. It was wonderful to have a full weekend, and to still be home in time for Mother’s Day, with an “Pink”Azalea bush in tow for the Mrs.

Below, I’ve included a few photos from the trenches and the fight for your viewing.

This year marks the 140^th Anniversary to honor those who were there in 1864. As had been discussed in previous issues or around earlier campfires, the plans are to have a larger than normal contingency of soldiers in camp (approx. 100), to perform firing demos, and to drill once again. This is not a paid registration event, but has always been a favorite company event for the NPS. Your participation is greatly appreciated not only by the Park Service, but by F-Company as well. I truly hope that we can have a strong turnout for this low-key weekend. If you had not signed up for this event and wish to attend, please show up, but please notify either your corporal or the editor (me) to assist on who’s coming and when we can expect you. As far as provisions for the weekend, please carefully read the 1^st Sergeant’s column. Other than Saturday night’s rations, bring whatever else you think you’ll need for other meals. For those wishing to attend and were not signed up originally, be sure to bring your own rations for the meals and frying pans.

June in Virginia! Any guesses as to the predictions for the weather this year? At Cold Harbor, we’ve seen hot and humid with plenty of friendly bugs, and then quite pleasant daytime temps with cool evenings. We’ve seen fire and we’ve seen rain. You can make the call. I’m no meteorologist. Bring proper provisions.

(Once on I-295, look for the Brown signs on the side of the road for Cold Harbor.)

From the North or West: Take I-95 South toward Richmond, Take I-295 toward Norfolk. Take the second Creighton Road Exit 34 A.

From the East and South: Get on I-295 North toward Washington. Take the 1st Creighton Road exit 34 A.

Once you’ve reached the exit, the first light is Cold Harbor Road. Take a right. Go about 3 miles and the park will be on the left. You will clearly see the small visitor’s center building. We are camping at Stop 2, Confederate Turnout. Drive your stuff down there then go and park for the weekend. Parking has normally been in the grass on the left side near the fence when you first pull into the park. Then they will have us move our vehicles on Saturday after the final firing demonstration to give plenty of room for the gracious people that will be attending the Saturday evening torchlight tour. This year will also mark the first anniversary of meeting Mr. Harris. This time, he’ll be in uniform in the ranks with us. There will be plenty of wood and straw to use for the weekend. For those arriving on Friday afternoon or evening, please pick out a good spot for us, squander some wood for me…I mean…us, and procure adequate straw for the unit. The camp designations are on a first come basis, so I hope someone closer to Mechanicsville than myself can find us a good home before it starts to get a little crowded.

140^th Cold Harbor L.H.- June 5^th & 6^th

140^th 2^nd Kernstown- July 23^rd-25^th

August- open

South Mt. L.H.- September 11^th & 12^th

140^th Cedar Creek- Oct 16^th & 17^th

Fort Branch- November 5^th-7^th

Gettysburg Parade- November

The Gettysburg Parade is a come if you can event. Perhaps you can talk about this one with Lt. Turley or Privates Harris, Gammon, Talbert, Schirmer, Catlett, or myself if you wish to get an idea of how this parade was last year.

One thing I have had in this Army life is alot of time. Alot of time to sit and ponder on what will happen, what's a gonna happen and what's has happen. Alot has happened in these spring days. Days that seem to get longer and hotter as we keep getting on dealing with "those people". Marsh Robert likes to speak of the Yanks as "those people"- don't know why- he just does. Happen to have walked up on a gathering of sorts once in the field and there he was the General himself talking to some regular sorts like we was family. Found out later that General Lee had been "pulling teeth" with the government back in Richmond city. Rumor was he was trying to get things for us and what he found was a bunch in the Capital as he put it," More worried with the chewing of peanuts and tobacco than the Army and the war." One towhead fella asked him how things was a going. The General stopped looked at the fella then got awful quite. Then he closed his eyes, collected himself sorta of and bared his head to us all. With that he moved his face to sky and his eyes still closed said to those about him, "We must trust in Providence friend, we must trust in Providence." Any sort to have gotten this far I thought and still be walking especially in shoe leather and didn't trust in Providence, Jehovah, God, or what there souls would let em, well there wood is definitely wet. Providence is something that we all should and will respect and how He moves and does is not for us to question, but the last few weeks, well forgive me, I don't rightly know. Seems like Abe has got himself a new general and this fella throws people at us like a man would throw scratch to chickens in a barn yard. We meet him in the thickets of what was called the Wilderness, a courthouse in Spotsylvania a river bend at North Anna, at Hanover Junction and each time we would give him a lick. Then was when I wonder and at times out loud, "Who was getting the lick". See before we would bust these people and bust them sharp mind ya. Then they would tuck tail and head north. Now it seems it just rolls off em and they gather themselves up and move to our right flank inching farther south ---to Richmond and those tobacco chewing, peanut-snapping blowhards. Yep, Abe got himself a general or butcher one. We chilled their water so to speak at a place - Cold Harbor. Won't no water and it won't cold. Far from it. Hot and dusty and the enemy befuddled us again but this time cause they gave us time. They gave time to dig and pile up and get ready under the eyes of the King of Spades himself-Granny Lee. Yes suh he worked us right sharp and what we did behind his handy work well it will be a while - hopefully a short while - for those sites to go away. What I could see for all the smoke and all the noise was that they kept coming and we kept on too. Some fellas from the other side pressed on like they was braving a strong windswept rain. You know - hand up as to push what all we was throwing at them out the way. They fell like, it reminded me of a field of wheat before a scythe be swung by Reaper himself. Some dropped in windrows to be gathered and stacked like hay. A day, a night, and now another has passed since they stepped over their berms and came across this field after us. Not being hay and sun and heat being what it is -stead of sweetening the other happened and we could not get away from the ruination of our work and their "glory". In horror I could not believe that there were still those souls alive out in the midst of this stew of bodies. Bahhing like cows - alive but barely. Calling out for those to come and help with relief and water. Those who call out to family and love ones to some place where they are from and where they want to be now. Shouts of states and company names, dialects and accents not heard around here all in a vein attempt to locate a member or an aquaintence of such. In this wreck of the human spirit you hear pleas that get fainter all the time to providence for a deliverance from this of all calamities. Then I figured "Who is suffering more or beseeching Him ?" Is it them or us? It was on the eve this day at a place that wern't neither cold or had much water that I met one Roy Lee Pitt. Pass it on-
Pvt. Nicholas Garnett, 21^stVirginia

