Outpost III - AAR Thread

[Mad Hatter]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I had a great time at Outpost III and was honored when asked by Tar Water Mess to attend though I had only been to Perryville earlier this month. Because this event was non scripted with the enemy just a few fields away, there was a sense of unknown which made it even better. I learned more by being in first person on this event and honed my skills. This includes the movements, pickets, counter-signs, sleeping on gum blanket, drying of socks after Saturday morning, rations (beef could have been presented better), rough coffee, water detail, and much more. My hat is off to the NCO's and Officers of Co. B. Their excitement and forward thinking motivated me to push myself on marches faster than the double quick time and forcing to exclude some modern military thought processes in order to stay in 1862. It seems that "hurry up & wait" was as much then as it is now.

This event was a deciding factor in making the financial and time allocations to be a living historian. I just have to get on the ball these next few months to get my gear together and Matt is helping me with that.

Oh, and CS Cav take a hit at least when there is an entire Co in your area....thanks for leaving your rations out in the open. The dried fruit was great.

Thanks again to both sides of the field; especially those that traveled great distances.

Christopher P. Hettinger
Co. B/89th Illinois

[Coatsy]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

To quote my Captain it was an "Outstanding" weekend. There were so many mixed emotions going through my head, but I think Mr. Lewis put a darn fine perspective on the Confederate side for the weekend

"For one, CS troops held their own for the majority of the time only to be driven at the end."

Such was the fate of the AOT.

I also want to point out that our Federal opponents had the spirit and grit of the men that they were portraying this weekend. Sunday morning when Mr. Butler's section came up at our portion of the line was probably one of the best actions I've been in in some time. It was hot, heavy, and in the end, that darned stealthy Scuba Steve's company came at our flank and rear causing us to withdraw. (see Mr. Lewis' comment again)

I am very grateful to have gone to the event with such a fine group of men serving with me and a fine group of men across the field in blue as well! I am probably going to post a more "official" flavored AAR, but that will come later.

(On a side note I'd like to try to talk to some of the guys via PM from Ewing's company that I traded "verbal barbs" with on Sunday when you came into our rear. Things got heated and I'd like to send some apologies to them if I can.)

The highlights:

-Saturday's late morning actions when the Feds and Rebs fought a back and forth action up on the ridge, down through the brush and across the valley. Frank's whistle to sound the assault and the explosion of gray out of the woodline was a rush! The Billy's did a damn fine job on their end as well!

-Sending the rest of my platoon with the indomitable Sgt Mitchell to try to get Co. F back to our lines. That was just plain desperation and nerves there. Since I've been fighting broncitis and the loss of my voice my Captain couldn't hear me trying tell him I had to get our boys out from a tight spot so he thought I told him to "piss off" and having to relay instructions to Sgt Mitchell via my men that had their voice.

-Setting up a great picket post on Saturday evening and having the boys fortify their postitions. I know that annoyed Jim's guys on Sunday.

-Sunday morning's actions with Butler's guys trying to push us off of the hill. Now that was a HOT fight.

-And I will classify getting pushed out of our position as a good moment as well. Chaos, Chaos, Chaos and seeing a muzzle blast from the woods that was my ultimate end.

The bad:

-Not having a voice for most of the weekend. It was tough to relay orders to my platoon all weekend. Blaargh!

-The boys getting down to their last cartridge. Oh no indeed!

The crazy:

-The Federal bugler that walked right up to me on Saturday early am after the fight. I think my pistol blast scared him off :wink_smil

And Steve, Joe, and Tipton gave me a great compliment. They said that the look on my face when I busted out of the woods on Satuday and saw their company was a moment for them. I hope my reaction of stumbling and almost cartwheeling across the valley after they shot at me was a good reaction. Because I don't think I could have stopped right there even if I had wanted to. The inertia combined with my super speeding it down the hill had me going at Mach OCN.

Thanks to all that came and participated. Oh and one more thing I caught up with Greg Deese in the parking lot on Sunday and we both agreed that the weather was perfect for the weekend. It really reminded me of reading about the two armies manuvering around middle Tennessee in the fall of 1862.

[DougCooper]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Which moment would that be, Doug? Inquiring minds want to know.

When you guys charged during the battle, with us in line of battle with the Critters just behind us and the rest of the infantry to our left (Sunday morning) - we thought it a somewhat hysterical but very brave move to shout "drop em and come with us"

Now having said that, you guys were tremendous all weekend and a real thorn in our side, especially at night. When we sent the paroled reb out into the middle of the field rather than on the road hoping you guys would stop him, we figured out where one of your pickets was, but not the rest. So we sent a patrol out to try and fill in the rest around 0230. We saw some in front, but suddenly heard one of your horse whinney just behind and to right of us. We probably ran the 200 yards in full kit back to our post in less time than it takes to tell it.

Our constant worry was being "gobbled up by the cavalry." Sure enough, around 0530 Sunday, still dark as Hades, two of your men in federal overcoats somehow came from inside our perimeter and gobbled up 3 men on picket without firing a shot. We immediately assumed Nathan Bedford was out there. Well done!!!!

[Charles Heath]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Harold & Kumar Go To AAMCO

Somewhere on the way home yesterday, a mean ol' crotchety ass in the mini-van's shotgun seat turned around and said, "We blame all of the good times this weekend on Pukin' Bill Backus." This is more true than many know, because with the postponement of ATB to '08, we took a second look at attending Cornpost 3, and there was Bill's name on Capt. R.M.A.* Landrum's company, so some of us cobbled together a plan to attend.

