- Joined
- Apr 8, 2018
- Location
- Coffeeville, TX
Here a few weeks ago, I posted a thread mentioning it was coming up, and took advantage of Ive on the ground for some fun.
Next weekend, myself and a few fellow reenactors plan on a Winter Quarters style event on one of our number's 30 acre property. Framed as a "reenactor new year" to get ready and excited for the spring season. Essentially a small gathering, mostly cavalry and an excellent photographer with his original 1890's cameras. It goes well we shoot to making it a yearly thing. Though it's not strictly CW as we've many buddies that do Mountain Man and Texas Revolution joining in. Hence a "reenactor new year" as its visionary has envisioned, and not "Civil War Reenactor New Year." His...
The next weekend, we had an invite only event, with some ice still present, along with a lot of mud. Also 10 degree temps, and 30 mph winds.
It went from fun to survival real fast!!!!!
That said, it was originally a cavalry event, and we had the majority of folks back out, leaving us with a skeleton crew on the lovely property near Clarksville, TX. All scenarios involving patrol with a wagon, mules, and cav fell by the wayside while we struggled to stay alive!
With so much going awry, impressions went from early war Texas Confederate, to just early war volunteers/militia, with civilians, to screw it, we gotta stay alive! I know myself I parted with impression dedicated, and said screw it and wore a WW1 reproduction British "Gor Blimey" cap I had brought along to compare to original a friend has. He didn't show, and I needed to stay warm!
However! One thing that didn't go awry was the attendance of a photographer with his circa-1901 camera to do tintypes he restored.
Something one of our number throughly enjoyed, a cavalry officer, who has an impression as General Cabell of Arkansas Trans-Mississippi fame.
We even ended up doing a staff photo, I was offered an officer's frock for the occasion, which while I'll admit I was tempted, I stuck with an early war Sergeant's frock coat I had been wearing. While not a Sergeant anymore, it just didn't feel right. I remember saying, "I'll just wear my Sergeant's coat, every staff needs a good Sergeant." A photo that the sight won't allow to post…
All that said, it was a fun if frigid weekend. I know all the firewood was round logs, and my freezing self went to splitting them with a small hatchet I keep in my truck. It was a cold and I wanted fire now!
One impression I wanted to get a tintype in was as an early war Confederate, the impression based on Tennessee ones, but that didn't happen. See all the chemicals for those ancient cameras are very sensitive to the cold I learned, and it was a miracle with heaters nearby in the photographer's truck to get the photos we got.
Except for the once more expanding gut, (gotta fix that) and the boots that I wore with two wool socks on each foot to keep warm, I still think it was a decent impression.
Next year, we shall be better prepared and proper winter quarters built. Even plans for an earthen redoubt on a hill overlooking where we were camped to place a Parrott rifle we have available.
All that said, frontier soldiering is terrible!
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