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Now that I've more or less had a chance to relax after more than a week of living history, I thought I'd share my thoughts on how the campaigner adjunct to the 150th New Market went.
The March
I began my portion of this event on Tuesday, leaving from the Frontier Museum in Staunton, VA. At this point, the VMI cadets (and alum portraying cadets) had already been marching since Sunday from Lexington. The march began well enough. as we made our way through downtown Staunton, a couple reenactors began playing fife tunes. It kept us smartly in step while echoing off of the buildings we passed. Tuesday ended up being hot. Really hot. I think it got up to somewhere around 90 in the Valley that day. I learned a few things that day:
1. While my EAC jacket looks sharp, it is hot. After the first water break, I had removed it and strapped it to my knapsack.
2. There is nothing like a long march to help you figure out the most comfortable way to situate your gear. I also figured out that I want to procure some slightly wider straps for my Isaac & Campbell knapsack. The ones I have are fairly narrow and I could feel it in my shoulders by the end of Tuesday.
3. Practice marches probably would have been helpful. Being in the Air Force, I'm typically not subjected to the rigors that my brothers and sisters in other branches are. Even within that, the AF has had me working a desk job for the last few years. 40 hours a week, sweating in boots for years has really softened my feet.
I was dealing with blisters before I even began my portion of the march. There was a really pesky one above my left heal that I had picked up at the Spotsylvania LH the weekend prior. After about 13 miles, when we stopped for lunch, I discovered that the moleskin and bandage had moved, causing the back of my sock to be soaked in blood. Looking at many of the cadets' feet though, mine didn't seem to be the worst. We had an outstanding cadet EMT however, who took care of all of us (reeanctors and cadets alike) throughout the week. Despite the blisters, I pressed on for a few more miles. While my feet were shredded and were cooking on the pavement, I could largely tune that out. Finally though, at about mile 17, I had to stop. The inside of my knees began to cramp (something that had never, ever happened before). I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't go away. That was effectively the end of the march for me. I stuck with the group for the week though, continuing to take pictures of the cadets, help with their water breaks and assist with bivouac setup and teardown.
The VMI cadets (most of whom had no prior reenacting experience) impressed the heck out of me. While a few had to take a few riding breaks throughout the march, many of the cadets made the entire 84+ mile journey from Lexington on their feet. Their feet were tore up, but they never complained and pressed on. Theirs was a fitting tribute to cadets of old. The cadets weren't the only ones who impressed me. Guys like Jon Bocek and Bren Woodard were real troopers with 65+ miles and 50+ miles respectively. Even though I couldn't make the whole march myself, I was extremely proud to be even remotely part of this group.
The culmination of the march occurred on Thursday. The cadets and members portraying the 22nd Virginia left Lacey Springs at dawn for the final 10 miles to New Market. When they finally reached New Market, they perked up, despite the exhaustion of the week. They made their way through the town with bayonets fixed, fifes and drum playing. Boy did they look sharp! After making their way through town, they stopped at Shirley Hill where they paid tribute cadets who stood on that spot in 1864. From Shirley Hill, they marched smartly to the main portion of the battlefield. At this point, the cadets went into line of battle and began to slowly make their way through the fields. As they approached the Bushong Farm, the sky began to darken with storm clouds.
The cadets and the 22nd VA made their way through the farm and orchard, before stopping at the rail fence to fire a couple of volleys at the Federal positions up the hill. They then reformed their lines on the other side of the fence and began to advance towards the Federal artillery. As they began their advance, it began to rain. The order was then given to charge, and the cadets broke into a run. The faster they ran, the harder it began to rain. As the cadets reached the artillery and crowded around the caisson, the sky compltely opened up. It was one of the coolest things I've ever been able to witness. I am told it was the first time in 150 years that cadets have charged up that hill in a storm.
The Reenactment
After the week, and Thursday's soaking, it was great to take a little downtime. Friday and Saturday, were largely days of inactivity. The highlight for me on Saturday though, was getting to see my family for the first time in a week. The cadets did work on drill some, particularly since the rest of the reeanctors portraying cadets had begun to trickle in. I was a little disappointed that there was not much to do Saturday as a unit. There was the option to participate in the battles on Saturday, but I really wasn't up for falling in with a mainstream unit. As 1st Sgt, it was a little frustrating that there was no clear company structures for the 22nd Virginia until Sunday morning. We had several units coming together and it was a little fuzzy as to how all of them would fit together. Despite this, we quickly had a company formed on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning was spent with Skip Owens drilling us and the cadet battalion together before conducting parade. I have to say, we looked damn sharp. For a bunch of folks who had never worked together before, my company performed well. Everywhere we marched, people gave pause to watch. After morning drill/parade, we had a little more downtime. At this point, Skip let us know that he was elevating my company commander to command the battalion and that I was placed in charge of the company. Further, we were told that we (the 22nd VA, and specifically my company) would be only 10 ft off of the safety rope, putting us in direct view of the spectators for the battle reenactment ahead.