The moment a plan collides with reality, the plan loses, so we went with plan B. Straight out of a really bad bar joke, we had a Tooter (Randy), a Coastie (Jason), a Menonnite preacher (Petey), the Carthagenian (Joe), a bona fide hound dog (if you live down south, you know what this means) in the form of Pukin' Ladykiller Bill, and myself. Ley, Dave, Caleb, Dan, Bro. Yoder, and few other HMICs were left behind to guard the homefront. I have to mention Jason's nickname is now "Almost." I should also probably point out Ste. Julia of Stuart's Draft is happy to see us "adopted chillens" arrive, and really happy to see us go.

Sometimes the road trip can be as fun as the event itself. In this case, both the trip out to Spring Hill by way of Murfreesboro, and the trip back home by way of the Tomb of the Unknown Waffle were superb. The fact the transaxle didn't fall out of the minivan (over 200,000k miles when the odometer stopped some years ago) is penultimate in any assessment of the trek to and from the Volunteer State. We had a lot of laughs, a little rain, and a very nice, yet all too brief visit to Stone's River/Murfreesboro, and we even managed to get Bill to eat some Chinese food. Bill did not puke up the Chinese food. This is good. The van did not need to find AAMCO for a replacement tranny. This is double plus good.

That's the shortest half cock I've ever seen.

The directions to the site were excellent, and made even better for those of us coming in to the Saturn Nation via TN 840. We stopped at a local convenience store, performed a courtesy pressure test on his plumbing in serial fashion a la Steve "Quiet Man" Tyler, and found the parking area to be cozy and a frost free hydrant amazingly placed right next to our parking spot, along with a trough/bath tub. Our pre event funk was not that bad, although we are perfectly willing to upgrade.

Five of us changed into the uniform of all that was, is, and ever will be right, (and as soon as halftime is over, everything is going to be all right again) and Randy slipped into the uniform of the Indigo Nation Aggressors, and soon became RJ's apprentice for the duration, or at least until the time Herb "OCN Pistolier" shot him dead at VCR** Registration was a breeze, and we all used our EZPass for the haversack, knapsack, poke sack, and your hands are too cold to inspect that....well nevermind. Our first order of business was to drop, flop, and sleep. The event was getting off to a good start by allowing us to demonstrate a skill we had previously mastered.

I slept through most of what happened next, but Rev. Dennis Neal led us through a Ph.D. level coursework lecture about the Impressionist period, and those of us who are not generally easily impressed with such high fallutin dogma were impressed that his impression of our impression was impressive enough to impress him. We had a ration issue that included sausage, bacon, sausage, shelled yeller corn, sausage, parched corn, sausage, sweet potatoes, sausage, Satan's own communion wafers, sausage, scallions, sausage, goobers, sausage, and a few coffee beans. We spotted Cherub Cheeks stuffing his pockets with sausage, and made sure our section, 3rd Section, the best section, aka "Wick's Wildmen" were able to keep any sausage from going to waste. Mr. Caldwell, thank you for leading by example. Petey and Joe were assigned the task of guarding the Confederate strategic corn reserves, or at least a 20-pound bag thereof.

We soon learned the identity of our platoon leader by the light of the moon, and immediately the 2nd platoon unanimously requested a transfer to Rev. Pompey's company. The ringleader of this uprising has never been identified, but is strongly suspected to have been on or about the platoon break most of the weekend, except when hiding behind a wagon, hiding behind a tree, conveniently falling out anytime the company of tall manly men double quicked forward while under fire, etc. The request was denied. We had a lovely musket inspection, and the poor fellow next to me sure picked a bad time to have a barrel full of molasses. We also realized we were home in Williamson County, and many of the comments about local women could and would have been about our cousins, but that didn't stop us from enjoying a highly speculative time discussing the similarities between certain large, rounded types of produce and....yeah, I guess I'd best stop there.

Trigger happy.

As soon as we ran some old women out of a shed and got a fire going, we cooked up some rations. The sausage was good cold. The bacon needed some serious fire loving. Getting a fire going was not as much of a challenge as we suspected, mostly thanks to a generous supply of squaw wood which was nowhere near as wet as the deadfall. Some fellow likes blowing on a fire as much as I do, and we had a fine time. We'd reenact this the next day not too far away, in fact. We flopped down and went to sleep in the usual puppy pile. Being warm as it was our puppy pile only needed one blanket, but the ground was a bit damp. The accoutrements were a bit lumpy. The two hours of sleep was very nice.

It was our turn to stand picket, and we did. Scattered shots kept us awake, and a mini-war erupted to our front. We watched a couple of riders approach our flank and get into our rear, and the corporal asked me to shoot the man. I did so, but obviously missed, since he kept on riding. I'm probably going to have to pay for that cartridge, because it turns out that rider was one of our own Knights in Shining Jeancloth. Ja, I vas just following der orders. We were recalled to join the company and then marched somewhere to a place we'll just call "the hedgerow."

Mulching Through Georgia

Our captain was more cranky than usual, and he thought it would be a good idea to boost morale by running the company at a triple quick through a brushpile over logs one time. This being highly entertaining, we did this two more times at a brisk pace. Well, some did. I'll need to move up my hip replacement surgery by a few years. Thanks! Some cavalry came by to trade coffee for tobacco at the canter. So much for the First Battle of the Hedgerow, but we learned those people screaming "We're whacked!" don't drive worth a damn. At some point I performed my dead, yet still snoring, sea turtle impression. Pukin' Bill was kidnapped by Amazon women with large, well, you get the idea. Herb, the OCN Pistolier, shot the bugler, but didn't get the principal musician. (You know the tune, so sing it.)

