Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

[Old-South]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Mark,
Ad me to the list of those lazy baS&@rds. Actually, not lazy. It is a time thing and I need to study an authentic cartridge. I would be glad to buy them also.
Regards,

[Mark Choate]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

I wonder if it is a Florida thing? HA.
I have checked with one of our troopers (Joe Lambert) that does a really good job with this and he will sell cartridges that are rolled, packaged and labeled for $8 for bundles of 10. You will need two packs per trooper to hit your twenty and they will be turned over to the Ordnance officer (Ken Knopp) upon arrival. I have been asked this question by a few others that are coming, so I will let Joe know. If anyone else who is attending needs any, please let me know.

Mark

[KyCavalier]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Is anyone coming down from the KY/IN/OH area? I live in Shelby Co. off I -64. Maybe coming down I-65 near Louisville area? I would like to come and my wife even gave the OK to do this on our 10th anniversary weekend. Cool!
I have a trailer, etc. but really don't want to make the trip alone...especially Sunday coming back. Like to hitch a ride if I can...

Let me know. Shoot me a PM or email.

Tony Downs
6th Ky Cavalry

[Mark Choate]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Tony,
I sent you a P.M. on this matter.

thx,
Mark

[Mike Nickerson]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Here is another dumb Florida question: How rocky is the drill field? Will a barefoot FL pony be OK?

Mike Nickerson

[Mark Choate]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Mike,
The ground is about the same as it was a Bummers........hard and filled with sharp rocks.........NOT! Seriously, this field is soft field dirt covered with orchard grass and sage grass. It has nary a rock anywhere. A fifty year old accountant could do wind sprints barefooted on this ground. And if you doubt it, bring a 50 yr old accountant along and we'll show you.

Your horse will be fine without shoes.

Mark

[Mike Nickerson]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Thanks! I was guessing that was the case, but after Bummers I now know rocks can be anywhere!

Mike Nickerson

PS: For the record, he was shod at Bummers:)

[Outrider]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

I have two questions:

1. the thingie mentions School of the Sabre. Are we to bring sabres to this shindig?

2. If so do we get to wack Guy any?

[Mark Choate]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

I have two questions:

1. the thingie mentions School of the Sabre. Are we to bring sabres to this shindig?

2. If so do we get to wack Guy any?

Paddy,

There is an unwritten rule that says, "Whacking Guy Musgrove with any instrument (ie. sabre, stick, baseball bat, branding iron, broom-handle, etc.) is acceptable at any time." So, the answer to the latter is yes.

As with most western theatre purveyors of the saddle, we rarely, rarely use sabres when in a CS impression. However, there are instructions on how to use the sabre with regards to thrusts, cuts, parrys, etc. that are detailed even to the point of how to remove the sabre from the scabbard. On occasion, when we do living history demonstrations at some of the larger parks, we have a portion where we display the sabre, by these instructions, to the crowd.

We are not advocating, promoting, endorsing nor disavowing the use of the sabre, but with this short instructional we hope to at least display it's usage and drill correctly.

That is a long-winded way of saying, yes bring it if you have it, please.

Looking forward to seeing you,
Mark

[Mark Choate]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Gentlemen,

Just a last minute call to any of you still thinking about registering for the Cavalry Camp of Instruction to be held next weekend (March 26 - 28) at Carnton plantation, in Franklin. Tomorrow is the cut-off for registrations and if you have not sent yours in, then please act immediately and then send me a PM so I can be aware that it is on it's way. As of this moment, we have an astounding 55 paid registrants which will make this the largest such Cavalry COI that I know of in the past 15 years! We will have enough numbers to drill on a battalion level as well as company and platoon. Please act now if you want to come.

Thank you,
Mark

[Mark Choate]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Just a final call out/announcement to all who are attending the Camp of Instruction this weekend in Franklin. The weather forecast appears to be wonderful and the picket ropes and water access is up and established. Plenty of firewood for the mess groups cookin' and warmin'.

