Thoughts on Manassas

[The Lonely Reenactor]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I,myself,had an excellent time. It was quite the honor to be givin the opportunity to assist in bugling for the 2nd Mississippi. It was absolutely phenominal to look down the line of the regiment during the battle when firing by the drum! WOW!! My hat is off to ALL of you fine fellows in the 2nd! From the officers all the way down to the commissary department,just wonderful. A special thank you to Chad Grey for allowing me the opportunity to be able to work with you,sir. Looking forward to serving you ALL once again at Shiloh.

Marty Rubin
2nd Mississippi,Co. B
Independent Volunteers

[ohpkirk]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Whats up with the 2nd Mississippi bugging out Saturday night to a man...

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, October 28, 1863,

Wanted.

All ladies in Houston and surrounding counties who have cloth on hand, which they can spare, are requested to donate it to the ladies of Crockett for the purpose of making petticoats for the Minute Men of this county, who have "backed out" of the service. We think the petticoat more suitable for them in these times.

[YankeeTiger]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Cody, unless you were in the 2nd's camp at the time the decisions, announcements were made, and unless yoou know for fact the reasons why individuals left, I would refrain from posting such broad stroking foolish banter...no matter how historical the context of the quote may or may not be.

Then again that's just me..and we are all free to do as we please
-Cheers brother.

[ohpkirk]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I posted the quote because of it's context and in response to crpljohnivey. I was not questioning the reasons of any of the participants, all are grown men and can do as they please.

[highpvt]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Got in around 9:00 Friday night. Wandering around for nearly 2hrs before we found out that the fellas we were to have fallen in with (artillery) had bugged out earlier that day. Oops....!!
Not having brought full infantry kits, we popped in and out of the lines during the battle catching up with old friends. THAT made it worthwhile!

[Rmhisteach]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

My clothes skipped ripe and went straright to spolied!

[DougCooper]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

25 years ago at the 125th Manassas the members of my future unit said much the same thing - they hoped it would never, ever be that hot again. But it was hotter this time. Like 1987, they hung in there again till the end on Sunday. In talking with them this morning, the EMT's they spoke to said that 11 reenactors of the 140+ treated had to be transported, the rest treated and released on site (AC tents really helped).

I have no idea what happened to the 2nd MS (or the other units that left), but my old comrades did well, enjoyed the spectacle and opined that the impressions were MUCH better this time, with more work put into the 1861 impressions. One unit was entirely dressed as Corcoran's Legion, another 1st Minnesota, Regulars, Marines (about 60 of them) and still another the Fire Zouaves. Must have been grand to see...and confusing. One fun incident I gather was the capture of Matt Woodburn by the 1st Minnesota. Too many red shirts out there :).

[Soldat49thNY]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

The event was crazy hot, to be sure, but our company went into it with our eyes open and prepared for it as best we could. We lost only one on Saturday due to heat but he was back on Sunday. We then had 5 leave Saturday night. What could have made it much more bearable is if the water lines could have been covered with pine bark mulch or something like it so that the drinking water wouldn't have been so ridiculously warm during the hottest part of the day. Its tough to keep hammering on guys to keep hydrated when the drinking water is warm as (insert your own descriptive term here). Kudos to the volunteers in the med tents who worked so hard cooling down the guys who were teetering on the edge. They saved many a serious heat situation from becoming a major health issue.
I still shake my head in wonder how the original cast could have done that under real conditions without all the benefits that we had... an absolutely amazing feat and they command my respect now more than ever.