Peek a Boo

Some federal prisoners were escorted into the company area. They smelled bad, and were obviously bad men, but they had cheese. Three of us were drafted for picket duty, so we took a position by the woodline and played peek a boo with the federal pickets, some mounted folks, and poor Ken Knopp looking for something lost in the tall grass. Later we would learn the federals moving along a road to our front were folks heading to the parking lot, and that we had been under a truce for the past 3 hours anyway. Sam Watkins was right, we really were just a side show to the big show.

We were relieved, and I went to sleep, and dreamt of ways to grind that yellow corn. Here we were in Tennessee and not a pair of rocks to be found. I had a Bill Bugs Young moment, as I lost my pocket knife (dropped from my pocket while asleep) and Joe returns it to me before I knew it was even missing. Thanks, Joe. Say what you will about Carthagenians (salted or unsalted), but they are honest.

That's my blankie!!!!!

We returned to our picket posts about dusk and that lasted well into the darkness. We could see mounted patrols, heard wagons, listened to scattered shots here and there, and tried very hard not to fall asleep. Some angel of mercy had us return to camp, and we went to sleep. Thanks to the sun shining brightly and warmly during the afternoon, the ground was dry and warm. A funny thing happened on the way to the spoon line, and that Joe and I picking up the wrong bedroll and knapsack, respectively. We sorted this out pretty quick, but if a man can feel a blanket sticking out of a knapsack (in the dark) and not only know the maker, the model, and pretty much know the year of manufacture, that's pretty sick. Boy, I'm glad I'm not a gearhead. Before going to bed, we filled our canteens and watched "The Four Kings" munch some grass and young corn. Those famous BGR oxen probably ought to be on the Who Is Us list.

Where is my canteen?

With a few hours sleep under our belts, we jumped up and ran around again. Those People tried to outflank us through the low ground. I found a nice tree to hide behind, and in short order two officers and a sergeant were following my shining example of being a completely worthless soldier. I have to work hard at this, but they seemed to be naturals. A blue clad cavalryman fell from his saddle and a lieutenant we hadn't seen for days lept forward to assist this man in his final minutes by relieving him of the considerable weight of any Masonic material culture he may have had on his person, lest they become dug relics 140+ years later.

I have to mention an incident involving our beloved Sergeant Major. After a lengthy pep talk about the importance of being well watered, we noticed the majority of our canteens were taken away, and they did not return for the duration of the war. Those of us who had full canteens were made out to be some form of water deprived idgit; however, this idgit would like to point out he had water during the battle, and any further inquires should be directed to the 15th Alabama. Later, I asked the sergeant major if this was intentional, and he blamed it all on the officer corps, as any good NCO would do. There is more to this story, but if anyone really needed water all they needed to do was ease over to the water wagon and draw a dipperful. Sunday was a good cool morning for what must have been a common CW experience.

At this point, the battle appeared to be going well for us, as pretty much any direction we'd choose to fire we'd find plenty of federal targets. Not to be greedy with all these targets of opportunity, we chose to depart the party early. While we could see a number of people racing for a woodline about 300 yards distant, we chose to amble at the mosey over a ridge. Much to our surprise, we found a large number of targets heading our way. Not only do these people not drive worth a damn, but they are like flies on honey. They just will not leave.

Soggy Bottom Boys

Me and Joe (I've always wanted to say that) employed a little strategery and adjusted our skedaddling for the woodline with the most wandering gray matter. Unfortunately, the rest of the canteen story is about to play out. I had to pee. This was not any making of the water, but a making of a flood of Biblical proportions. You'd have thunk I'd consumed three pitchers of beer for breakfast, and I'm not talking about pony pitchers. Unfortunately, and this was not intentional, but a triad of federal prisoners were immediately downhill. I'm truly sorry, but in hindsight it is rather funny. Maybe 20 minutes later, I caught up with Joe and the company, and Uncle Beau offered me a nice piece of bacon. Kiev was still defending his cornbread with lard filling from a previous ration issue. Sadly, we noticed several suitable rocks in the cornfield as we moved across the field, but it was too late to grind corn.

About this time, there was a Stillness at Rippavilla*** and the war was over, or at least this portion thereof. As is the case at WIG events, the bulk of the participants form a square formation at the end of the affair, paint their faces bright colors, grab their shields and spears, and perform the Zulu Dance. Well, that's all I could think of when Terry and Art were, well, you had to be there.

She still has all her teeth

The trip back was enjoyable. Pukin Bill has a Jesse Owensesque sprint from the van to the restroom that should be captured on film some day. We like Burger King. Burger King likes us. Most of all, we ate at the Waffle House betwen Smyrna and Gallatin TN, and Randy and Bill are truly worthy of the name hound dog. At the COI, we may have a class in why you don't pick up waitresses in a Waffle House. The van made it back to Stuart's Draft, and we went on our way to Richmond, Fredericksburg, Newpy News, Frederick, Baltimore, etc.

As tacticals go, they generally fall into one of two extremes. They are either really good or really bad. Some tacticals can't even get the basic infrastructure together for the event to actually take place as planned. This was not a problem at this event, and some infrastructure elements were well beyond what has been done elsewhere in recent years. As to the usual Cowboys & Indians stuff that generally plagues this type of event, well, there wasn't as much of that at Cornpost as we've seen at a heck of a lot of other tacticals. Randy pretty much summed it up with his one word commentary from the backseat of the minivan, "Great!"

