AAR or something like it....

[FarbNoMore]

Re: AAR or something like it....

2nd platoon and the OR's...

Now that I've thought about it, the OR's don't deserve us!!!

[DougCooper]

Re: AAR or something like it....

My heart, mind and soul, are still out there in the woods.

I still haven't had ample time to digest everything. I have never come back from an event like this before. I don't seem to be the only one feeling this way.

Hope to post an AAR by this weekend.

Yeah, the 21st century is really ruining my buzz :D We are all feeling this way Jay.

[Cottoncarder]

Re: AAR or something like it....

Barbara McCreary attended your retirement ceremony--she will be on the road back to California for several days. She is a shining example of how we can learn a person's heart from their writing---we took her unmet and unknown into this community, solely on the basis of what we had seen of her on this board. She pulled her weight, and then some.

And later on down in my AAR, you'll hear more about that precious bloody shirt, and its true life significance.

Had y'all not unhanded it easily, its quite likely that Amy would have pulled that concealed butcher knife from her bosum and retrieved that shirt from you in short order.

Mizz Terre,
Thank you for your kind words. The biggest Thank You is for the wonderful experience I gleaned from this adventure and your ever strong and quiet tutelage. I couldn’t ask for any greater privilege than learning from the very best in the hobby. This was the event of a lifetime for me.

Definite hi point…five women (including myself) walking to the waterfall, stripping down and climbing down into that beautiful fern covered grotto and shimming onto that make-shift platform for a much needed natural shower. Oh, an experience like that doesn't come around but once!:p

[Stephen Johns]

Re: AAR or something like it....

My heart, mind and soul, are still out there in the woods.

I still haven't had ample time to digest everything. I have never come back from an event like this before. I don't seem to be the only one feeling this way.

Hope to post an AAR by this weekend.

Jay this is exactly how I feel. I could not have said it any better. I long to be in those woods still chasing down federals.

Regards,

[Old Reb]

Re: AAR or something like it....

Heck, fellows, if you all are missing it that much already, come on down and I will lead you up on the northern loop to where the real hills are.

[utahreenactor]

Re: AAR or something like it....

I can’t say I ache to be back out in the woods but my god the event was spectacular! The scenery, the men I met, the physical demands all added up to make it something that I will never ever forget! I don’t have much to compare it to as it was my first "proper" event but I have a feeling most events I will do from now on will seem lackluster because of it. Getting to see both sides of the action as a defector was a unique experience in itself! The jeers that came across the lines from my former mess mates nearly kept me up at night and made me keep my musket in reach every time I closed my eyes!

I do not exaggerate in any way when I say this was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Being sick on the march really gave me a new appreciation of what the men of the war must have gone through. It may have only been a bad head cold but I still felt like I was going to die!

Thank you to all the men who made the journey to partake and an even greater thanks to the men and women who organized the event! If ever given the chance again I will surely be there!

Chase Pinkham

[Silas]

Re: AAR or something like it....

"Hey, Chase Pinkham!
What were you thinkin'?
You signed for three years
To fight for Abe Lincoln."

I'll not forget hearing that Sunday morning, nor the reason why it was aimed at you.

[boozie]

Re: AAR or something like it....

The jeers that came across the lines from my former mess mates nearly kept me up at night and made me keep my musket in reach every time I closed my eyes!
Chase Pinkham

There were many plans for your unwilling return to Company A, but when you were spotted in the Confederate battle line in the "Black Forest", the boys went wild wanting at you. Seeing that blue frock coat sent the blood boiling.:baring_te

Glad you made it home O.K. Chase.

[DougCooper]

Re: AAR or something like it....

"Hey, Chase Pinkham!
What were you thinkin'?
You signed for three years
To fight for Abe Lincoln."

I'll not forget hearing that Sunday morning, nor the reason why it was aimed at you.

We looked around for something for Chase to wear that was a lit less blue but all we could manage was to switch him from a frock to a sack coat...but he still had the forage cap. We did a full blown Oath of Allegiance ceremony, but admonished him that BOTH armies would shoot him should he have another change of heart.

No worries - he soldiered on despite sounding like death warmed over at night. We lost two men to injuries (back and knee) so his reinforcement was very welcome.

To his credit and honor, he revealed very little of import intell wise on his former comrades, despite Ox Johnson's "gentle" persuasive techniques.

And Chase, for the last time - its deserter, not defector ;)

[Michael Comer]

Re: AAR or something like it....

I know evertime I would see Chase in Co. B it would make me do a double-take. I just couldn't get used to seeing him in our ranks. Didn't really trust him either.

[MO-Pard]

Re: AAR or something like it....

I was in charge of the rear guard and prisoners that day, and although I worked the prisoners including Chase to take a loyalty oath and desert, I don't know if I can take credit for convincing him.

We were glad to have you Chase and you did a splendid job, despite looking like you had the plague.

This is the first event I have ever been to where someone deserted and fought for the other side. Not that it hasn't happened, but it was a first and a nice touch. Obviously some great first person and 'black board material' for the Feds as well. In fact, the way the Feds handled it really added to the event. It would have been interesting if he had been 're-captured' and then re-exchanged........who would have trusted him?

Bully.

[AZReenactor]

Re: AAR or something like it....

It would have been interesting if he had been 're-captured' and then re-exchanged........who would have trusted him?

Oh, you can be sure if we had recaptured him, he wouldn't have been re-exchanged. Heck, If 2nd platoon captured him we probabably wouldn't have even turned him over to the brigade. ;-)

[utahreenactor]

Re: AAR or something like it....

The idea of being recaptured by the Yankees actually added a level of real stress to all of the skirmishes that I was in. Every time we would advance I would check the ground around me for the quickest and least vine covered route of escape if the Yankees came charging. That in itself added another level of realism to being a deserter (I am pounding the term into my head Doug, don’t you worry!)

Chase Pinkham

[FarbNoMore]

Re: AAR or something like it....

So Chase, had you not been switched to 1st platoon, you would have never deserted? You were that loyal to the great 2nd platoon? We understand Pinky.

[bbodoh]

Re: AAR or something like it....

Oh had we only Caught Pinky, I would have had to turn my back while 2nd Platoon did their thing.

Brad Bodoh
Mess #3
ONV
WIG