Elmira Death March AAR

[wilber6150]

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone had an AAR for the Elmira event that happened this month.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

Seen a few. Most have been good reading. The civilian occupants of the Widder Oakes cabin had a right fine time, too.

[Alex Bailey]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

Seen a few. Most have been good reading. The civilian occupants of the Widder Oakes cabin had a right fine time, too.

The civilians of the Widder Oakes cabin had some mighty tasty food Saturday night. Shame on that one old man handing out booze to young soldiers. :wink_smil

Charles, what was that red tonic called that you first passed around? It was quite delicious.

-Alex

[Charles Heath]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

Shame on that one old man handing out booze to young soldiers. :wink_smil

Why, yes, that clear liquid must have turned itself into vinegar in transit. Faulty cork to blame I suppose. The look was priceless.

That red medicinal product may have been genuine Watson's Ethiopian Tonic left over from some other events where such a snake oil show was permitted.

The label reads:

"Watson’s Ethiopian Tonic.

Found Far Superior to Common & Pedestrian Wizard Oil in Every Way, and Includes Genuine Ebufulyptus Tree Leaves.

This exceptional elixir has been known to cure incontinence, nostalgia, dyspepsia, hoarelgia, morning cough, baldness, chronic self abuse, infertility, flatulence, the effects of night air, improve the appearance of the fairer sex (two treatments may be required) and many other common ailments. It will also regulate the bowels with vigor, and you shall dance & sing like never before.

Vanvelden & Osgood, Prop.
27 Laurel Mountain Avenue
Albion, N.Y."

The light green liquid would have been Dr. Shuttlz Omnibus Elixir, which contained no decayed organic matter, according to the label. I do believe we only had two bottles of Utter's Bonded Liver Oil, which claims to cure night blindness.

Next....

[R.J.F.]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

I myself did not get a chance to sample the Widder Oakes so called snake juice, but I must say the women did give us Southern boys a fine fixen of tree grown ham, side dishes, and some fine ol' hospitality after a six mile engagement thru some of the Lords steepest mountains,most rugged hills, and mud ridden fields, that I've ever dealt with.All in all I can't wait till next years event, Thank you Doug and all who helped out it was a great time. Emory give the Ladies back their pie...
Rob Freund
45th Va. ANV

[Charles Heath]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

I wonder if anyone will tell the true tale of the Brothers Cock, before too much time elapses. Nice story, but not mine to tell.

[nrandolph]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

I had a lot of fun! I will say however, I was surprised at the steepness of some of the hills we fought our way up. I felt like I was back in WV Saturday! My favorite part was capturing Mike Jolin, and then listening to him pathetically pleading to avoid being a POW! It was all in good spirits and I enjoyed the days activities a lot! Congrats to Doug Oakes, his family, and all the others for a very well run event!

Neil Randolph
1st WV

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

I believe most of the AARs are posted over on the OTB Forum.

This event was small--about 25 infantry on a side and 6 or 7 mounted US cavalry, plus a half-dozen or so civilians--but it was a good one, and one held in the North so it was a shorter drive than usual for most of its participants. The Feds portrayed a company of the 114th New York Infantry and the 1st New York Dragoons, while the Rebs portrayed a Co. I, 45th Virginia. These units all tangled with each other during the historical setting for the event.

Guys from our group served in the US infantry (3 or 4), were 3 of the US cavalry, and most from our group--about another 12 or 13--were in the CS infantry (including me). The event scenario/setting was the Confederate retreat from Fisher's Hill, specifically in the vicinity of Rude's Hill, around September 24-25, 1864. During the event, CS forces engaged in rear guard actions against aggressor Federal forces. The length of the march was about six or so miles, with some hilly terrain (believe me, it was easier this year in the autumn than was in 2005 in June in 90-degree temperatures).

As like last year, rations issue was innovative. Last year we (the CS forces) were the aggressors and attacked the Federal camp early in the morning (6:00 a.m. or earlier) and drove them out (pre-planned) and then got to loot their well-stocked camp to our heart's content; it's not often you get rations by looting someone else's camp. This year, both sides got the bulk of their grub from civilian impressionists along the route of the march, purchased with stamps and repro period money provided to each participant in an envelope taht you received at registration check in (Charles Heath made up the envelopes).

This year was the first time the event featured mounted troops, and it included a horse drawn wagon as well which, of course, did not accompany the two sides along much of the march, which was largely through woods and meadows.

We Rebs heled off the Yanks and got 'em good in a few ambushes, and the Yank cav didn't get too aggressive with us until the last third of the march (when we were most tired). It was a novelty to see CR John Tobey riding with the cav and take a hit out of his saddle at one point--all the way to Mother Earth. Another time Chris Piering (also riding with the cav for the first time) and another fellow got a bit too ambitious out in front of the rest of the Yanks and were captured. Seeing how we were hard pressed, we had little time to deal with prisoners to we "paroled them to Jesus". Yes, it was a hard war.