Oh, and what a joy it was not to drive a single mile. Next time, we may need a bigger van.

*Obvious South Park reference.
** Very Close Range
***Apologies to the late Bruce Catton

[Mark Susnis]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

The event lived up to its mission statement of being a "tactical". Great to see the use of combined arms operations (cavalry) in order to perform reconnaissance operations for the ground maneuver forces which in this case was the 89th Illinois Infantry. Great location to have an event.

One of the issues that I will offer that needs to be corrected in the future is the reception plan for late arrivals to the event site. John Grimes and I arrived on site after midnight and thankfully Brian Hicks and another gentleman manned a check-in point with an accountability roster. Brian directed us to the Federal area but once we parked in the Federal area we literally walked all over creation for almost two hours looking for the 89th Illinois. At one point we heard gunfire and walked to the direction of the guns and found two more pards who were also lost and had not linked up with the main body. Bottom line is that somebody on the Federal side should have manned a guard post to guide late arrivals to the link up point and provide direction to the water point and ammunition and most importantly have accountability of assigned personnel. Worse off what if someone had become seriously injured while wandering around? We both flew to Nashville so we didn't travel with ammo and unfortunately didn't think about getting water for our canteens before arriving at Rippavilla. Granted the real soldiers in '62 got lost and separated during the march but it was just a little frustrating. I did enjoy seeing the Carter House Museum in Franklin and the Tennessee State Museum in downtown Nashville on the way out of town.

Regards,
Mark Susnis

[trippcor]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread -long

What a great weekend!! Everyone did a great job on both sides. One of things that impressed me the most was each side reacted to the situtations they found themselves faced with. I did not see any side or company become invincible. I also saw a lot of hits being taken on both sides which was certainly refreshing.

Here is a copy of my the official report of this weekends actions as Captain of Company A, 20th Tennessee:

Oct 29, 1862
Spring Hill Tn,


Lt Col Art Milbert, 20th Tn

I submit the following report of the actions that occurred on October 26th, 27th and 28th in and around Spring Hill Tennessee. Before I get into the details of those actions I must commend the behavior of my men under fire. The men of Co. A brought great honor to themselves and to the State of Tennessee these last several days. They fought with great zeal and bravery never shunning a fight and only giving ground when faced with overwhelming odds or orders to do so. I am very honored and humbled to command such men.

My company began to assemble on the grounds of the Rippavilla Plantation located south of Spring Hill with the rest of the battalion on October 26th. With but a few stranglers missing, we marched out late that evening with full haversacks and canteens. The men were very grateful for the rations they received as they were of better fair than they had seen in a while. When we arrived at our campsite for the night, Co. A was sent out as pickets. We established out pickets around the perimeter of the camp with our grand guard located about 100 yards from what I felt was the most likely location of a possible enemy attack. This was near what appeared to be an unfinished wooden railroad trestle. We remained on picket until 2 am when relived by Capt Landrum’s company.

About one hour after being relieved, we heard shots fired off to the north. The men knowing that the enemy was in the area were quick to respond even though we were not on duty. I think the fear of possibly being caught unready moved the men to quick action. I went to find Capt Landrum to see what was going on. I appeared he had sent out a patrol and it had encountered an enemy patrol. Since it appeared that this was a small skirmish, I had my company rest once again. We remained at rest until we received orders to march out later that morning.

As you are aware, the battalion moved out before daybreak on the morning of the 27th with Capt Landrum’s company out as skirmishers screening our movements. We moved behind them skirting the tree line to further help screen us from possible enemy scouts. After marching an undetermined distance, the darkness even with a full moon making it hard to judge, Capt Landrum’s skirmishers made contact with the enemy. It was quickly determined that this was much more than just a patrol or pickets. The battalion was deployed with my company anchor the battalion’s right flank. Capt Aufmuth’s company was on my left flank. Due to the darkness, it was difficult to determine the exact size of the enemy. Initially I thought we were facing only one company. However we start to receive fire from our extreme right flank and Sgt Thomason reported another company of enemy infantry was trying to make a move on that flank. I ordered my first platoon to wheel so that they could meet the approaching enemy, which were no more than slightly darker spots in the darkness. Not long after, our cavalry arrived to help reinforce our right flank and I as able to wheel my first platoon back into line with the rest of the battalion. We continued to exchange fire with the enemy for a good while with neither side able to gain an advantage. At some point we received orders to with draw. As we with drew the enemy pursued. After a short running battle, we were ordered to take positions on some high ground ringed by thickets and other natural obstacles. This ground was a natural fortress. We were very happy to have found it. The enemy would have one hell of a time pushing us out.

Upon our arrival at this natural fortress, which many began calling horseshoe ridge, I deployed my company to protect against any rushes by the enemy on our right flank. After a quick inspection of our area, it was determined that there were only two easy points of entrance into our natural fortress. The remainder of the perimeter was covered by dense a dense thicket of privet hedge, briers, deadfall, steep sloops and trees which would be very difficult for the enemy to get through. One could not have asked for better ground to defend.

