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The the Armory Guards are hosting a living history at the Harris Homestead on June 5-7th. This is in conjunction with their fund raiser, "A Day in the 19th Century". Obviously there were will be a good bit of public interaction. The Harris Homestead is the site of the past Prelude to Chickamauga, Return to the Ranks and Pumpkinvine Creek Events.
Registration will open at 5:00 PM. Registration will be onsite and will cost $5 to cover the meat ration plus whatever you want to donate to the Homestead. If you want to come early that's fine. Please email Robby Mitchell at rgmitchell@mindspring.com if you plan to come to this event.
We will be located in the woods a fair distance from the log house and will be camped near the location we used for Pumpkinvine Creek from years back. Civilians will be camped near the barns.
A meat ration will be provided and possibly a few other items such as sweet potatoes, rice, etc. However, you may wish to supplement your meager portions with rations from home. Please be sure that they are consistant with the reality of the situation.
The portrayal will be the Oglethorpe Infantry, Co. A, 63rd Regiment Ga. Vol. Inf. The time frame will be June, 1864 and will follow the actions of the Army of Tennessee which had abandoned the New Hope / Dallas line on the night of June 4th and now began the task of fortifying the Lost Mountain Line. This separation of the opposing forces brought a few days of relief to the intensity of the fighthing.
The 63rd Ga. Inf. served in Gen. Hugh Mercer's brigade, W.H.T. Walker's Division of Hardee's Corps. The Official Records indicates that the 63rd Ga. was stationed on and near Ellsberry Mountain on June 2nd.
The Oglethorpes were an interesting organization and served in several different capacities:
1. Co. D, 1st Ga. Regt. (Ramsey's) - served at Pensacola, Fl. and in Virginia.
2. Co. B, 12th Ga. Ga. Battalion Light Artillery - served in NE Alabama and NW Georgia. They were never issued any field guns and as such served as infantry.
3. Co. A, 63rd Ga. Vol. Infantry - served as heavy artillerists at Thunderbolt Battery in the Savannah defenses. Several companies of the 63rd were trasferred to Morris Island, SC but it does not appear that the Oglethorpes participated in the defense of Ft. Wagner. Sgt. Walter A. Clark stated, "Our service at Thunderbolt was entirely devoid of any exciting incident or episode in a martial way. If the company fired a single shot at a Yankee during our stay I can not recall it."
4. Service in the Savannah defenses ended on April 28, 1864 when the 63rd Regiment was transferred to the AoT. They arrived via train at Dalton at 3:00 AM on April 30th. From then on they would serve specifically as infantry within the AoT. Their first action would take place at Rocky Face Ridge on May 9th as they were shelled by Federal artillery.
Col. Charles Olmstead (1st Regt. Ga. Vol. Inf.) gave an account of the march from Elsberry Mtn. to the Lost Mtn. line:
"The roads too were particularly bad, there had been a great deal of rain and the constant passage of artillery and transportation trains had cut them up most abominably. . . The memory of the night marches over these roads is like a night mare to me as I think of them; horses and men wearied and exhausted, stumbling along, through red clay, mud and darkness - prolonged waiting every few hundred yards when somewhere in front a stalled wagon or broken down caisson would block the road. . . These night tramps were generally made in moody silence. I remember to have fallen asleep in the saddle often, waking with a start and wondering where I was when the order came to move on. This is a side of war that historians do not lay much stress upon but every old soldier bears it in mind." (from "Hell's Broke Loose in Georgia", page 126.)
Sgt. Walter A. Clark of the Oglethorpes wrote about the June 4th march:
"Rejoined division and built breastworks. Oglethorpes and Co. G on picket. Skirmishing with the enemy. At 12 p.m. relieved by Wheeler's cavalry and told to 'git,' as our army had fallen back. Overtook regiment after five mile tramp over muddiest road I ever saw. Moved 3 miles further and took position in rear of Gist's brigade. (June 6-7) Quiet."
Registration will open at 5:00 PM. Registration will be onsite and will cost $5 to cover the meat ration plus whatever you want to donate to the Homestead. If you want to come early that's fine. Please email Robby Mitchell at rgmitchell@mindspring.com if you plan to come to this event.
We will be located in the woods a fair distance from the log house and will be camped near the location we used for Pumpkinvine Creek from years back. Civilians will be camped near the barns.
A meat ration will be provided and possibly a few other items such as sweet potatoes, rice, etc. However, you may wish to supplement your meager portions with rations from home. Please be sure that they are consistant with the reality of the situation.
The portrayal will be the Oglethorpe Infantry, Co. A, 63rd Regiment Ga. Vol. Inf. The time frame will be June, 1864 and will follow the actions of the Army of Tennessee which had abandoned the New Hope / Dallas line on the night of June 4th and now began the task of fortifying the Lost Mountain Line. This separation of the opposing forces brought a few days of relief to the intensity of the fighthing.
The 63rd Ga. Inf. served in Gen. Hugh Mercer's brigade, W.H.T. Walker's Division of Hardee's Corps. The Official Records indicates that the 63rd Ga. was stationed on and near Ellsberry Mountain on June 2nd.
The Oglethorpes were an interesting organization and served in several different capacities:
1. Co. D, 1st Ga. Regt. (Ramsey's) - served at Pensacola, Fl. and in Virginia.
2. Co. B, 12th Ga. Ga. Battalion Light Artillery - served in NE Alabama and NW Georgia. They were never issued any field guns and as such served as infantry.
3. Co. A, 63rd Ga. Vol. Infantry - served as heavy artillerists at Thunderbolt Battery in the Savannah defenses. Several companies of the 63rd were trasferred to Morris Island, SC but it does not appear that the Oglethorpes participated in the defense of Ft. Wagner. Sgt. Walter A. Clark stated, "Our service at Thunderbolt was entirely devoid of any exciting incident or episode in a martial way. If the company fired a single shot at a Yankee during our stay I can not recall it."
4. Service in the Savannah defenses ended on April 28, 1864 when the 63rd Regiment was transferred to the AoT. They arrived via train at Dalton at 3:00 AM on April 30th. From then on they would serve specifically as infantry within the AoT. Their first action would take place at Rocky Face Ridge on May 9th as they were shelled by Federal artillery.
Col. Charles Olmstead (1st Regt. Ga. Vol. Inf.) gave an account of the march from Elsberry Mtn. to the Lost Mtn. line:
"The roads too were particularly bad, there had been a great deal of rain and the constant passage of artillery and transportation trains had cut them up most abominably. . . The memory of the night marches over these roads is like a night mare to me as I think of them; horses and men wearied and exhausted, stumbling along, through red clay, mud and darkness - prolonged waiting every few hundred yards when somewhere in front a stalled wagon or broken down caisson would block the road. . . These night tramps were generally made in moody silence. I remember to have fallen asleep in the saddle often, waking with a start and wondering where I was when the order came to move on. This is a side of war that historians do not lay much stress upon but every old soldier bears it in mind." (from "Hell's Broke Loose in Georgia", page 126.)
Sgt. Walter A. Clark of the Oglethorpes wrote about the June 4th march:
"Rejoined division and built breastworks. Oglethorpes and Co. G on picket. Skirmishing with the enemy. At 12 p.m. relieved by Wheeler's cavalry and told to 'git,' as our army had fallen back. Overtook regiment after five mile tramp over muddiest road I ever saw. Moved 3 miles further and took position in rear of Gist's brigade. (June 6-7) Quiet."
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