Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

[Gary of CA]

Meet Col. Frank Wolford, 1st Kentucky Cavalry (Union)

Now here's a man we could follow and one needn't stand on ceremony with the good colonel.

We later learned that Morgan with a thousand men had crossed the Cumberland River, and surprised and captured forty pickets of Colonel Wolford's cavalry, a regiment of loyal Kentuckians, and a most remarkable organization it was - very little of army discipline and drill, but mighty good fighters in their own irregular way, and they did good service. Their commander, Colonel Wolford, was a unique character. He did not bother himself about the phraseology of tactics, and furnished lots of fun for us by his way of giving orders, one of which became a sort of a byword. Instead of giving out the proper command, "Prepare to mount! Mount!" he would sing out, "Prepare to git on your critters. Git!"

[Jeff Prechtel]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

Having friends who actually live down in Indiucky,
I can just here them sayin that!:wink_smil

Great post Gary.

[Arkaos]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

Believe it or now that saying is in on display in our museum. As soon as I can find who has our digital camera I'll upload a shot of it.

Steve

[Arch Campbell]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

I have always suspected that this was common early in the war, or more specifically early in the history of each regiment. Just because a man had shiny new eagles on his "pumpkin rinds" didn't make him an expert- just well-connected!

In the first winter of the war, the 11th Iowa Volunteer Infantry was on occupation duty in north central Missouri- basically just "showing the flag" and discouraging secession-minded men from joining the State Guard or becoming bushwackers while nearly 1000 armed men in blue were around. When the halt was called for lunch one frigid December day, Colonel Abraham Hare was heard to issue the following command:

"Break Ranks! Get rails! Start fires! G*d d*mn!"

[Arkaos]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

Here it is, and this has been on display since 1963. When the new exhibits open in the fall of 2009 this will be nothing more than a memory.

Steve

[Gary of CA]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

Thank you Steve. BTW, I gawt mine from "A Yankee at Arms" published by Univ. of TN press, page 130.

[brown]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

Wolford made it until the spring of 1864 when he was arrest and removed from service for threatening to fight the Emancipating Army of Lincoln.

[Utley]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

Gary,

I was fortunate enough to work with Col. Wofford's GGgrandson, who is a Lieutenant with the Kentucky State Police. He wasn't quite as brash as his grandfather, but he was a good, common sense country boy who wasn't afraid to go "into the fray." Until this day, the family is still a group of proud Kentuckians.

[KyCavMajor]

Re: Toss your Hardee, Casey and any other book on tactics.

A description of Frank Lane Wolford
"To enhance his martial appearance, he rode the frame-work of an ugly roan horse, wore an old red hat, home-spun brown jeans coat, and his face had been undefiled by water or razor for some time."
The Wild Riders of the First Kentucky Cavalry