Looking Ahead to Improvement

[Kevin O'Beirne]

This thread could be summed up by asking, "Now what?" or "What next?" What do "campaigners" need to do both to improve their portrayals and their events?

The purpose of this thread is not to solicit obvious responses like, "Everyone should study more, and learn their drill better," and similar remarks. That type of stuff is easy to toss off on a forum like this and then only a very limited number of folks will do it, and it's something that everyone should be doing anyway.

What this thread is about is concrete things that could be done to improve:

• "Campaigner" skills.
• In-field leadership skills of "campaigner" non-comms and officer impressionists--a challenge when few in this end of reenacting hold "permanent" rank.
• "Campaigner" events. Thankfully, lately scheduling of these events seemed to be happening better than ever before.

This thread certainly won't solve the problems of reenacting, but perhaps a few good ideas might come from it. I admit, it's with some trepedation that this is being posted at all.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

Great Idea Kevin!

A few things stick out in my mind...

Building of Fires: I'm always amazed at how many people I run into who cannot properly build a fire. This usually stems from not understanding the fundamental basis of using (tender, kindling, and fuel)...and is often made worse by using VERY green wood.

Knots: While tradition has it that the Navy primarily worked with knots, in the 19th c. knots were a very real skill (for all peoples). I continually fail to see these properly used in the field. Most people can tie a square knot, but there are literally thousands of knots, with each having particular applications...from setting up a shelter, log-pulls, mule-packing...etc. Even the Ordnance Manual devoted a few pages to the display and application of knots.

Proper Cooking over Fire: Still see people scrambling to cook over the flames, and not the coals, usually in the process knocking ashes into their pards pan, or spilling someones boiler (*Billings coined these types as Jonahs)...experienced cooks will know to stoke a good fire, and rake out the proper amount of coals in which to cook over.

While I realize many in the community no-doubt have these "skills" mastered, many of us have alot of learning/growing to do in this area.

*Hardtack and Coffee reference

[RJSamp]

For Bales, For Bales

Was going to post this on the Cavalry Discussion board.....or point at the CSA picture from Outpost. They didn't have rectangular hay bales..and they weren't bound with red plastic, hemp, or wire twine. And they didn't place these potential fire hazards and important foodstuffs around a camp fire as seats/wind breaks.

As an alternative.....take the number of horses at the event, figure a bale per day per horse......transport these to the feeding spotSS on Friday..... unbale the bales into more haystack looking piles and get rid of the twine. A period pitch fork (iron or wood tines) could be left in the hay stack..or not (maybe depending on proximity to a 'farm'). If this is a true campaign event then you could send a fatigue detail and wagon over to the hay stacks and forage for the forage......or even ride the critters over to the stack (maybe it's near the water source?) and let them feed. Sound Watering Call and have at it? We even share hay with the horses.....half a 'bale' makes a nice bed for the night.....and then carry it over to your steed for their breakfast. A pile of flakes or even broken up flakes instead of bound bales would be more period appropriate.

We've been making excellent strides in bringing rations, ammo, et al into camp in period containers using pre event modern transport, behind the scenes modern transport (water at BGR for example), and during the event wagons...... it's time to step up our authenticity with regards to hay and grain feeding of the equine stock (no plastic Sweet Feed #10 bags like on the Morgan's Raids, carry them in in burlap or canvas?....).

And speaking of BALES......will we ever have an event where there's Cotton Bales or piles of Bolls around?

Thanks for listening.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

• In-field leadership skills of "campaigner" non-comms and officer impressionists--a challenge when few in this end of reenacting hold "permanent" rank.

Kevin,

Good thread!

On this point, I think there would be benefit to scheduling an event solely to work on these items. Perhaps a battalion level drill weekend with separate schools for NCOs and Officers, moving on to company-level drills, then culminating with a battalion drill.

Many groups these days operate using a "pool" of interested and/or qualified folks to serve as officers and NCOs. This is a great way to spread the burden of leadership around, build a pool of experience, and prevent "eternal colonels" and "captains for life" so prevalent in the mainstream. However, I am not sure how often these folks have the opportunity to be schooled in proper drill, etc. For example, how many folks out there who portray a sergeant really understand how to ensure that they are walking in a straight line and why doing so is a valuable skill?

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

• "Campaigner" skills.

I am curious what all would consider comprises this category.

One thing that I have wanted to try in the field for some time is the construction of improvised shelters. There was a great series of articles in MC&H a while ago detailing improvised shelters used in the Revolution, as well as the ACW. At most events, we lack the permission to cut boughs and saplings and/or the tools to do so.