The Menu and Preparation

Well in two other articles I have gone into endless detail about campaign cooking. Well here is the nub of the lecture. We are going to the event and we need to cook something. This menu could be for planning purposes; you can make modifications to it as necessary. Realistically you only at the event for 36 hours at the most; so, plan for that time frame. Here is what you need.

1. A coffee cooler. This was a device that resembles a small bowl. Its original purpose was to allow you to pour off a portion of your coffee into the cooler and allow it to cool. This way you could put your coffee back on the fire to stay hot. In addition to its designated purpose I use mine as a handy general-purpose bowl.

2. At a yard sale I picked up a Green River style knife for a buck. The blade is six inches long. Mr. Vice confirmed my guess that it was manufactured in the 1850’s. It makes an outstanding general-purpose knife for slicing, dicing and overall cutting chores.

3. Something to start the fire with. Now I am not talking about matches here (I haven’t had a match since Superman died). What I am talking about is something to get the fire going; or more specifically tinder. Now, although Cpl. Pearson’s fires are excellent simulations of volcanoes, ( I no longer fear hell as I have stood close to one of his fires) they did start out as relatively small fires. So you are going to need something to get it going after you have struck your match. So in your haversack you might want to put a few small dried sticks of wood. Another valuable item are those little fire starter sticks.

Okay here is what you will need to live out of your haversack for three days. You can pick and choose from the various items listed below:

1. Hardtack –two days worth (say 15 to 20 crackers) or the always-popular Confederate substitute cornbread/and or flour. If you have a real bakery in your area you might be able to get a loaf of white bread that is not sliced. If no bakery you might want to try to bake your own. There will be a discussion about cornbread and flour under the alternatives part of the narration.

2. Meat of some kind. You are going to need about one and half to two pounds. We have talked about slab bacon, beef and salted beef.

3. Hard boiled eggs. You could bring non-cooked eggs; but, remember the bat. First we don’t want a mess in our haversacks and second of all we really do not want to look into possibility of salmonella poisoning. I am somewhat confident that non-refrigerated eggs would keep over a weekend, after all they started out inside a chicken; I would always err on the side of caution.

8. A poke bag filled with a package of the dried beans and rice mixture you can find at the grocery store, or a poke bag filled with rice. Rice is amazingly underrepresented in our hobby. Stay away from Minute Rice.

After your drive, you arrive just as the sun is beginning to set. Since you missed stopping and getting yourself a McCrappy meal, your authentic experience is about to start.

The first element in our authentic weekend is the Quest for Fire. Now should you be unable to find a conflagration in progress you are going to need to start your own. Use your tinder and get your fire going.

Can we discuss the size of our fire? In the words of the Frankenstein monster, “Fire Bad!” That’s right, our friend Frankie was telling us that when it comes to cooking; “Fire Bad, Heat Good”. Although the fires we generally build would be very handy at a witch burning, they are really not suitable for cooking. We are not welding the hull of a submarine so the fire can be much smaller. It is heat that cooks. Therefore think small and let the fire burn down some before starting your meal preparations.

Now that the fire is going, reach into your haversack and pull out your meat ration. Use your eating plate as a chopping board. Slice off a couple of pieces. Now if you have precooked your meat you’ll only need to reheat it. If not, here are two options. First find a stick. Make a pointy end. Thread your meat onto it and hold it over the fire. You might want to be a little careful of the stick you choose. Broil the meat until done over the open fire.