I can't properly express how appreciative that I and the others putting this together are for the high turnout (nearly 60 troopers!) and interest in this unique event. Some of you are pulling horse trailers up to 10 hours one way just to get here and that just further instills our drive to deliver to you an informative and quality event!

Be safe on your trip and I will see you friday.

thanks,
Mark

[Jerry Ross]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

Mark,
Thanks for putting on a great Camp of Instruction. You had good instructional talks presented. The drill was much needed by all of us to knock the dust off our butts/brains. I had brought several new guys that needed just what you gave them.It was good to have some many veterans there to give the new guys help. I saw this happening all along the column during drill and while there was some down time . Everyone seemed to lend a handing hand when needed or asked.

I also want to thank Kerry Gallivan and Patrick Landrum for helping and bring out so much cooking gear for the Saturday evening meal. I could not have done it with out your help. Pat Craddock, thank you for showing me how to make johnny cakes.

[Matt Woodburn]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

I want to say thanks to Mark Choate, Ken Knopp, Jerry Ross and all the others that put this event together. I had a great time and learned alot at my first cavalry event. It was impressive to see 50 troopers mounted, drilling together, and going through instructional talks about improving authenticity and impressions in every area. Thanks to Jerry Ross and Pat Landrum for cooking a great dinner Saturday night. Thanks to Jerry Ross for taking me under his wing and bringing me my fine mount, Smokey, aka Whoa Damnit. Thanks to Ken Knopp and the other guys who I can't remember at the moment for researching and presenting your instructional talks. Thanks to the guys who picked me up off the ground after my tumble. I found out today that it wasn't my carbine that I landed on. It was the guard of my wrist breaker which was all bent over. So that's how all the originals I see at the Civil War Shows in that condition got that way. Thanks to David Smith, Ethan Harrington, and Jerry Ross for horse advise. Thanks to all the guys of Eggy Meat Mess for the laughs and culinary expertise. All of you guys made this event great for an infantry guy. Looking forward to my next cavalry event.

[Ken Knopp]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

In my 25 plus years it has been at best, rare occasions when we have experienced and enjoyed the type cavalry scenes we did this weekend. While I thought the event was filled with many great cavalry moments I will let others provide the AAR and their opinions of events. For me, I met a lot of fine new and veteran cavalrymen, reacquainted with many others and generally had a wonderful “cavalry immersion” in the shadow of a very famous historic home.

The 7th Tennessee, the following people and others that Capt. Mark Choate will undoubtably mention need to be recognized for helping make this event a grand experience for all who attended. I know this will sound like a cliche and self serving (I am sorry) but I would like to take this opportunity to provide my most sincere thanks and appreciation to the following people.

Commissary Sgt. Jerry Ross for his assistance in ration issues. More importantly his fine cuisine abilities in preparing a wonderful meal for the whole camp on Saturday night.

Ethan Harrington for making the great effort to bring his quartermaster wagon and help in ration issues.

Patrick Landrum for finding local food sources and his assistance in preparing Sat. night’s meal.

Ernie Martinez also for helping me finding food sources and for helping me shop. Kenneth Mansell, Roger Lewis and especially Michael Verdon for his help in ration issues. My pard Dennis Landry and, Joe Alliston and Mark Choate for use of their excellent reproduction saddles and horse equipments as examples during my presentation and finally to the officer’s, non-comms and veterans that provided the fine examples, good leadership and training were enjoyed by all.

Last but most important again,....(Lt. Capt.) Mark Choate for his tremendous efforts, attention to detail and seamless leadership abilities to make this a wonderful experience for all that attended. To him should go the majority of the credit for this event.

BTW, I would really like to post some photos of this event. I have several available but figuring out how to use the new software to do so is very frustrating. Its late, I have already wasted over an hour and have entirely run out of patience. If someone could help me I would appreciate it.

Ken R Knopp

https://www.confederatesaddles.com

[Mark Choate]

Re: Announcement: Cavalry Camp of Instruction...

To all,

While the kind words from Jerry, Matt and Ken are appreciated, this truly was a huge joint effort from every aspect. I have never attended anything that did not have a noteworthy number of "no shows". However, we had 53 registered for this event and only one that could not make it! Plus, we picked up one on friday so we still had our full count. That is amazing!