[Cfarrell]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

I'll throw a log on the fire....

Like Paul noted the simple "woods-manship" skills are lacking all around. I understand that not every soldier would have had said skills, but a majority did north and south. Back then it was common sense...stuff like that was needed for survival, and would have certainly been carried over from their civilian lives to military.

Simple tasks such as starting fires, boiling water, cooking, and identifying indigenous plant life are some things that could be fixed.

A year or so back the Ground Hornets tried something different in regards to COI’s– we called it the Camp of the Campaigner. It was something geared more towards teaching Campaigner’s how to improve their impression in areas like first person, cooking, woods-manship (fire building, edible plant life…), NCO training…and things such as that. The idea came about because most of the men in the authentic community have been doing this for several seasons and are well versed in the basic individual and company drill. (Basic being the key word!) But few of the men know the difference in an oak tree and a pecan tree or blackberry’s from dewberry’s.

Best Regards,

[redleggeddevil]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

Alas, my schedule doesn't allow much time for events, but I have made a personal determination to try and implement the following in the coming year:

1) Getting the "little things" right. For example, compiling a complete, period correct kit for cleaning my musket, hand-sewing some handkerchiefs and making up some blackball for my brogans and leather gear. I think most people have the big stuff pretty well taken care of, but the devil is in the details;

2) Pushing myself physically to get a better feel for the rigors of the campaign. I have signed on for a long-distance, multi-day march next year. It will be anything but an immersion event, but my feet and my gear won't know the difference. Heels will blister, straps will tear and seams will fray. Five days of steady marches will prove a crucible to test the quality of my gear. It will also be interesting to see how my fat, weary old body holds up over the long haul;

3) Going civilian. I have volunteered to help with a mid-sized pre-war civilian scenario. I have never really done any civilian reenacting, so it will force me to broaden my studies into the period. Since every soldier was once a civilian, it can't hurt my interpretation to know more about what I did "before the war".

None of my suggestions are rocket science, but they can't do any harm.

[Rev]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

And speaking of BALES......will we ever have an event where there's Cotton Bales or piles of Bolls around?

Today's bales are farby! They are wrapped in a poly. I know of one compress that uses burlap and is animal driven in Westville, Georgia - if my memory is correct.

[Charles Heath]

Re: For Bales, For Bales

They didn't have rectangular hay bales..and they weren't bound with red plastic, hemp, or wire twine.

Not in the modern small square bale in the 45-65 lbs. range, but they did have hay presses and bales of hay were shipped by rail. Take a look at the famous image of such under canvas during the Petersburg campaign. It's posted here every few months, and the fodder is the right of the barrels of onions. Incidently, the rather large diameter (about the diameter of a pencil) soft iron wire on these bales is sometimes found as a bail on relic cans and dippers. The closest modern type bale is the large square bale (actually rectangular) that weighs about 500 lbs. These seem to be making a comeback.

Making hay stacks and foraging for hay has been done before. Unfortunately, like filling out paperwork for forage and grain, this activity isn't consistent. With feed, unfortunately, the question of the individual equine's digestive tract has to be taken into consideration, but in some cases the owner/operator will bag and bring his own animal's choice of feed for the weekend. Is that perfect? No, but you are right about it being a step up from the colorful modern feed store bag. Done the oats and corn thing, too. Reminds me of a horse turned Saturn V rocket in the vicinity of McDonough, NY, this past August, but I digress. (Dave, I hear you laughing.)

And speaking of BALES......will we ever have an event where there's Cotton Bales or piles of Bolls around?

It happens, but not often. I understand the authorities do frown on hemp bales, but in terms of cotton bales, I can recall a nice event in Lousiana that had the older, small, bales, and not the modern ones. Same goes for cotton bolls hanging about a certain handful of events in North Carolina. Ever take a hit in a freshly harvested cotton field? Think about it. If the photographs are any indication, Jim Butler's Westville event site has a functional reproduction cotton press, and pressing a bale would be interesting. Let's see who picks that much cotton. :p

Fencepost and Cupcake may have seen some cotton in a few days.

Wick,

"Campaigner Skills" typically translates into "Fieldcraft." When we taught the School of the Campaigner many moons ago, that was broken down into Subsistence, Shelter, and Sleeping. There is more to it than that, though. Several groups have done this sort of infliction of fieldcraft type event. Mark Jaeger contributed a nice series of period "how-to" type posts from the boys of '61-'65 in a thread on this topic a while back.