Dan Wilkosz
49th NYVI Co. B

[AndrewMartin]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Our crew left Saturday evening when we realized that our entire company was down to 2 officers… and 3 NCO’s… and 2 muskets. Or the 6 out of 7 of us that remained by 5pm Saturday evening for Company D, are the ones that rode together in the same vehicle. For me, it wasn’t any hotter than Pat’s Vicksburg event… nor was it even close to being more challenging than IPW. It simply came down to this and this alone… I could have stayed Saturday night, jammed my bayonet into my testicles and then proceeded to attempt the first act of “River dance” all the while laying speared to the ground, just to wake up to do the same battle, in the same environment, with same amount of garbage going on around us as the scenarios are concerned. While having nothing more to look forward to… then getting wrapped up into a parking lot that had the size of a possum’s pee-hole to get out of. But fighting 5000 other reenactors trying to get out as well in order to begin and load up their own versions of Harry Potter’s magical tents made my decision easy. Nah, I had enough fun in the center ring of the circus as it was on Saturday. Maybe my expectations for the event were a bit much and that’s my fault but the battlefield, the actual battle, the entire site in general left me ready to walk. As I mentioned before; just like ramming a bayonet in my testicles, staying at the event past that point Saturday evening would have accomplished little, and ultimately been a huge pain in the arse for me that I concluded just wasn’t worth it.
The 2nd Mississippi did exceed ALL of my expectations and was absolutely great. Impressive across the board from the top down! If the event itself could have only come close to what everyone associated with the 2nd MS did, I imagine all of us would have thought it worthwhile to chump through Sundays battle and afterwards march out in formation with bayonets fixed to what would be the REAL battle of the Manassas… the Parking lot and what we thought would be carmagedan.
Cody, I think the petticoats issue can wait for another event…. And yes there will be another future event down the road where petticoats should be issued en mass on this website, due to the guys falling out for because of weather, or want of food, or some other weak reason…. but this event is not one of those times.
No one, or at least no one that lives more than an hour away from Manassas should feel wrong about leaving early…. and be lectured or belittled about where each of us spent our evening that Saturday night by anyone that stayed the entire time or that didn’t attend. I’ve given more than my fair share to this hobby, and have marched enough miles in locations far from Northern Indiana long enough that anyone that knows me, will know that there hasn’t been an event I’ve walked away from because it too much to take physically, or that I was too hungry, tired, or hot at. With that being said… I’ll be damned if people will look differently at myself and others because of a Saturday exodus from a farby mainstream Manassas event! Get a grip if anyone decides to rip on the 2nd Mississippi for this one. Just my own 3 cents worth.

[unclefrank]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Very much how I feel about the whole experience Andrew. You said it well.

[Jalaco]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Despite the heat, I thought it was a swell event! I did participate in the battles, and Sunday was deffinatly the better of the two! Sunday's battle was fantastic; I throughly enjoyed the rout during the 2nd half of the battle.

[SouthernRifle]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I would have loved to have been with you guys up in the woods, but duty called for me to lead the 3d this weekend. You guys looked incredible. That was easily the best camp I have ever been through. What made it really impressive is that there were so many of you in there. I hope you all made it home safe. As for the event, I thought it was the most living historian unfriendly event I have ever attended. The only thing that I am surprised at, is that they did not start gouging us on the ice. IMHO, the battles sucked, the field was too small for the numbers they had, and the event staff had no clue as to what they were doing. One of the guys in my company was at the Centennial event in 1961, and he said the heat, confusion, and general crappiness of the event was the same back then. Anyone in either of my outfits who bashes someone for leaving an event like that early, would definately be looking for a new home for the next one. The event is not fun if you have to spend it dead.

[Soldat49thNY]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Rob,
Your humble opinion mirrors my own, as well as that of my pards. We can only hope for better as the 150th's unfold.

Dan Wilkosz
49thNYVI Co. B

[robert-m]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I for one had a pretty good time in the field with my family of weird and odd ended peoples of this thing we all call a hobby. Met some new people and saw some friends that I haven't seen in a good while. To stand next to these boys in line and march into the field with them is an honor, and a comradeship that one people like us know. I am looking forward to doing more events with this sort of adjunct. Learned that the drivers in Atlanta aren't as bad as I thought. lol

[BenjaminLDavis]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

A few thoughts ~
Hot. Drinking enough became a religion. Not one man of Co K of the Second left until it became clear that if we stayed we would not be able to leave in a timely fashion Sunday.
With travel time of 16 hours for myself, that was not an option. Our camp was clean, perhaps maybe a few religious tracts left for the edification of the local fauna.
Memories: arguing with the Parson, the blazing red shirts of my Comrades in the brave 2nd, stripping down to drawers and brogans and walking down to Bull Run with Rob for
a cool, placid soak, Pat C.'s face when I walked up in torn drawers (my only spares) and "loincloth." And, as always, Jason, Brad, Poague and all the other men the Iuka Rifles who
covered each others' backs when things got intense. There are none better. And I liked the Bear in our little vignette!