Outpost III - AAR Thread

[Ken Cornett]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

First I want to thank Art for allowing Steve Ewing and myself to initially form a fourth federal company last winter. Yeah, I know some consolidation did occur, but it didn't effect the outcome of the event. What seemed so real to me was the fact that our company was so very much alone on the left. We saw an occasional Critter come through our camp, but not once did we see anyone else from another Fed company at any time except during battle. I never realized that the Command camp was just at the end of our road until late Saturday afternoon. We seemed so far away, yet we supported so well.

Yes Jim, we should have been known as the Foot Cavalry. I don't know how many football fields we had to march over before we got to you all, but we did it. I am very proud of our company for being physically fit. Well, at least I thought they were. We did have our share of aches and pains, turned and twisted ankles and headaches, but that is part of soldiering. Mind over matter was in place.

Steve Ewing...you da man! Your high energey octane made us successful. At first when Joe, ET, and I asked you to be Captain, we thought we were taking a risk. But now we know better. I truly enjoyed being your Orderly. A monsterous thanks Joe Liechty, Matt Rector, and Jim Moffet for being my sergeants, and to Eric Tipton, Steve Spohn, Kris Coble and Micah Trent for being my corporals. I didn't have to worry about a single thing this event. You made my job too easy.

To my Mess No.1 mates and Tar Water pards, your long time experience made it enjoyable. To you Liberty Rifle boys, you were absolutely amazing. It was great to see such young lads as yourselves want to do it right. You're tops in my book and look forward to working with you again. Thanks for best tasting "dinner" I've ever had in the field! And lastly, thanks to the two 30th OVI boys John and Bernie for coming out and "trying" one of these events. I know it's different than what your use to, but I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you Company B. Might I see many of you in Nashville in a month or so?

[Federal Bummer]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I wish there were words to say how proud I am of Company B. No organiztion can be worth anything, if the metal of the men in it is not strong. Evan Zimmerman, Ken Cornet, The Peacock/Dutchman (Joe Liechty), Matt Rector, our left guide/drafted Sgt Jim Moffet all did great job! Cpls: Trent, Koble, Tipton and Spohn you were tits! The men in the ranks were nothing short of superb! Like I said before, the only regret I have is I was not with you in the ranks themselves. I actually missed my heavy a** musket the entire weekend.

Thank you to the event staff and the entire WIG for a great event, which is just one of many since I have come the be in the organization. You all do a bully job everytime.

"Clear the Rails, Company B is Here"

Your pard, back in the good old Kentucky"

[paulcalloway]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

We did have some small patrols who were able to identify many of the posts on the Confederate fortress.

Is that what we're calling it now ... a patrol? Does that mean Mark and I aren't going to get court-martialed now?

I actually missed my heavy a** musket the entire weekend.

I think it missed you too Steve, seeing as Mark spent part of Friday night throwing it repeatedly on the ground.

Your pard, back in the good old KY

There's a joke in there somewhere.

[Federal Bummer]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Heck Paul I've been in Savannah, GA for two years. An while I loved every minute of it, there is no place like one's own home area.

On this note, and a complete tangent from Outpost, I would like to thank the Armory Guards for the home they have given me while in their neck of the woods.

[Andy Ackeret]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I enjoyed the event. Outpost duty after dark never seems fun at the time, but I always feel good about it in hindsight. Even though I was corporal of the guard, I was assigned to a post. The sergeant of the guard came through on one of his rounds at about 9 PM. Shortly after that, when I saw a group coming up from our camp, I was prepared to challenge one of our company officers. Only after the challenge was completed did I discover it was the Lt. Col. I was certainly glad that exchange was handled well.

Enjoyed the actions during the day on saturday and on sunday. The pre-dawn saturday action didn't do much for me. And, as always, it was good to see friends from all over the country again.

I had never been to Rippavilla before, it's a shame what is going to happen to the land we used.

The civilians at the cabin looked top notch. They certainly must have had their fill of staff camped at their home, cavalry nearby, and a constant stream of infantrymen on water details coming to their "well."

Jason Reinholz came up with the idea to circulate the petition to appeal back to Springfield. Riley Ewen and I walked with him from camp to camp to gather signatures. The final count was 63, I believe. Everyone we encountered who was awake signed it, privates, NCOs, officers, and battalion staff. The Lt. Col also signed it, promised to have the Adjutant transcribe it and forward it on.

Thanks to everybody in the WIG who helped organize the operations and logistics. Thanks to everybody from all over the place who helped recruit and run the companies on both sides. There were lots of great folks in those fields and woods, and I think the event turned out pretty well.