I was really glad to see our infantry brethren, Matt Woodburn and Patrick Craddock there and mounted and doing an excellent job in the saddle. Also, Pat Landrum came to help with the food logistics and with Ken's work.

I have sent out an email/letter of thanks and recognition to all who helped and rather than repeat the verbiage, I am just going to do a copy/paste below of this email. Before I do, and at the risk of redundancy, I thank Ken Knopp most of all for an unbelievable amount of work and attention to detail. His efforts really made the event for me and so many others. So, without further comments...................


"To all who attended the Camp of Instruction!

I want to thank all of you who blocked off your time, made the effort and in many cases, pulled trailer loads of horses hundreds and hundreds of miles to attend and take part in the COI. As you all know by now, we had a lot planned for the event and I was very pleased with how it was carried off on Friday evening and Saturday. Unfortunately, the severe forecast that came to my attention for Saturday night and on into Sunday was such that we decided to end on a positive note and cancel the Sunday morning portion. So, after we all enjoyed Comm. Sgt. Ross' fine meal Saturday night, we broke camp and left. I am not sure if the storm was a severe as was forecast, but I do know that there was a considerable amount of rain and lightning. I have camped through worse, but with the amount of big rigs parked in the soft bottom ground and the distances involved, I think we made the prudent decision.

In any event, I very much thank you all. While there will be an official AAR to follow, I want to say a "special" thanks to those who helped with the organiztion:

Ken Knopp: I can never thank you enough for what you did as your original endorsement gave credibility to the entire effort and your hours and hours of work and attention to detail made the issuance of period rations/ammo and the inspection process the high points of the event!

Lt.Thomas Helton and Lt. Tony Townsend: Gentlemen, you stepped up before as well as during the event and worked incredibly hard and provided the driving force to make the schedule and the drill come off so well. You gave two fine examples of Cavalry officers and command!

Sergents Helton, Tucker, Lambert and Rubalcaba: You were given the task of making sure the individual troopers were in order and cared for, plus handing out criticism, praise and instruction as needed by the men. You performed wonderfully and Joe, your presentation was great and Ronnie, while yours was scheduled for Sun. a.m., I know first hand what you had prepared, so I look forward to hearing it in the future sometime.

Commissary Sgt. Jerry Ross: The impact of authentic food preparation on the immersion into an event cannot be over-emphasized and you did a wonderful job of explaining things to those who may not be as experienced. Also, the meal Saturday night was superb. I know it took a lot of effort to bring all of the equipment.

Bugler, "Pete" Peterson: One of the most over-looked portions of our hobby is the proper use of the bugler and it adds so much. We all benefited greatly from you talents in this regard and it is my hope to work with you more and more in the future so that we can learn these calls better and improve as a result.

Joe Alliston, Earl Stocks and Mark Bridges: Joe and Earl, thanks for the excellent and well researched instructionals that we all learned from. You put in a lot of work for this. Mark, as with R. Tucker, you were not able to give your instructional as it was to be Sun. a.m., but I know you worked hard and want to hear it in the future. Also, you served as a liaison with Carnton and work out the original logistics. We thank you greatly!

Ethan Harrington: You went to a lot of effort to bring your wagon which added so much to the issuance of rations and ammo and gave an authentic feel to the camp. Thank you for doing it.

Roger Lewis: Thank you for making the HQ sign and the "writing table" that you brought. Nice touch!!

Col. Ronnie Fullwood: The more I think of what you did, the more impressed that I am. You had a family event friday night that prevented you coming then, but in a pure showing of support and endorsement of what we were doing, you gave up your Saturday (and I know you had other pressing matters) to trailer from West TN. to Franklin just to observe and support. That meant a lot to me and to the men!!

Undoubtedly, I have left someone off this list, but to all my sincere thanks and appreciation. Also, if the emails from all over the place are any indication, next years will be even bigger and hopefully, with better weather!

respectfully,
Capt. M. Choate (brevetted)"