Chickamauga AAR Thread

[Eric Tipton]

Had a great time at the event. It was good to put on the gray again, and great to see our bretheren from the ANV. Always good to see our friends down south. I thought that the impressions look excellent collectively for sure. I will write more later - still unpacking. What did everyone think?

[tenfed1861]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Bland food.Bad heat.Headaches.Rough feet.Sun burnt.Good times.

[coastaltrash]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Headed out of Gulfport Thursday morning to meet Jeff Thompson, Charlie Lehman and Tommy Patton in Hattiesburg, Ms. Arrived in Chattanooga at about 2 am and crashed for the evening, followed by touring in the morning. Riding to an event with this bunch is something I have been looking forward to almost as much as the event.

I want to thank the guys that fell in with 7th Texas Co C for the weekend. Terry Sorchy did a great job as 1st Lt, Busenbark was excellent as 1st Sgt, Joe Blunt and Silas Tackitt did great as 2nd and 3rd Sgts and Cpls Bill Backus, Eric Tipton, Brian DesRochers, and Ryan Protz did outstanding as well. The drill on the company level was very good and a personal highlight for myself. I thought the company performed great from the Sub Altern down to the last private extremely well.

Thanks to the Battalion staff for putting the event together, looking forward to returning to Chickamauga again on a later date. I was extremely impressed with the entire event. Seeing the Stonewall Brigade for the first time in the same...well...similar...well in a Confederate Uniform at the same time with the WIG was very impressive. I could tell that from head to toe each man did a lot of research and spent a good chunk of change and it showed!

I would have to say the most impressive thing of the entire event was the skirmish line! The massive line moving across the field on Saturday afternoon was second only to watching the line disappear over the crest of the hill on Sunday. Great time and well worth it. Actually getting a chance to talk to some guys I have been around and never had the opportunity to talk with was reason enough to travel.

The top part of the weekend was sitting in the candle light on Snodgrass Hill with Skip Owens, Justin Runyon and Joe Blunt listening to Jim Ogden give us great accounts of the area. Sitting around with good friends and listening to history is hard to beat.

[jones56ga]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Howdy Yall,
I had a great time as a corporal in Co. A. I especially enjoyed being able to compare our impressions (AOT/ANV). Being able to relive the battle in real-time was amazing as well.Thanks Tripp, Hunter, and eveyone else who came together to make this event a great time.

-Ricky Jones

[HighPrvt]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Had a great time at my first WIG event. Enjoyed meeting a lot of new folks, especially the "Real" Texans. The demos, while a bit taxing were great fun, especially the stroll up Horseshoe ridge. Hope everyone made it home safely.

[Daryl Black]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Fellows,

A quick note from the interpreters' side of things. Excellent work overall -- the crowds were big (roughly 350 on Saturday alone), the visitors engaged, and the visuals provided by the battalion effective and dramatic. The real time movements were wonderful -- we had quite a few visitors attend all of the programs who were enthralled by the sense of scale they were provided. Had a few people ask about the possibility of doing something similar for the Federal side of the story. 125th Ohio? Just a thought.

[Spongebucket]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Bully to All!!
As a former interpreter at the site, this event was a pipe dream for many of us who sat in the summer sun behind the visitor center. Thanks to the organizers and thanks to the participants who helped make a vision a reality.
I think all can say they were impressed by the skirmish demos and the distance covered. The time while on the Brotherton field turning and seeing the 7th SC and thinking "wow, they really do look like yankees" (Good showing fellows). There are always things that were good and bad...but all in all, I had a great time. I want to thank the officers and NCOs (not just battallion level) but in my company. The corporals in my platoon did an outstanding job (having not worked with them before). They did there jobs when asked and were attentive to the men in their respective sections. Thank you.
My biggest dissappointment was not being able to go into a full out gorilla fight with Landrum on Sunday....next time buddy.
My hat also wants to go off to the site. Starting with Jim Ogden (who was Yoda to Landrum , Owens, Runyon, myself, and a few others with historical tales on Sat. night), Daryl Black, PhD, Keith Bohannon, PhD and W.O. Jeff Hodnett US Army, and the rest of the NPS staff.
Hmmmmm"Yankee Tigers"? Sounds good to me.
Thank you all fellers,
Joe Blunt

[Eric Tipton]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

125th Ohio?

That one is my favorite monument on Snodgrass Hill. Portray Ohioans at Chickamauga? Well sure. :D

[HighPrvt]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

The time while on the Brotherton field turning and seeing the 7th SC and thinking "wow, they really do look like yankees" (Good showing fellows).
Joe Blunt

Those of us on last picket duty Saturday night saw the the 7th SC's picket detail march past us in the dark. They would have been engaged if we didn't know who they were. They really looked like Yankees in the dark.

[Mtn.Guerilla]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Well all I can do is echo many of the comments already posted. This event was truly a great expierence, right in my own backyard. Co. A 7th Texas, thanks for letting me be one of your Cpl.'s, it's an honor to participate in such a fine event, with a great set of men and officers. Also thanks to Joe Walker for being a great Sgt. and being kind enough to give us NCO's information on the actual first person we were portraying. It was really a unique opprutunity to portray someone that was actually there, and try to get into their mindset. Also the skirmish line on Sat. was amazing. I had the privledge of being the VERY last man on the far left and it was quit a impressive sight. It was also an honor to be involved in an action that hadn't been performed on that scale, since the war.
" I lost 5 lbs. in 2 days, thanks to the AoT diet & excersise plan ! "
------- thanks, AoT :D

[trippcor]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Wow what a great event!!! How many times does one get to see companies from the ANV and AOT working side by side, a horse drawn artillery piece and limber, and a battalion sized skirmish line all at one event?? This was a first for me.