[hpotter]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Gentlemen, fantastic weekend!! So many experiences that I only read about were experienced this weekend.
- Trying to sleep, but just a bit too cold.
-Being dawg tired and then ordered to go another round.
-Being sick and trying to fight it off.
-Wondering if every little noise or movement at night is the enemy while on picket duty.

My hats off to the boys in gray. That third attack on Sat morning caught me off guard. This was really a hold your line and probe the weak spots type of event. As always, the WIG's came through. I was rather upset that i was not able to stay til Sunday morning. I had developed a fever since Friday and it caught up to me Sat. night. Company Q and a hospital in Nashville wasn't too bad. I look forward to another event with you guys. The civilians were a great touch to the scenerio as well.

[C.R. Henderson]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

One of the things that made this event the most real for me was the look on Elizabeth's face as I came out of the cabin with a hand full of tomato and carrots sticking out of my haversack. The look was one of pure disgust and hatred for everything Federal and the knowing that nothing could be done to stop it.
On a side note, the tomato made a fine breakfast for my brother and myself and the rest made a wonderful stew Saturday night between guard rotations.

[markmason]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Is that what we're calling it now ... a patrol? Does that mean Mark and I aren't going to get court-martialed now?

A patrol indeed :wink_smil

Steve, I only tossed it once and throw it twice but then I only had it for a couple of hours..not bad heh? :sarcastic

You guys in Co. B were fantastic..Steve, you and your NCO's did an excellent job! Hats off to all!

To be real honest I was about burned out again and this event has recharged me !!

looking forward to next year !

[SCTiger]

Lengthy AAR, take a break, then come back.

I won't write a period AAR of the event, since most of the key events have been covered. I will cover the highlights and some of my personal observations.

Kudos to the few sutlers that did show up on Friday, I was able to purchase a pair of knit half-gloves and candles and some other sundry items from Chris Utley.

Met Justin Runyon and registered, which was easy, then proceeded to the Federal staging area, had to reintroduce or re-orient myself with people that I have never seen, and people I haven't seen in years or months. Too bad those soldiers didn't wear name tags back then. Also none of us look like our online avatars, we may need to update those.

My company, Jim Butlers Alphabet Soup company, of B,C, D. was well organized and I was glad to have many of the NCO's and officers form BGR in our ranks. It was good to see Tim Arnold again, this time as a somewhat confident Lieutenant. A role I am sure he will reprise at some point.

The battles were frustrating., agonizing, sometimes boring and you did not know what the hell was going on, in other words they were excellent.

In regards to rations, we were ready to cook even if it was only 30 minutes, our company was really motivated to build fires and everyone pitched in on gathering the wood, there was no "wood detail" we had plenty of men scrounging the countryside for fuel. The ration issue was just right for me, not too much, I mostly ate crackers on the march and on the battlefield, I am not a fan of eating cold meat or raw vegetables, although many did this.

At one point I asked for some milk from Silvana, but the Cavalry had broke her pitcher of milk earlier and for that she had called them "animals." I was going to respond, "I am not an animal, I am a Union Cavalryman", however; this was a modernistic reference to the "Elephant Man" which would have incited a whole slew of bad jokes, so I bit my tongue and chuckled. Silvana gave me a small amount of canned milk flater, I had a tin of oysters, an Onion and a small amount of salt. I made a great Oyster stew and took it with me to guard duty, It was my only hot meal of the day.

Later during guard mount, I went near the Confederate lines around 9:15 looking for a Johnny to talk and trade with . I got within 30 feet of a fire with a large group of Confederates, I stayed for about five minutes and left back to my lines. They were close. Also I didn't want to get captured again. Some of those Confeds owed me some payback from BGR.

I appreciated the Far West people like Troy Groves that flew out to the event, I have flown from Nevada before and it's a take more planning, money and coordinating to fly to an event. We owe the people on the other side of the Mississippi a visit in the next two years. Perhaps California or New Mexico?

What can we sustain from Outpost?

Organization and respect for military rank. I didn't witness any personality conflicts or Alpha Dog takeovers in Company BCD, everyone actually got along better in the field than we do online. Orders were accepted and obeyed. Our leaders did a fine job of issuing clear orders and respecting the needs of their men.

First person on the field and during battle. Although there was a couple of bad cat calls, however; most took the tactical elements of the battle seriously and we were into the battle, we actually ducked during rifle fire and sought cover as if real bullets were flying around, we sustained our military bearing and the privates didn't try to issue orders. The battles was exhausting and we dreaded the conflicts.

Guard Mount and military routine. Guard mount was the best I have ever seen and I felt no concern about the enemy sneaking up during the night. One man was caught without giving a challenge, perhaps napping and was swiftly put on report and dealt with. Our military routine was appropriate for our situation, we did not engage in "parade" or "knapsack inspection", I felt that such garrison or camp routines would have been dangerous in the field. It didn't happen.

