Articles from our Monthly Newsletter

 

 This section of our web site is used for members to submit their observations and experiences from our hobby. It is each author's opinion and observation, NOT the official opinions and observations of Co "K". As time passes, articles will be replaced by newer ones. To all, ENJOY:

Article #1

The Freshman Year

By Pvt. Marty Burke - 2006 article

Well boys, I have finished my first campaign season and, as we are coming out of winter quarters, I have this opportunity to reflect on that first year. Hopefully you older hands will be reminded of the days when you were a fresh fish as well, and I hope you newer men will be inspired to carry on.

There sure is a lot to learn with this reenacting business. I really started off by getting some books and doing some reading before I fell in with the 6th. Mostly soldiers diaries and such, and though I’ve read 4 or 5 of them, I still feel like I am just scratching the surface. I have also dipped into Hardee’s now and then, but man, its hard to learn how to march just by reading about it. I recently picked up Silas Tackett’s ‘Guides Posts’ and find it easier to absorb. Hopefully I can use it to do some more homework and polish up my drill (which is beginning to reveal itself as an ongoing challenge). My interest in reading about the war in general, dates and events and such, comes and goes; it is the things that I will apply in my impression as an infantryman that really concern me at this point.

Drill seemed to be a constant problem this year. I felt like I’d been thrown into a cyclone when I showed up at the spring muster. I had only drilled once before, and while I was busy trying to remember the manual of arms, the company was working on battalion maneuvers. That first Saturday was just too long, and by about 4 pm I just could not absorb anything more. That is not to say that I did not learn; Captain Walker and 1st Sgt Gibbs of F Company helped a lot, and of all the unfamiliar voices I heard in the ranks that day theirs’ were the friendliest. I also do not know how I

would have lasted as long as I did without Ian and Brandon on either side of me. However, due to this experience, I have thought a lot about what environment we need to create for our men in order that they may best learn drill. One conclusion I have come to is that we new guys need to speak up when overwhelmed. I also think that our NCO’s need to recognize that when a man’s capacity has been reached, it is time for him to head back to camp and let it all sink in. Beyond a certain point, we just cannot absorb any more information. Throughout this whole first year I felt the need for company drill far more than battalion drill, and I cannot help but feel that our company muster in January was a great first step for 2006.

One of the regrets I had was that I wish I had joined up in a year that was better for our veterans. A lot of our veterans had situations in their lives outside of reenacting that kept them away. In retrospect I think the company as a whole really felt this void. Part of the drill issues had to do with the percentage of new guys in the ranks. At Corinth there were a lot of us who were attending our first event, and a large proportion of the rest of the company were guys who were Company K vets but ones we were meeting for the first time. Fortunately they possessed enough experience to lead us, but I am afraid we may have put them off with our inexperience and ineptitude. I hope in the future we will see more of our veterans because we are sorely in need of their experience and ability; and besides, I want to get to know these guys that I have heard so much about.

On another note I sure am glad I pestered Dusty and Phil with so many e-mails about what to buy when I was getting outfitted. I think they probably wondered if I was a neurotic, but I really tried to take the warnings about sutlers seriously. It really is such a maze and despite having a fairly well paying job, I still felt the financial pinch in getting outfitted. One really has to spend his money wisely but if he does so, it is manageable. The trick is to buy the right stuff initially so that you do not have to buy everything twice. Also, take advantage of loaner gear. I now have the AOT impression pretty much covered, but now its time to think of the Zouave impression. Maybe I’ll just wait on that and get a knapsack first (because blanket rolls really are kind of a pain). Hmmm, or maybe I’ll….

Finally, the really important stuff...the pards. Some of this I have already alluded to, but your comrades are by far the most important part of this hobby. At first I made the mistake of reading the Authentic Campaigner website too much. The personalities I saw in action there were just not of the type that I wanted to encounter socially, and if the guys I met in the ranks were all like them then I knew I was lost. As a result of this I almost gave up on the hobby before I got started. Learning the skills of the hobby and getting outfitted are really big hurdles and people need support while they undertake to meet these challenges. I learned from my pards that while we have a unit that strives for authenticity, our members temper that goal with humanity and reality. Everyone is self-conscious at first and one of the things I had to bear in mind while I was inventing myself as a reenactor was that I had to keep my goals realistic; and furthermore that the expectations my comrades had of me had to be realistic as well. Even if I had started out with a Rockefeller’s bank account to buy my gear with, I still would not have known how to use it, or what it was that I was supposed to be portraying. That was my greatest relief; when I realized that my pards did have realistic expectations of me. It did not just end there. They took it upon themselves to provide me with the gear, directed my research, and helped me with the education that I needed to create the best impression I could. They basically led by example. So, instead of having a mean-spirited approach that emphasized my shortcomings as a rookie, they took it upon themselves to enable me. In retrospect it almost seems silly to me that I had these concerns, but at the time they were very much real. When you are first dipping your toe into the water you really do not know what to expect.

So now I guess I get to talk about where I am at heading into my sophomore year. I definitely feel confident as a reenactor; I am starting to find my niche. I certainly do not know all there is to know about the hobby or the Civil War and I am sure I never will, which is just fine; there would not be much point to continuing in all of this if I did. I sure feel like I have established some good friendships, and I am really looking forward to enjoying more time with my mates. I am also looking forward to using some of that new-found confidence to be more outgoing and meet more folks at events. It would be nice to use what experience I now have to help our recruits make the transition into the hobby a little easier; and of course I want to get more gear and work on more and better impressions. Mostly though I just want to get out there and use what I’ve got; I want to go campaigning.

 

Article #2

 

That's Wrong! by Pvt Phil McBride

While standing in battalion formation with Company I, waiting for the proper time to march forth to Sunday's assault on Battery Robbinette, the sergeant of Company I was in conversation with a young private in the front rank. The private was a handsome, blonde young man of about 20, displaying a solid impression of an eager young Reb anxious to serve and drive the damyankees back to their own country. I could not overhear their conversation, but I did notice the sergeant rather firmly order the private to open his mouth and stick out his tongue. With visible reluctance and an audible sigh, the private did as ordered. The sergeant stared hard for a second, stepped back, called for the Lieutenant and repeated the order to open up. The lieutenant walked over, glanced, then stared, gasped, stepped back and loudly asked the company captain to come over. Again the order to stretch his jaws open was repeated, and the captain inspected the private's mouth, said "Damn," and immediately called the battalion adjutant, the major, over. For the fourth time, the blonde private exposed his mouth cavity and tongue, and the major quickly followed the example of the others and summoned his superior, the battalion commander, Colonel Castles himself. Col. Castles we all know as a man who is justifiably proud of the impression projected by the Red River Battalion. He is also a man with a clear understanding of the power of loudly spoken profanity. When the young private dropped his jaw on direct order for the fifth time, the colonel, to the barely suppressed amusement of those of us in the ranks immediately around the private, leaned forward, dropped his jaw ever so much before he recovered, and simply uttered a short "That's wrong." With shaking head he returned to his post some yards away. Being to the left rear of the private, I never actually saw whatever it was that had fallen under the scrutiny of darned near every officer in the battalion, but I guess my only question is, "Are golden tongue studs farby?"

Back to Homepage