As daylight continued to grow, we were able to determine that the enemy had occupied the high ground across the valley from us. We soon received orders to try and push the enemy from that ground. My company moving together with Capt Aufmuth’s were to charge across the valley and up the ridge pushing the enemy quickly. It was hoped we could move quickly enough to cause confusion in the Yankee ranks. Unfortunately the very thing that made our position so defensible worked against us on our attack. The thickets slowed our attack and allowed the yanks to meet it and stand their ground. Realizing that our attack had failed I order the companies back to our old positions. Luckily our casualties were light, though I did receive a wound in the back from a federal cavalry trooper. Lt. Coats was able to pull me to safety though my sword was left behind much to my chagrin.

After returning to our position, Capt. Aufmuth and I received a report that Capt Landrum’s company was under heavy fire on our left flank. Capt Aufmuth felt we could help relieve the pressure on our left flank if we launched a counter attack on our end of the line. He felt that the enemy would not expect such an attack. I concurred and as the senior officer present order the attack. We had learned from our last attempt so the initial assault was very successful. The enemy was pulling back from the ridge as we had hoped. The enemy however had a company in reserve that was able to move down the valley into the left flank of our attack threatening to cut off our two companies from the remainder of the battalion. I ordered a retreat but Capt’s Aufmuth’s company was too heavily engaged and was not able to retreat. It is hear that I must commend the bravery and actions of my company and specifically Lt Coats. Due to my earlier wound and overseeing the attack I had remained in the rear of the two companies. This left Lt. Coats in command of company A during the attack. Seeing that Capt. Aufmuth’s company would be either killed or captured to the man if he pulled Co. A back, he elected to stay and provide support so the other company could retreat. His quick actions and courage under fire are to be commended. I believe he has the makings of a fine commander.

The men of both companies fought with great courage and tenacity and were able to extricate themselves from what could have been a complete disaster. The timely arrival of our cavalry to block the infantry company moving down the valley on our left flank ensured that both companies were able to escape with a majority of our force. My deep thanks and gratitude go to the troopers under Capt Choat’s command. The total losses for my company were 3 killed or wounded. Capt Aufmuth’s company had 5 killed, wounded or captured. It certainly could have been much worse and I take full responsibility for this action. I hope you will accept my apology for putting a large portion of our force in danger. We were also able to take a few prisoners during the retreat back to our lines.

After this attack my company was spent. They had only had a few hours of sleep and the constant action had sapped their strength. Lucky the enemy was apparently in no better shape as they requested a ceasefire and prisoner exchange. As you know the ceasefire was to last till 5 o’clock, we welcomed the chance to get some rest and to dry out. Sgt Gott, my orderly sergeant, received a summons to deliver a package through enemy lines to the widow of one of our fallen comrades. The federal commander was gracious enough to allow the package of personal belongs to be taken to her. I understand she was very grateful to have her husbands belongs returned.

The rest of the evening and night passed without incident. I believe both sides were worn-out and thankful for a chance to rest and recover. I know the men in my company were. Having spent most of the day fighting they were very low on rounds with about 20 per man. Some time during the evening, more ammunition was delivered and though we did not know it yet it would be put to good use in the morning.

As the sun rose on the morning of October 28th, I ordered the men to pack their gear and get ready to move if ordered. We had no sooner started packing when shots rang out. Sgt Mitchell informed me that the enemy was massing to assault our right flank. The men rushed back to the lines just in time to receive the attack. We were able to push the enemy back several times. A couple of times the enemy was able to make it over our defensive works but were pushed back by counter attacks lead by Sgt Mitchell on our far right flank supported by our cavalry. The enemy was finally getting a taste of what we had encountered the day before and it felt good.

After being repulsed several times on our right flank the enemy began shifting forces to our left. It was not long before we heard firing on our left. Having learned our lesson yesterday, I held our lines and did not attempt a counter attack. I was also concerned the attack on the left was just a rouse trying to draw our attention a way from another attack on our right. This would later prove to be true.

As things were getting very hot by the sounds on our left, we heard shots coming from the rear of our right flank. I turn to see men in blue entering our fortress. I immediately ordered my reserve to meet this new attack at the same time our cavalry and Capt Landrum’s reserve also engaged them. Our combined forces were able to push them back into the tree line from which they had came but were not able to move them further. I then received orders to take a portion of my company and try to push the enemy out of our rear. While I understood the need to remove the enemy from this position, I felt it would weaken our front to the point we could not resist a serious attack. I however followed orders and had Lt Coats take a platoon to push the enemy in our rear. Not long after he began his attack, then the enemy did what I feared they would. They attacked our weakened front with considerable strength. Though my men again fought with great courage and bravery, we were not able to hold and were forced to retreat.

I moved to consolidate both platoons with the enemy all around us. It was apparent we would soon be completely surrounded and our only choice was to try and punch out. I determined that the Yankees in our rear were in the weakest position and ordered a charge in their direction hoping to break out of the encirclement. It was during this charge that I received what I feared was a mortal wound. As I was leading the charge from the front of my company firing my pistol as we charged, the enemy let lose with a volley which hit me and several of my men many times and knocking me senseless. When I regained my senses, I found that the fighting had passed on and I was surround by the dead and wounded from both sides. As I looked around more I saw to yanks approaching with one of our men held prisoner. Since my pistol was empty there was not much I could do but also agree to be their prisoner as well. Not long after that a small squad of our men appeared and took them prisoner. Seeing that we were now in the rear of whatever fighting was happening, I ordered a truce among the men present and we agreed whichever army returned the others among us would be prisoners. We then began sharing what little food and water we had among us. After a while we all realized that it was quiet. Having spent some time getting to know each other it seemed like such a shame for any of us to become prisoners so we agreed to allow all of us to try and return to our own forces. Thus we parted and went our separate ways. As I made my way in the direction of where I thought our battalion might be, I gathered many stranglers. To my regret I also found the body of Lt Coats. He had dies while facing the enemy. His lose is a blow to our cause. I hope his courage and bravery will be an inspiration. I was able to make it back to our lines and rejoin our company. I was thankful to find at least a portion had managed to fight their way out. Sergeant Gott had taken command after I had been wounded and Lt Coats had been killed. With the help of Sgt. Mitchell and Scoggins, he was able to keep what remained of company A together to fight another day.