Around 1:30, we stepped off from our campsite. The sound of fifes and drums echoed through the tunnel under I-81 that brought us to the main portion of the battlefield. We marched into position near the museum and stacked arms while waiting for the word to go in. Around 2, we reformed and stepped onto the field of battle. As we passed the artillery positions, the cadets went into line of battle, while we (22nd VA) remained in 2 columns to get us through the yard of the Bushong house. On the other side of the house, we came into contact with Federal cavalry (both mounted and dismounted. We quickly drove them back through the orchard and came to a halt at the rail fence where several volleys were fired. As the Federals began to retreat further, the command was given to go over the fence and advance towards the enemy. At the double-quick, we advanced through the field, wading through knee-deep (and waist-deep in some spots) water. We halted, dropping to the ground to fire several volleys at the Federals before giving the order to charge. At that point, all of the weariness from the week disappeared and my adrenaline kicked in. The cadets and the 22nd made a gallant charge, driving the Federals from their artillery positions. Despite the fact that we were recreating the original scenario, I don't think that many of the Federal reenactors were expecting us to charge like we did.
While the reeanctment is a mainstream event, I believe that both represented groups were able to give the public a more authentic view of what ACW infantry units would have looked like in the field.
A big thanks needs to first go to Paul Boulden for wrangling this whole adjunct. Paul has been putting in a tireless effort for a long time to make this happen. Right there with him has been Kirby Smith. The many hours these two spent organizing the effort and sewing cadet uniforms paid off big time. That was just pre-event. For all of the march, Paul was handling bivouac setups and cooking duties. I also want to thank Skip Owens for doing such a fine job commanding the brigade, as well as having the faith in me to command by company on Sunday.
Pros:
- A well-executed march
- Having musicians for both the march and the reenactment
- Rations were plentiful and varied. If you went hungry, you were doing something wrong
- Great leadership at all levels of command
- Having a separate campsite away from the mainstream camps
Cons:
- The reenactment is a mainstream event
- A large amount of inactivity on Friday/Saturday
The March
I began my portion of this event on Tuesday, leaving from the Frontier Museum in Staunton, VA. At this point, the VMI cadets (and alum portraying cadets) had already been marching since Sunday from Lexington. The march began well enough. as we made our way through downtown Staunton, a couple reenactors began playing fife tunes. It kept us smartly in step while echoing off of the buildings we passed. Tuesday ended up being hot. Really hot. I think it got up to somewhere around 90 in the Valley that day. I learned a few things that day:
1. While my EAC jacket looks sharp, it is hot. After the first water break, I had removed it and strapped it to my knapsack.
2. There is nothing like a long march to help you figure out the most comfortable way to situate your gear. I also figured out that I want to procure some slightly wider straps for my Isaac & Campbell knapsack. The ones I have are fairly narrow and I could feel it in my shoulders by the end of Tuesday.
3. Practice marches probably would have been helpful. Being in the Air Force, I'm typically not subjected to the rigors that my brothers and sisters in other branches are. Even within that, the AF has had me working a desk job for the last few years. 40 hours a week, sweating in boots for years has really softened my feet.
I was dealing with blisters before I even began my portion of the march. There was a really pesky one above my left heal that I had picked up at the Spotsylvania LH the weekend prior. After about 13 miles, when we stopped for lunch, I discovered that the moleskin and bandage had moved, causing the back of my sock to be soaked in blood. Looking at many of the cadets' feet though, mine didn't seem to be the worst. We had an outstanding cadet EMT however, who took care of all of us (reeanctors and cadets alike) throughout the week. Despite the blisters, I pressed on for a few more miles. While my feet were shredded and were cooking on the pavement, I could largely tune that out. Finally though, at about mile 17, I had to stop. The inside of my knees began to cramp (something that had never, ever happened before). I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't go away. That was effectively the end of the march for me. I stuck with the group for the week though, continuing to take pictures of the cadets, help with their water breaks and assist with bivouac setup and teardown.
The VMI cadets (most of whom had no prior reenacting experience) impressed the heck out of me. While a few had to take a few riding breaks throughout the march, many of the cadets made the entire 84+ mile journey from Lexington on their feet. Their feet were tore up, but they never complained and pressed on. Theirs was a fitting tribute to cadets of old. The cadets weren't the only ones who impressed me. Guys like Jon Bocek and Bren Woodard were real troopers with 65+ miles and 50+ miles respectively. Even though I couldn't make the whole march myself, I was extremely proud to be even remotely part of this group.