To make the Yanks feel better, at the last rest stop on the march (at a nice pond in a meadow) we deliberately didn't post any pickets and most of us dozed off in the grass until the Vile Yanks showed up and shot us like fish in a barrel. It's kind of strange being massacred by your friends and members of the same reenactor group.

At the end of the March we arrived at the civilian camp atop Comfort Hill and were treated to a great dinner by the civilians there, and then moved off to our Saturday bivouac while the Feds were, well, fed, at the cabin.

Plans were for Sunday morning actions, but both sides seemed too worn out from the previous day's exertions and the event was basically over by 8:30 a.m.

The Federal infantry was commanded by Doug Oakes (Living History Guild and CR), 1st Sgt Steve Savage (LHG), and Sgt. Nic Ellis (83rd Pa K/CR); the US cavalry was commanded by Tom Craig (CR); and the CS infantry was commanded by Dave Berndt (CR), 1st Sgt Dave "Grumpy" Towsen (CR), and yours truly as 2nd Sgt. CS corporals included Bill Woodhams (CR) and Mike Peterson (CR).

Charles refers to "the Cock brothers". This was something that some in the CS side thought was an overdone, bad joke; admittedly, we probably milked it for all it was worth and then some, but seven of us on the CS side used as first-person portrayals the seven members of the Cock family, from the Wytheville, Va. area, who all served in the 45th Virginia (admittedly, a couple of them were no longer with the regiment at the time we were portraying), including:

* Enoch Cock (portrayed by Dennis Schank, 151st NY)
* Gabriel "Gabby" Cock (Scott Schotz, 151st NY)
* S. Cock (Bill Woodhams, CR)
* James Edward "Jed" Cock ("Roundball" from the 26th NCT)
* Granville Cock (Pete Smith, CR)
* Lafayette Cock (Mike Ryan, CR)
* William Cock (yours truly)

We had some fun with the names, but it was nevertheless interinest and informative to portray so many members of the same family who all served in the same company ("I") of this regiment.

This was a good, physical, well-run, but not overly mentally stressful event that was good for many of us for ending our active 2006 field season. Doug Oakes and his wife Terri, along with a number of other helping folks, plan and run a darned good event.

The 2007 Death March will, I understand, be in September '07 at a new site north of Binghampton, New York. Yes, it's hilly there too. :)

[FWL]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

Sorry I could'nt be there boys, the usual modern excuses abound. I will have Spotsy on my list for next May.

Regards

[Charles Heath]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

A Link To The Thread On The OTB Forum

Nothing like a heck of a hailstorm on a quiet Thursday afternoon. Sigh.

[jcraig]

Re: Elmira Death March AAR

Retreat from Rude's Hill
Civilian AAR

I had a great weekend taking "refuge" at the Widow Oakes' cabin. What a great site for a small civilian event in conjunction with a military march! Our event really started on Saturday morning – Friday night was spent getting settled in the cabin. I have never been more appreciative of a roof over my head as I was Friday night when I heard that rain hitting the tin roof. Mr. Charles kept the woodstove fed for much of the night, so we were both warm and dry!

Saturday was spent preparing food and waiting for soldiers to appear. The element of not knowing when and where the troops were, added to the experience. We were constantly listening for the sounds of marching feet, horses' hooves, or gun fire. The acoustics in the hills deceived us several times into thinking that things were closer than they actually were.

I made butter for the first time, which I was very proud of. We enjoyed it with our lunch and then proceeded to loose the butter until well after dinner. We were sure some soldier took it! I have never snapped so many beans or peeled and chopped so much squash in my life!! The food preparation took up much of the day, but it was worth it when the Confederate soldiers arrived looking very tired and hungry. It made us loyal Confederate citizens proud to be able to provide for the weary troops. However, we did make them work for their supper and were very impressed with the amount of wood that was chopped and were especially impressed with the workmanship on the cabin porch! The theft of the pie from the windowsill was very much expected and it was fun to witness the guilty faces and excuses that arose when it was discovered.

Things fell apart, as far as first person, when the Union troops arrived. We tried to make it work, but it was just too odd having both US and CS guys in the same place. They did chop some more firewood for us, which was great, but at that point, it was more of social hour. It was really fun to experience cooking and serving for so many people – that's something I had not done before. Once everyone cleared out, we were able to enjoy a peaceful meal, clean everything up, and enjoy the rest of the evening. By Saturday night, I was used to (or tired enough) not to notice the symphony of snoring in the little cabin.

Sunday, we go up, had breakfast and then started packing for home. We all decided that we could easily have spent a week very comfortably in that cabin. The improvement of the outhouse, from open-air pagoda-style, to enclosed and private, (thanks to Mr. Charles), made it much more hospitable!

Great event, great company, great food!

Jessica