Quite a bit could be done with an NCO School. We discussed this type of an event for 2008, and realized there was little or no interest in such an activity. In looking at the POIs for some Officer Schools, that is the info we've taught our enlisted folks for years and years, so I can see where there would be little incentive for the NCO niche, but the need, and the material, is still there. For what it is worth, we still incorporate an NCO training day into the schedule most years.

Kevin,

I thought the sutler impression was a heck of a task to pull off well. This latest gig has some depth to it, too. I sure hope the Mighty Rogerer and the Quiet Man follow through.

[CheeseBoxRaft]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

Today's bales are farby! They are wrapped in a poly. I know of one compress that uses burlap and is animal driven in Westville, Georgia - if my memory is correct.

Your memory is indeed correct: http://www.westville.org/cottonBalingPressNews.htm

[Smokey Toes]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

“In-field leadership skills” – New “leaders” will always step forward while old and familiar ones inevitably fade away. That said, “leadership” is a far cry from just memorizing manuals, sewing on rank, or getting said rank for being a popular guy who brought “x” amount of other guys to an event.

Some of the best leaders I’ve seen at events were actually corporals and lowly privates. They are the ones who know and act their part, check on others, spend time working with the less experienced, keep their eye on those with medical conditions, freely give their blanket or overcoat to someone in need or organize and lead work details while others lounge around. In a nutshell they take the initiative to get things done WITHOUT being asked or told to do so. They always show up prepared, in the proper kit, with a good attitude and a clean weapon. These are the guys that make the best sergeants, orderlies, sergeant majors and officers. To me THAT should be one’s foundation before they even start delving into platoon, company, battalion or skirmish drill. But, in keeping with the intent of Kevin's post, I'd say that leaders should be developed from the ranks on up (IN ORDER) which unfortunatly is not always the case, because such a practice is totally unenforceable aside from creating a leadership tracking/rating system within our community....any volunteers? :wink_smil

"Campaigner" events”: I’ve always like events where you KNOW you are expected to show up and actually ACCOMPLISH something as opposed to just camping, drilling, or firing blanks… Like climbing Lookout Mountain and sweeping across its face as skirmishers, timed to the minute, or lugging the battalion’s rations and gear on your shoulders during the Port Gibson march trying to make it from point A to point B in the same amount of time as the real unit did. It sucks, but when you get in your car to leave at the end of the weekend you usually have a great sense of accomplishment, and a greater respect for those we portray. Events like that tend to develop and test one's leadership ability more than any scripted event or LH scenario could.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

"...because such a practice is totally unenforceable aside from creating a leadership tracking/rating system within our community....any volunteers?" :wink_smil

Naw, you serious? Some folks wee wee down their hind legs at the mere thought of being on a list of any kind.

[Smokey Toes]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

That would be half the fun of doing it Charles...you know that.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

I know, I know. By the way I miss hearing the Tiger Band.

One of the joys in the hobby is seeing young folks take the baton and run with it. "Young" being an operative term of the heart and soul meaning a 19 year old or a 50 year old corporal with an equal amount of time in the hobby learning the same ropes. The flip side of that is watching a number of folks burn out quickly due to being overworked like the proverbial "good horse."

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Looking Ahead to Improvement

To clarify, the intent of this thread is not necessarily to complile a list of "stuff I wish was better at events" like the modern haybale vs. period haybale discussions (by the way, we have looked into a period-ish straw issue at W64 and it's just too darned expensive for the massive bale, and most of it would be wasted for that size of event). Rather, I'm talking about identifying some things and then--here's the rub--some concrete ideas for attempting to address them.

As an anti-example, it's all well and good to wish for more horses, more wagons, more men, and more of whatever at events. but if it's not available then it's not available. No amount of wishing will make a wagon train of 10 covered wagons drawn by mules show up at Outpost 4 or Winter 1864, so why waste the typing effort to wish for it?

Campaigner camps of instruction are great, but many are already held and no two groups seem to have the same vision of what's to be taught or what's important. The CR has held a COI annually since 2001 that typically combines drill with classroom instruction on various topics beyond only drill; we are certainly not the only group that does that. Yet the hobby continues to need improvement.

I'll offer one idea: An insistence that events be tied to history, and that sufficient historical documentation to not only justify the scenario, but also to support first-person when it's being done. When first-person's not an element of the event, then sufficient documentation to assist the participants in becoming more familiar with the history they are portraying so that they can intelligently discuss it, at least to an extent.

I believe there's a tendency lately to de-emphasize historical research and disseminating it to participants. If that supposition is correct, it's indeed a disturbing one that I believe should be changed.