To the men of the Waco Guards, it was an extreme honor to have commanded such a fine company this weekend. You all did an amazing job of portraying the Waco Guards and honoring their memory. I am sure they would have been grateful for what we accomplished this weekend. I hope everyone left Sunday feeling as if they done something special and done it well. I know I did. My hat is off to each and everyone of you. I hope to serve with you all again in the near future. (Hint: register for Outpost)

A special thanks to Joe Walker and Tim Bell for providing lots of information on the Waco Guards including rosters and bios. It helped make the event even more memorable.

[DougCooper]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Also the skirmish line on Sat. was amazing. I had the privledge of being the VERY last man on the far left and it was quit a impressive sight. It was also an honor to be involved in an action that hadn't been performed on that scale, since the war.
" I lost 5 lbs. in 2 days, thanks to the AoT diet & excersise plan ! "
------- thanks, AoT :D

Was wondering who that was way down on the left of the line (400+ yards away). :D

I was lucky to for once have a non-stop flight to an event and Mike Ventura waiting on me at the airport. We did a Braves game and together Silas, Mike and I visited Kennesaw Mountain (note to self - attend the 2008 event), Pickett's Mill and Resaca (saw the 500 acre GA State Park) and ate as much southern food (BBQ, Biscuits, Fried Chicken and Waffle House) as I could. Thanks Mike!!!

The mark of a good commander and staff is knowing when to be flexible and always keeping the men's welfare and the mission in balance. Art Milbert and his staff did that very well. We never spent any more time in the sun than was necessary and he was always calculating the schedule and the movements to ensure we got 'er done an efficient way that was both a great experience for the spectators and us. Thanks also for the Guard Mount scenario and Skipper Owens' work as OOD.

Kent Oestentaad and his horse drawn gun was a great addition - those boys knew their biz, as usual, and stayed safe and professional during the misfire procedures. Hope they have good chiropractors - the boys bouncing on the wheels were hanging on for dear life a couple of times. We cheered them loudly as they came thundering by and went into battery. One of the unfortunate things in the campaigner end of the hobby is the low number of times we get to see that.

We sweated like...well like nothing since Vicksburg Water discipline was good. Temps were 89-91 and humidity ditto. Nobody needed a heavy blanket at night...nor a blanket at all... The forecast was perfectly accurate and my only concern is there may have been just a few folks whose mind said go when their body said no...so having an honest and accurate assessment of your fitness ahead of time is important, for the benefit of yourself and the organizers/leadership of events like this.

Not sure everyone knew that Saturday's program was in real time - a SUPERB idea. Going up the hill toward the South Carolina monument near the end I glanced over at Silas behind Co C and we just smiled...as the hair on the backs of our necks stood up and the sweat poured down our faces.

Food issue was real enough (sparse and accurate), and got the troops thinking about managing their rations. The heat kept everyone more focused on thirst than hunger.

The NPS folks and interpreters were oustanding...in fact, some of the best I have ever heard.

The 96 Rifles was a great company - it all clicked like we were veterans...which I guess we are, albeit from about 10 different organizations. Jerry's Kids (Stiles) had a good time.

Coolest moment for me was commanding our company's skirmish line and seeing that the left guide was 400 yards away and company commander Jerry Stiles was 80 paces back and battalion commander Art Milbert farther than that, each with a bugler. Skirmish done right, by the bugle. Field glasses actually came in handy.

Second coolest was waking up Sunday AM and seeing fog among the monuments and guns and seeing Chad stroll out to blow assembly of the buglers in the pre-dawn light.

Speaking of our 4 tooters, they were outstanding - being surrounded by simultaneous reveille from all of them each morning was annoying, as it would have been. :D Seriously, they greatly added to the event and the education of everyone on the calls.

The AoT/ANV contrast was striking and brought home just how dangerous it was for Longstreet's men in the smoke and haze of battle at the real deal and for the Yankees who withheld fire thinking friends were in front.

One special highlight for me was reuniting with comrade Charles Pinkham from my first days in the hobby. It was good once again seeing comrades from all over the country and hearing the words from Neill Rose and other's at Church Call. Neill also coordinated some truly entertaining letters from home, cooked his secret recipe Low Country Plantation Rice and did interpreting for NPS...a busy man!

Thanks to everyone involved for bringing the army back to Chickamauga in such an impressive way.

And finally, God Bless the memory and soul of Lt JC Lovelace, Co H. 7th South Carolina Infantry (my character), KIA September 20, 1863.

[75thbugler]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

I had a great time, I will never forget seeing the skirmish line moving by the bugle definatly one of the high points for the weekend. Thanks to my fellow buglers and the 7th South Carolina for having me hope to do it again sometime.

[hpotter]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Y'all I had a blast at my first WIG event. The park was fantastic and it was great putting faces with names. It was great meeting everyone from all over this great country. Only now can i really visualize the accounts of the battle. Looking forward to future events. Under five weeks til another great time.

[HighPrvt]

Re: Chickamauga AAR Thread

Mr. Cooper,
As I read over your account of the weekend I could smell the dust, and powder,and taste the beef, and sweet taters all over again!!!:D