My Thanks

[Spinster]

My thanks to Katie Underwood, Ivan Ingram and the entire 40 Rounds event staff. The real mountains and valleys that comprise the actual Wauhatchie area is the land of my young adult years. I’m well familiar with that land and it’s challenges and history.

It took a unique vision and a deep dig into history to find the real people in this sparsely populated area. I’m appreciative of the extra research that it took to find that history, and the extra effort in men and materials to repair and expand the rustic cabin so that civilians were authentically housed.

My original plans for the weekend were to drop my husband off on Friday, and slide over to Gatlinburg for pancakes, candy, Christmas shopping. Katie requested some background event support for civilians, of the sort the late Charles Heath termed ‘kabuki’, and those details were enjoyable as well, especially transporting and inserting in place the fascinating historical impression played by young Evelyn Wickett. My apologies to those soldiers who had momentary taillights on their line of march early Saturday morning—I am both old and slow.

Sunday saw smiling faces and shoulders to the wheels as cannon came up out of the valley. I was grateful to be just carrying stuff up a long muddy hill.

I Had Fun, How About You?

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: My thanks

Thank you so much for your help with Miss Evelyn!

Would love to hear about Friday night!

[Spinster]

Re: My thanks

We go about our normal historic lives at these things John. No unnecessary drama or elaborate conversation. There's chores to be done: lamps lit, water hauled, food cooked, dishes washed, bedstones heated. She missed much of that routine due to the lateness of the hour. We normally keep a farmer's clock, going to bed with the chickens and rising with them. We were delayed in returning her to you on Saturday by the fact that the leaking cabin had poured water on her stays.

There was a teaching moment neglected on my part the night before, as I did not ensure that all her things were either in her bag or under her blankets. As a whole, this event is resulting in a list of a lot of fieldcraft that we 'knew' a decade ago, but have not properly passed down.

The ladies were headed to bed when she came in, and there by the time I returned from parking the vehicle. She wasn't ready for sleep, so I improperly :) allowed her to sit outside and listen to Mr. Butler and Mr Rowden(Biederman) as they talked period politics and military history until she was sleepy. I pulled blankets off my bed to get her enough for warmth (I had plenty extra) . When Mr. Rowden took his dawn constitutional and fire stiring walk, he returned to find his feather tick.....occupied by giggles.

[Spinster]

Re: My Thanks



Eric Tipton asked me to elaborate on the civilian roles for this event, and to provide photos. To my knowledge, there are none, unless the event photographer snatched one with a long lense. As a general rule, that’s not who we are, nor what we do.

Instead, I offer this one, snatched from the dash of my van as I waited for Miss Wickett to make her way across the field and into the tree line early on Saturday morning, after she had spent Friday night in the tightly occupied Rowden cabin. . Here, she has disappeared into the mist, just as her counterpoint did after this campaign.

Historically, In the course of action around Wauhatchie, Confederate troops found a young girl, about 10 or 11years old, alone, hungry, cold, and bereft, still with the body of her deceased mother. The mother was buried by troops. The child was kept and cared for at headquarters for some time, until she could be turned over to proper civilian care.

Miss Wickett spent the day on Saturday in Confederate HQ, and was quietly removed by another as temperatures began to drop precipitously.


The Rowden Family occupied a small one room cabin and corn crib in a ravine. Historically J C Rowden was the local magistrate. Little is known other than his contact with the Federal army and his extended family is fabricated for this event to include his wife, her mother , his pregnant daughter, two female cousins, and a traveler trapped between lines.

The ridge above their home was ringed with cannon. Trees around their home were felled and stripped for shelter and works. The winter garden was half planted when the women dropped their tools and fled into the tiny cabin Mr Rowden was questioned and held separately. A pickett was placed to guard and protect the women, but affronts to dignity occurred.

Late in the day, as Mr Rowden and Mrs Rowden gave conflicting information about troop movements in the area, their home was seized and the family turned out to leave as best they could manage.

What will tomorrow bring?