If shish salt pork is not to liking, place the meat in your canteen half or skillet. Let it cook down to get some grease. While it is cooking take a piece of hardtack. Add water to your cooking plate and soak the hardtack. When the meat is done, remove it from the frying pan, and dump the water from your plate. Put the meat in your plate and now you can fry the hardtack in the leftover grease. I would really think hard about making coffee on a Friday night. The resulting coffee whether from essence of coffee or mashing the beans is pretty intense and if you plan on sleeping that weekend you may want to limit the late night caffeine. So clean your cooking gear up and go to bed

On Saturday morning we awaken to sounds of the army getting up. Ah, the sweet music as the ten-year-old son of the next unit’s over company commander learning to play the bugle at this event. It is enough to make you envy the deaf. Anywho, we start breakfast, which will pretty much be a repeat of Fri night except we have added the hard boiled eggs and maybe some coffee.

Following our morning debacle, I mean battalion drill you have a lot of time before the battle. Don’t forget to drink lots of water. You can snack on your ginger snaps or peanuts. For lunch you can fill your cup with the dried beans/rice mixture. Put about an inch of water over the mixture. Put by the fire and forget about it for 30 minutes or so.

Well we have had our battle and it’s time to make dinner. Cut up some more meat. Slice that potato and onion. Cook your meat. Then using the leftover grease, cook your potatoes and onions. Enjoy with some hardtack. Now you can go to sleep lulled by the sound of bagpipers or someone playing Sweet Home Alabama on the car system since they decided to bring it into the camping area.

Breakfast on Sunday can be a repeat. For lunch just see what you have left and cook it up. Then it’s time to do or die and then go home.

We have heard a lot about how soldiers cooked bread using their ramrods. No doubt they did. First the veterans had access to extra ramrods, you don’t. Remember that the ramrod you used to clean your musket is now going to be your bread cooker, remember the baseball bat.

A number of years ago at a reenactment, some yahootie from a farb outfit got his ramrod stuck in his Springfield during an inspection (A clean weapon to say the least). The engineering geniuses that assisted him in removing it managed to break the tulip off the rod. He got angry and tossed the rod away. I immediately picked it up, took it home, cleaned it up and it became part of the Cypress Chapel Sharpshooters cooking kit.

What about cornmeal and flour? If you are going to bring these as substitutes there are several factors to consider. How field savvy are you? How much experience do you have preparing this kind of stuff with very limited facilities? Does the event have enough down time to allow you to cook corn meal or ram rod bread? A living history might more appropriate for that. If the event is inclement think about your flour and cornmeal sitting in your haversack while we endure a frog-strangling downpour.

Strike anywhere matches are becoming harder and harder to find. Apparently they are in the gun sights of the safety Nazis and depending on your local fire marshal they may not be available in your area. Shop around.

Sugar is one area where campaigners can get into bitter (irony) arguments about. One thing most agree on is that the common table sugar you see today is not correct. So for a correct type of sugar to take to events try Turbando style. It is brown sugar. It can be found in the baking section of most supermarkets. Mexican grocery stores sometimes carry brown sugar cones. Break off a chunk, wrap it up and you are good to go.

It pays to keep your eyes open. A trip to a Pier One Import Store provided some very small glass bottles with tight fitting lids. They were incredibly low priced and since then they have become my condiment carriers.

Coffee beans. You can find coffee beans now in most major grocery stores. You want to stay away from the mocha frappe double caffeinated yuppie style beans. The Eight O’ ClockÔ brand was actually around prior to the war. Purists among us would insist on green coffee beans and then roast them themselves at the event. If you buy the whole beans the problem arises of grinding them. There is a school of thought in the campaigner movement to put the beans in a tin cup and use the shank of the bayonet to grind them. Howsumever, what if your musket is on the stack? I believe the Willie McFadden method to be much superior. Willie would put the beans in a poke sack, place the poke sack on a log and whack the hell out of them with a stout stick.

A Taste For War, The Culinary History of the Blue and the Gray, William C. Davis, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA 2003

Columbia Rifles Companion, A Resource for Living Historians in the Development of a Well Rounded Civil War Federal Soldier Impression-1^st Edition April 2001, Published by the Columbia Rifles.

Editor’s note

Besides all of those who attended Spotsylvania, it was great having some past veterans joining our ranks once again. I hope the ups and downs of that event will not deter any further commitment to future events. I’m looking forward to seeing the gang again. And, I promise to keep the signal fires to a minimum. We’ve gone from fighting in the trenches to now digging in them. That’s the changing of the times in 1864. See you at Cold Harbor.

Commander’s Column

1st Sergeant’s Report

“The Aftermath”

The Menu and Preparation

Editor’s note