The culmination of the march occurred on Thursday. The cadets and members portraying the 22nd Virginia left Lacey Springs at dawn for the final 10 miles to New Market. When they finally reached New Market, they perked up, despite the exhaustion of the week. They made their way through the town with bayonets fixed, fifes and drum playing. Boy did they look sharp! After making their way through town, they stopped at Shirley Hill where they paid tribute cadets who stood on that spot in 1864. From Shirley Hill, they marched smartly to the main portion of the battlefield. At this point, the cadets went into line of battle and began to slowly make their way through the fields. As they approached the Bushong Farm, the sky began to darken with storm clouds.
The cadets and the 22nd VA made their way through the farm and orchard, before stopping at the rail fence to fire a couple of volleys at the Federal positions up the hill. They then reformed their lines on the other side of the fence and began to advance towards the Federal artillery. As they began their advance, it began to rain. The order was then given to charge, and the cadets broke into a run. The faster they ran, the harder it began to rain. As the cadets reached the artillery and crowded around the caisson, the sky compltely opened up. It was one of the coolest things I've ever been able to witness. I am told it was the first time in 150 years that cadets have charged up that hill in a storm.
The Reenactment
After the week, and Thursday's soaking, it was great to take a little downtime. Friday and Saturday, were largely days of inactivity. The highlight for me on Saturday though, was getting to see my family for the first time in a week. The cadets did work on drill some, particularly since the rest of the reeanctors portraying cadets had begun to trickle in. I was a little disappointed that there was not much to do Saturday as a unit. There was the option to participate in the battles on Saturday, but I really wasn't up for falling in with a mainstream unit. As 1st Sgt, it was a little frustrating that there was no clear company structures for the 22nd Virginia until Sunday morning. We had several units coming together and it was a little fuzzy as to how all of them would fit together. Despite this, we quickly had a company formed on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning was spent with Skip Owens drilling us and the cadet battalion together before conducting parade. I have to say, we looked damn sharp. For a bunch of folks who had never worked together before, my company performed well. Everywhere we marched, people gave pause to watch. After morning drill/parade, we had a little more downtime. At this point, Skip let us know that he was elevating my company commander to command the battalion and that I was placed in charge of the company. Further, we were told that we (the 22nd VA, and specifically my company) would be only 10 ft off of the safety rope, putting us in direct view of the spectators for the battle reenactment ahead.
Around 1:30, we stepped off from our campsite. The sound of fifes and drums echoed through the tunnel under I-81 that brought us to the main portion of the battlefield. We marched into position near the museum and stacked arms while waiting for the word to go in. Around 2, we reformed and stepped onto the field of battle. As we passed the artillery positions, the cadets went into line of battle, while we (22nd VA) remained in 2 columns to get us through the yard of the Bushong house. On the other side of the house, we came into contact with Federal cavalry (both mounted and dismounted. We quickly drove them back through the orchard and came to a halt at the rail fence where several volleys were fired. As the Federals began to retreat further, the command was given to go over the fence and advance towards the enemy. At the double-quick, we advanced through the field, wading through knee-deep (and waist-deep in some spots) water. We halted, dropping to the ground to fire several volleys at the Federals before giving the order to charge. At that point, all of the weariness from the week disappeared and my adrenaline kicked in. The cadets and the 22nd made a gallant charge, driving the Federals from their artillery positions. Despite the fact that we were recreating the original scenario, I don't think that many of the Federal reenactors were expecting us to charge like we did.
While the reeanctment is a mainstream event, I believe that both represented groups were able to give the public a more authentic view of what ACW infantry units would have looked like in the field.
A big thanks needs to first go to Paul Boulden for wrangling this whole adjunct. Paul has been putting in a tireless effort for a long time to make this happen. Right there with him has been Kirby Smith. The many hours these two spent organizing the effort and sewing cadet uniforms paid off big time. That was just pre-event. For all of the march, Paul was handling bivouac setups and cooking duties. I also want to thank Skip Owens for doing such a fine job commanding the brigade, as well as having the faith in me to command by company on Sunday.
Pros:
- A well-executed march
- Having musicians for both the march and the reenactment
- Rations were plentiful and varied. If you went hungry, you were doing something wrong
- Great leadership at all levels of command
- Having a separate campsite away from the mainstream camps
Cons:
- The reenactment is a mainstream event
- A large amount of inactivity on Friday/Saturday
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