Uniforms and types of kits. I didn't notice anything, which is great, because the gear actually became invisible and we were able to concentrate on the event. There was no lengthy discussion on gear or sutler talk, a man might ask where he got a particular piece of clothing and he would give a period response about a quartermaster or a particular sutler. We really Got Beyond the Gear (GBTG) on this one. Bravo.

Alright now the "need improvement" and I couldn't let an AAR slide without a few minuses, I apply this to myself and many others.

Physical fitness: Some of us older guys need to hit the gym. I gained 20 pounds since BGR and beyond the impression aspects, it's good for our health and ability to operate safely on the field. I name this as our number one problem in reenacting the ACW soldier, we may be in better health, but we do not possess their stamina, waistline or physical strength. We can't do much about old age or gray hair, but losing a few pounds and walking a few minutes a day will help.

First person: We do well when we are busy soldiers. When we are bored, we run out of steam, typically around the campfire. This a topic for another thread but, I have an idea on developing trans-unit personalities that we can use as alter egos. We really need to rethink the whole first person model. It provides a great internal experience, but it has a severe "who the hell are you?" flaw. There are the three personalities to deal with, in person, online and the ever changing first person. To often we relate to each other as our internet personalities and in fact, it's hard to disassociate ourselves from who we are online. The people that never post online or have any internet presence are not as type-casted and the first person is easier. They are only schitzoid in two ways and if we don't know them as modern people , even better. I will bring this up again in another thread, so don't drag it out here. We need to know each other in better ways, and not just as "that guy from the AC forum" or some other website.

Knowledge of drill and civilian culture. Drill is the big one and I am by no means a drill master, but I would like to see a series of events use the same drill manual with the same interpretation and someone designated asd the "Go-to" person with regards to what when we need to learn. Again this another thread for the future.

Civilian interaction: I don't know if we are still stuck in "Hollywood" mode on this one. What would really happen if a small group of Tennessee civilians in the woods were met by a large Union force? What did the historical records say? I will confess that I have not read up enough on this and my own personal interactions with the "other side" often feels stilted and artificial. My theory, if we could improve this aspect, then we would probably want more citizen encounters. I am not being critical of the citizens, I am just wondering if we are doing it right on the military side. It's a lot to deal with when you meet them and it' presents a bigger first person challenge.


In closing, I would like to thank the Western Independent Grays, and anyone that worked behind the scenes for this event. I had a lot of fun and learned much form this. I also want to thank all the "first timers' that came out for this Ebufu. I appreciate people ;ike Brian McGarrahan and any of the new folks that took up the challenge. It was great to see everyone again.

[Mike Nickerson]

Re: Lengthy AAR, take a break, then come back.

.

....At one point I asked for some milk from Silvana, but the Cavalry had broke her pitcher of milk earlier and for that she had called them "animals." ....

Just for the record, that was a detachment of Federal Infantry that did the dirty deed to the pitcher, while filling their canteens.

As for my perspective as a "Critter" Trooper, I thought it was the best campaign event (of the 4 I have attended). I feel our comrades in the Federal Infantry did a "stand-up" job and the Confederate Infantry and Cavalry were first rate opponents.

I had an outstanding weekend, well worth the 13 hour drive @ 11 mpg, with diesel @ $3+ :)

Mike Nickerson

[C.R. Henderson]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Here's my diary entries from the period of October 26 - 28 as a Sgt. in C co. 89th Ill.

Hope you enjoy. Clear the Tracks!!!

"October 26

We have found ourselves in a field this evening. The moon is so bright that I need not to sit by candle light to rite. There is talk that we might be moving out in a couple of hours and not to get too comfortable now. I dispensed the rations to our company not long ago and the do not look too bad- onion, potatoe, beef, and hardcrackers. I saw a falling star.

We moved about a half mile down the road where we halted next to a tree line, opened ranks, and slept on our arms. I say slept- many men were snoring within minutes.

October 27

After three hours sleep we marched through a field, woods, a crik, passed a cabin and into another field. It is still dark now.

We were engaged in the dark for about two hours near the cabin with the secesh ladies. They do not like us at all and one of them glared at me as I walked away with food. I ate a tomatoe for breakfast and shared it with my brother. It did not rain today but everything is wet from the heavy dew. We are cold but have each other.

Engaged now. Many rebs. Hot fight. Might have lost B company to reb cavalrey.

B company showed back up- no worries.