Thus ended the actions of October 26th through the 28th. I cannot commend the actions of my men during these actions. They performed every thing that was asked of them and more. They have brought great honor to themselves, their families, Tennessee and our cause. I cannot close this without mentioning the bravery and skill showed by our enemy. They too fought hard. I hope all thoughts of a quick and easy victory over the yanks have been dispelled. They are not the slackers our press and politicians have led us to believe they were.

Respectfully submitted,

Capt. Tripp Corbin
Company A, 20 Tennessee
Commanding

[ButtermilkRanger]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

When you guys charged during the battle, with us in line of battle with the Critters just behind us and the rest of the infantry to our left (Sunday morning) - we thought it a somewhat hysterical but very brave move to shout "drop em and come with us"

I must have been detailed elsewhere for that one, but I agree, that's pretty hysterical. There were a lot of things I thought we could have done differently, but in the end, we were just doing our jobs. I believe the capturer of your pickets was the Chief of Scouts, Ronnie Tucker. The job of cavalry was to be the eyes and ears of the army and during an engagement with Infantry, more often than not, to protect the rear and flanks. We were far from perfect, but we at least tried to do that much. There were many guys in that group who had never done an EBUFU type immersion event. Hopefully some saw the light of what a quality event can do. As always with anything the WIG does, this was a quality event.

And to think I came out of retirement for this one. I'm glad I did.

[ButtermilkRanger]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Oh, and CS Cav take a hit at least when there is an entire Co in your area....thanks for leaving your rations out in the open. The dried fruit was great

Amen, amen, and amen!!!! I'm one of those cavalrymen who agrees 100% with your view that more cavalry should take hits. I detest kevlar cavalry (and kevlar infantry for that matter, too). I also detest the farby leaning-over-the-pommel-of-your-saddle reenactoristic "kill" you see so much, and my own pet peeve, the laying-on-the-ground, dead- holding-your-horse-by-the-reins kill. Nothing looks more silly. And I'm not saying that sarcastically or tongue-in-cheek. I really do mean it.

On the other hand, I also detest infantry who whine about kevlar cavalry and then cry when a panic-stricken riderless horse runs through a company of men in a blind panic to escape something he doesn't understand. I've been run over by quite a few horses over the years. I've never had one injure me beyond a few stiches and some contusions. At an event, I think it just ads to the realism. Most horse will only run a few hundred yards in the wrong direction before turning around to run back the other way. Eventually they'll settle down.

Alas, the dilema of kevlar cavalry.:wink_smil

[Mtn.Guerilla]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I believe I'm still shaking off the chill from the Sat night picket, but here it goes. To the men of Co. A 7 Tenn., great job all around. Great comradey, superb leadership, beautiful land, and plenty of hard fighting. I was very impressed of what we were able to accomplish with the amount of men we had. There were almost too numerous "realisms" to mention but a few for me was, the intense fighting followed by lengthy lulls and being on picket and thinking every tree and shrub seemed to be wearing a Hardee hat. This was also the first time I ever experienced the sense of fear at an event. It was after we charged the ridge , I think the second time, and we had to fall back and I d*#n near fell right back onto a federal company in the gully, just a hair over 10ft away. I then tore off along the ridge narrowly escaping cpature. A pard said I ran like a hare thru a briar patch, which I did. It was also a real moment when myself , 3 pards from the company, and QM Kiev T., after going to help out Co. F, stumbled upon an entire fed company in the thickets. We observed the bugler about to take a leak and decided to take some prisoners. We called for their surrender because we were too close to fire. We would have had to aim completly stright up to be safe. Everyone one of them looked like they had been slapped by their mommas and of course none surrendered. I guess their pride couldn't take being nearly captured ( by all rights they were) , then completely run off with out even putting up a fight, by four men with a hand full a rounds.
Bully to Kiev and my 3 pards !
Also bully to the Feds, for always keeping us on our toes and for always putting up a hard fight !

[DougCooper]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I must have been detailed elsewhere for that one, but I agree, that's pretty hysterical. There were a lot of things I thought we could have done differently, but in the end, we were just doing our jobs. I believe the capturer of your pickets was the Chief of Scouts, Ronnie Tucker. The job of cavalry was to be the eyes and ears of the army and during an engagement with Infantry, more often than not, to protect the rear and flanks. We were far from perfect, but we at least tried to do that much. There were many guys in that group who had never done an EBUFU type immersion event. Hopefully some saw the light of what a quality event can do. As always with anything the WIG does, this was a quality event.

And to think I came out of retirement for this one. I'm glad I did.

The bottom line was, the cav did what the real deal did best - scout, picket, and fight like the dickens when called. As you know, the sword swinging melee's got the headlines, but the grind it out, all night in the saddle intelligence gathering and flank protection tha often made the difference between defeat and vistory was on great display at Outpost. We all got our money's worth, esp the infantry who got to see it done right.

When the Critters galloped into action behind us wth 10+ horses, you could feel the ground shake - imagine what an entire regiment felt like!