I got knocked out cold during our last engagement. Though I am alright now, I know it knocked me out for a couple of hours. I recovered in a harvested cornfield with my company. I ate some, smoked some, and had a cup of coffee. There are hundreds of little butterflies fluttering about- little yellow ones with black on the edges of their wings. I want badly to rite home or even be home and sit in my chair in front of a fire with my pipe and a good cup of tea. Everyday I remember less and less the reasons we fight in this asinine war. We should be working now and not chasing ruffians around the countryside trying to force our governments will up on them. I have thought of joining their cause- although I don’t think I will. I only hope I’m not shooting at my kin form Tennessee. I wonder if Richard has joined the fight on the other side- can’t blame him. Perhaps he is in the east fighting with Bobby Lee.

Went on guard this afternoon and got a newspaper from Nashville. One of the privates did some trading with one of the rebs. Excitement and tention came toward the end of my shift when two Confederate officers and one big ole reb with a shotgun advanced wishing to parlay with Col. Sorchy. I was the Sgt. of the guard. We were fired on while returning to our lines. Terrible shots those rebs!

We were engaged for a bit.


October 28

We started guard rotations again on the picket line. My rotation is to mount from 12a to 2a. I pray for a quiet night. Our supper was a stew of beef, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoe, rice, greens, and salt. Very satisfying! Cpl. Deese procured some cigars this evening.

Guard duty was quiet.

We awoke long before sunrise just to wait to move. We probed the reb right to find that they had little ammunition. We had a hot fight for a while untill I got winged and went down. I stayed down a while- long enough to collect myself. I found Sgt. Todd and he helped me up. I came upon Pvt. Legg who had got himself a johnny prisoner. We got two more but were surprised from the rear by three other johnnys from behind. We came to a truce and after a little food trading went back to our lines. (we got sausage and some kind of disgusting cornmeal cracker which was a less palatable cousin of hardtack) We found our lines. "

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I've been reading the perspectives from both sides with great interest, and its been good to fill in between the lines for the "big picture" that a lowly enlisted man would not have known in his little world. I've got to add to the story of the bringing of Cpt Landrum's affects to his widow. It was without a doubt one of the deeper events I've seen at an event, and I'm pretty jaded when it comes to first person stuff. I was asked by young Master Jerram our adjutant to escort him over to the CS side to try to make arrangements to exchange prisoners. Walking through lines with a white flag was interesting, and we were ably stopped by the CS pickets and halted until someone with some authority came out. We worked out some details of things and then we were approached by Sgt Hicks about returning the personal affects of a CS officer to his kin who were known to be behind the Union lines. Of course not wanting any CS staff to see the Union setup, he was told that we couldn't let him go back there, but would be happy to bring the young lady to meet them. As he expertly declared to the Fed officers, breaking the news to her should be done in a better setting with family support, so of course he and Mr. Craddock were allowed to go about the grim task. With several officers and Pvt Joe Blunt and myself as guards, they were relieved of sidearms and brought through to the cabin. As a lowly Fed guard with a rifle and bayonet, I stayed outside within earshot to make sure nothing wicked was being planned, but within seconds I found myself forgetting anything modern and was transplanted to October 1862 as Mr Hicks and Mr Craddock comforted the widow and family, told them of what occured with the death of Cpt Landrum, and returned his affects. I found myself taking off my hat in reverence, thinking to myself how horrid it would be to have to do that task of breaking the news to the family. I went back around to the front of the cabin to escort them back across lines and I will never forget looking at real tears and puffy eyes from Mr Hicks and Mr Craddock, and I really believed what I just saw and heard, knowing full well it was a first person scenario and not reality. It was an absolutely sobering, incredible moment for me as a person, a Union soldier, and father. Thank you very much Brian and Pat for that moment in time. I know it was meant to be for you guys, but you deeply affected this bystander with your actions. I didn't want to ruin the magic by speaking to you directly as we escorted you back to your lines, as I wouldn't have done this as a Yankee soldier, but it was really powerful thinking back on what had just occured.

[Cleaveland]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

liz, thank you all for your 'grudging' hospitality, that picture you attached is really nice except for one thing, I don't see any sign of the critter infestation you all seemed to have.. Thank you all again for quite a memorable weekend.

John Cleaveland
Critter Co

[MercyAngel62]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

Oh, how could I forget. :D It was funny how you guys managed to park your horses conveniently between us at the cabin and our outhouse.... ha

[CSARebel54]

Re: Outpost III - AAR Thread

I 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 !

That I definitely enjoyed. Just the look on their faces was priceless and that we scared away an entire company and would not let them gain any ground on us. Once we were hard pressed and had to fall back I then got a glimpse of what my comrades had gone through. I realized that Co. A was getting pushed back and was being threatened by a smaller fed company at the rear. The five of us helped hold the fed company at bay until we could fall in with Co. A and we proceeded to push them further back. It was definitely fun guys and an event I definitely will not forget. Will be looking forward to May and falling in with members of the Armory Guards and others at Picketts Mill.