[Marser]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Since I have to fly to these events (being from the far reaches of western KS Territory a.k.a Colorado), I am only able to make a couple per year. Outpost was magnificent and thank you to everyone who worked on putting it together. Great job! Personal thanks go to First Sergeant Comer, Company F, 20th TN who was incredibly gracious in picking me up from the Nashville airport (and returning me there on Sunday afternoon) and loaning me his weapon for the weekend. Thanks, Mike! Also, to Warren Hook for bringing his weapon for me to use, although there were some ignition issues on that one. Regardless, thanks Private Fagg! Overall, 'twas first rate and I look forward to more in the future.

[Coatsy]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Mr. Morgan and to the others in Capt. Choate's company,

I know for some of you this was your first "Campaign"event and I would like to tip my hat to you gents. On Saturday when four of your members came out into the Valley to cover part of Co A and Co F I breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to know that you were out keepign a lookout over the duration of the weekend. Thank you!

[MercyAngel62]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Our homestead for the weekend was planned to be a cabin somewhat withdrawn from the war, so myself and the others watched with great curiosity as a federal battalion moved into the area directly around our cabin. This move was cemented by our front yard guests- the Critter Company. Saturday morning was a bit intense, mainly when we were roused out of bed at 3:30 in the morning to make Coffee for Mr. Musgrove. His tone certainly changed throughout the exchange. At first it was: “Where is the coffee pot” then after a few minutes: “Actually, we want you to make it”. We all found this funny, shook it off, and rolled back over to fall asleep once again. With-in minutes, Mr. Musgrove was back at our door again, except this time he was a bit angry and threatened to torch our cabin. So with that being said, we were cold, awake, and finally decided to get up and took our time in doing so. Coming outdoors in nothing but a chemise would have been tacky, so dressing had taken a little time and the men wanting coffee were very persistent. :p

Perhaps the most memorable moment for me was watching Mr. Hicks and Mr. Craddock appear within the federal lines. At first glance I thought the two had become prisoners and many jokes came straight to mind, but the look on their faces quickly struck a cord in my heart. When my name was called by two men I know well, I was somewhat confused. Being brought into the cabin, I realized the matter was something serious. I noticed tears were welling up in their eyes as they informed me of the death of my “husband” Captain Patrick Landrum, at the Battle of Baton Rouge. They revealed to me that both were Brother Masons of my now “deceased husband” and presented me with his personal effects recovered from the battlefield. This package contained an officers jacket with Masonic Insignia, a scarf, a Masonic apron, and a journal which contained an unfinished letter, dated the day before the actual battle of Baton Rouge. At first the shock left me speechless and unable to react, but watching these Brothers weeping over the exchange, and the reaction of the others, I quickly fell tear struck. The shock lasted some hours as I had gone into the event with no idea of this plan, plotted by Mr. Craddock and my boyfriend Patrick Landrum some 2 months ago, and ended up becoming a widow. This memory will surely rank highly on my list of experiences in the hobby, and possibly unable to be recreated by any other group or person, since the details were so intimate, and the characters in no way shape of form performing an act that some take on when doing first person interactions. The reaction of Carrie Craddock, my Aunt over the weekend, quickly adapted to the plan, stating that as we were both now widows, we would no doubt rebuild as best we could complete with a flower and herb garden that once occupied both of our former homes.

I had a wonderful time with old friends and made plenty of new ones. It’s nice to finally put a few faces with names. Thank you to Art Milbert for inviting me to participate and making everything possible!! Immense thanks goes to Ms. Carrie Craddock for organizing the civilian side of the weekend at the cabin. It was good to see Paul and Kim Caudell and I’m glad Anna and Silvana (AKA Crazy Lid Lady- ha) made the long trip down! While the temperatures were very low on Friday evening, I maintained some degree of warmth at the large pile of blankets Patrick forced on me Friday before the event. Perhaps the greatest joy of the weekend was the Essence of Coffee carefully hidden from the ever harassing Critter Company. While Mr. Adair and company are feared on the field, they have never witnessed an enemy as fierce as I can be without properly made, good coffee. I know Anna feels this way as well. Hopefully, when this group of civilians gather again in the future it will continue to build on the foundation laid down this weekend- one of mutual respect and the drive to accurately portray the civilians we enjoy researching.

[Jim of The SRR]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I really enjoyed the event immensely. Thanks to the WIG for organizing this and providing us an opportunity to have a tactical in such beautiful and varied piece of ground.

It was nice reading Mr. Corbin and Mr. Coat's AARs as I can now see what happened on their side of the line across from us and how they perceived our tactics.

Thanks to Don Smith who had period, hand-drawn topo maps for all the commanders. These were indispensable for us all weekend!
Sunday morning we chose to move onto the Brown Homestead and take position on the large, flat ridge above it. We felt this allowed the best interior lines for us. Our one weak point was our left flank which had a large open field. This forced us to deploy Company B across a creek crossing to watch that field. It was easily defended, but it also meant Company B was out of close contact and if we needed them to our front they would have to run across the creek and up the ridge to our aid. I guess this is why Company B soon became known as the Foot Cavalry.

Saturday mornings attack found Company B watching our left across the creek, Company A to our right watching the field on our right flank and our Company, Company C, at the center. We could not tell what the Confederates numbers were due to the darkness. We could tell that you seemed to be leap-frogging along our front to find a weak point. I split our company into independent, supported platoons. We moved all over that ridge in the dark to make ourselves appear like multiple companies. There was no sense in moving off that ridge as to move towards your line in the woods would have been suicide.It also appeared that one of the Confederate companies even fired into a squad of your own men who were guarding their flank. We pushed some but we quickly could see that it was becoming a stalemate. Had you pushed with some force in our center, you probably would have driven us back as our left flank company was across the creek and would not have arrived in time to support us.

Saturday afternoons fight worked to our favor. Our ground (that we now knew pretty well) and our interior lines worked to thwart the Confederate assault. I could not see what was happening to our right and left. Our company in the center on our ridge deployed one platoon as skirmishers in the brush to watch your fortress across the ravine. Our 2nd platoon was in reserve. We were forced to shift to our left as the Johnnies began their assault across the ravine and up to our ridge. The timing was bad for the Johnnies. Company B had now moved from their left flank location to our side to support us. At the same time, Company A moved closer to us in support.
Once the Johnnies began assaulting up our ridge, Company A swept down the ravine from my right into your flank. The Confederates did drive in my skirmishers only to be faced with the other platoon masked and waiting at the top of the ridge. The Johnnies look quite disconcerted at the top of the ridge as we fired into them as they tried to reform. Casualties started to rise for them and we also were taking some losses in the melee. We were ready to close the door on the Confederate company and your cavalry barely gave you enough time to escape. They even scooped up a couple of captives from the end of our skirmish line.

Saturday night my company was assigned Guard Mount on the ridge and we carefully guarded the defiles up onto our ridge and watched as the Johnnies built works in the defiles on their side. It was quiet all night. We did have some small patrols who were able to identify many of the posts on the Confederate fortress.

The officers then met to strategize for Sunday morning. We decided to set up a defensive point along a treeline in the open to our rear. We then hoped we could hit you with a company in hopes of drawing you out to this position. My company was used as bait. We moved down a defile off the ridge heading for the Confederate "fortress". The Johnnies did a great job masking their numbers along the banks of that ridge. We had a hard time determing your numbers at any given moment. But I agree with Mr. Corbin's assesment that you had a formidable position. We moved forward into that ravine a few times and faced enfilading fire and many of the Johnnies were in cover.
We had hoped that you would chase us out of the ravine and up to our ridge (which was actually abandoned bythis time). But, it was clear that the Rebs were having no part of it and were not coming out of your fortress, short of flushing us out of the ravine. We could hear Mr. Mitchell giving orders as they rushed to drive us out of the ravine. After taking several casualties we withdrew as the cat was not going to chase the cheese of Company C. I wondered the whole time if the Johnnies thought we were nuts to try and attack your fortress on our own. But, we just wanted to bait you out. It didn't work and forced us to return to our ridge and rethink a new strategy.

Now a new plan was hatched. Company B would make a fast and forced march around the Confederate right, while Company A swung in from the left. Company C had been battered from the earlier baiting and we held you at the center along our ridge. We knew we would need to push when our comrades reached your flanks. With no communications we waited and waited. We finally heard gunfire and attempted to push in the center again. Again we pulled out of the ravine as it was clear you still had not shifted enough men from the front. Finally from our position we could see the Johnnies far to your rear firing AWAY from us. This signaled us to attack. We again drove down the defile to our left and up into your fortress. By this time there was little to no opposition as the Johnnies were forced to cover their flanks. We captured a wagon and a few guards, but continued our push. Now we could see our Company A in the field and with a small push thru the enemy camp we were able to link up with their left. We could hear Company B on our left firing. The Critters charged forward and with that we made one big final push and tightened the noose on the enemy. Finally it was over and we had won the day. I believe my company paid the price for that ground as we had lost nearly half our company thru the Sunday fighting.

My compliments to the Confederates and their commanders for making this one of the most interesteing and enjoyable tactical battles I have been part of. You had us having to think and rethink our tactics. I saw everyone react in a realistic manner with casualties and reacting in a realistic manner. If a position could not be taken (which was clear in most cases), the attacker would withdraw, take hits, etc.

I really enjoyed sitting down at the map with the other officers as we strategized. It really was a period moment for me us to have truly strategize and consider terrain, numbers, interior lines, anchor points, retreat and advance routes, etc. Thanks to Col. Sorchy, Skip Owens, Andrew Jerram, Ox, Steve Ewing, Dave Gerrow, Don Smith and Coley Adair for the great work at the tactical sessions. Thanks to Mr, Ewing for being so swift with his company and arriving at the nick of time. Thanks to the Critters for being our eyes all weekend and getting intel to us in a timely manner.

Thanks to all the men of Consolidated Company C made up of the SCAR and Hardcase Boys. You men did a SUPERB job and you are top rate soldiers! We were lucky to have quite a wealth of experience in our NCO ranks with Joe Smotherman, Rob Murray, Chris Hendersen, Preston Todd, Ross Lameroux, Sean Cooper, Troy Groves, Hal Merrit, Greg Deese and Randy Hix. Liet. Arnold and I have been friends for some time and we always work well together and we tag teamed quite well at this event in using our platoons to full advantage.

I also loved the motto of the 89th Illinois:
"Suckers to the Front!"
"CLEAR THE RAILS!!!"

Regards,
Jim Butler
(Capt. Co. C, 89th Illinois)

[Rebel Yell1863]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I wanted to chime in on this as well. I had a great time!!!:D Events like this is why I reenact. Also, I liked meeting some of the people that are here on the AC. It's nice to put a face to a name. Especially people I respect and admire...