1994 Red River Campaign

[iron bender]

Gonna start with three pics. I've got lots more. Chime in if you're in one of these! Guys from all over the country showed up for this one. These three pics were taken on the P'Hill battlefield near the dog trot and the pretty freshly built tavern. I remember some of you guys but the bulk escape my mind

 

[RedRover]

Thats great. I have marked the photo of Nick Medich's battalion in center.

Col. Medich reclining in front, and Maj. Paramore to his right a couple chaps down.

Near far left is Manning Williams of SC, whom some may recall from the anecdotes of him in the book "Confederates in the Attic" (which I think failed to do justice to his unique sense of humor if I might say so).

Jack Coleman of Thonotosassa Florida immediately in front of the color... I rode with him to the event.

I marked myself with an X in the left wing. To the right of me is Eric Steffy of Pinellas County, FL... a veteran of the 7th US Infantry in Desert Shield/Storm.

That was quite an event...

 

[iron bender]

RedRover awesome! Thanks much! This 7 days was interesting to say the least. Weather was a beast at least once and all the participants were troopers. This will always stand out as one of my favorite events as a young man at 18 years old. I'll post more pics shortly. Anyone who visits NOLA or La. should hit this battlefield and Mansfield. Of course Vicksburg is right down the road too
...our small 30 man detachment from infantry/artillery were the pioneer unit that chopped and built stuff one day ahead. It was fun!

 

[iron bender]

These pics have eluded me for a long time but starting to find them. Here's two more for now

 

[RedRover]

Lots of veterans in that event. In Jim Tapley's "Cracker company" the sergeants were mostly Vietnam veterans. And the ranks included Mr. Sy Mabie, a WW2 submariner from SC. He passed away in 2009:

Jack Coleman, as a corporal, was one day trying to help Sy along, and while marching down a difficult slope, while chatting.... Jack twisted his ankle slightly and within several minutes Sy was outpacing Jack! It was hilarious.


If I remember correctly, it rained on our parade rather heavily on Tuesday then got rather cold as night drew on.... my messmates and I headed into Pleasant Hill to get some coffee and hot grub... STRAGGLERS!

We met Mr. "Edmund "Bob" Barnes, the local battlefield custodian since the late 70s, who informed us of the next day's camp site... also warned us not to leave the roads to go cross country. He told us to camp at the American Legion. My chums and I hid out rested and patched our feet as the battalion marched through town... then lit out to the next camp at our own pace on a different route. It was a joyous meeting when they saw we were yet game for more tramping.

Mr. Barnes was the gentleman who passed away during the Pleasant Hill reenactment at the close of the event (while acting with the CSA artillery). He was a WW2 Army veteran. That was on April 9, 1994, approximately 130 years after the Battle. There is a monument to him in from of the local American Legion:

 

[iron bender]

This Bob Barnes? First time I met him, believe it or not was in Vicksburg in 1979 when I was 4 years old. Loved Bob. He was a staple at PHill and a **** good guy. I'm not a guy who believes in the glider pilot crashing his shitty craft into a mountain side 'died doing what he loved'. Bob Barnes wouldn't have traded the way he went

 

[RedRover]

This Bob Barnes? First time I met him, believe it or not was in Vicksburg in 1979 when I was 4 years old. Loved Bob. He was a staple at PHill and a **** good guy. I'm not a guy who believes in the glider pilot crashing his shitty craft into a mountain side 'died doing what he loved'. Bob Barnes wouldn't have traded the way he went

View attachment 482337

That's the one! Here's a clipping of him from WW2:

Post-war he served in the US Air Force.

When we were in Pleasant hill on our "flank" my pal Jack Coleman decided it would be a big pain to go back out to camp. We had some physical and shoe issues that needed dealing with, etc. He started inquiring where the next night's camp would be... that we might be able next morning to repair our shoes, etc. (two our our five man mess having lost soles already) and trek there on our own hook the next day (late start, own pace, etc.) Some who may have known discouraged the idea... "go back to your camp" or "stay in refugee camp" etc.

Finally, somebody says talk to Bob. Well, he wasn't hard to find. He was certainly in his element that week. Jack and he hit it off instantly... As soon as he mentioned to Mr. Barnes our intention, and inspected our condition... he approved of our straggling scenario. He noted that stragglers should best avoid the main route to avoid the officers...but NOT to cut cross country and he soon produced for us a small map, and assigned the legion parking lot for our night's camp in that direction.

Near the close of the event, and shortly before his passing, I saw Mr. Barnes with the guns...

 

[captaindrew]

Nice pics!

 

[RedRover]

Here's what was left of my footwear by the end of the trek: When my brogans were no use by Tues. night (soles come loose, etc., also had worn the skin off the back of my ankles, had to make due. Wednesday morning yanked the insoles out, "whanged" them onto a pair of woolen socks... covered the whole with pieces of my blanket as necessary (as you can see here not much left of my blanket by the next Monday morning.

Sort of like what Phil Stephenson of the Washington Artillery described at Franklin and Nashville:

My pal Steffy's shoes wore out so between his and mine, he bored holes in the soles with a pocket knife, and also "whanged" something together of them. However, he did trek for a day barefoot a good distance, saving his shoes for rough work. For myself, I did not have so much as a blister after switching to the RAGS. But I did miss my blanket!

 

[iron bender]

That's some hardcore footwear RedRover! The brog's I got at Shiloh in 87 made their last trip at RRC94. Both heels gone, sole's worn through to foot, both inner and outers blown out. Nothing left to save

 

[RedRover]

That's some hardcore footwear RedRover! The brog's I got at Shiloh in 87 made their last trip at RRC94. Both heels gone, sole's worn through to foot, both inner and outers blown out. Nothing left to save

That whole event was such a great learning experiment...

My brogans were also well used by the time. Really, I realized that for a campaign, a new pair constructed on that model would certainly be best.

I considered myself lucky by the end. My padded rag shoes were really quite comfortable. As you no doubt recall too, some fellows' foot flesh was mightily worn but their brogans survived intact...

I developed an appreciation for the effect of "non-battle" casualties on any given unit. For example, prior, I used to be confused studying the history of the 7th Florida Regiment, which left Florida 1,100 strong in mid-1862, yet Sgt. Watson in his diary says they were lucky to have 150 men in battle. After the Red River trek, I can better imagine the causes.

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

Great to see pics of an event I grew up hearing about. So many stories.

Only thing I can relate on is that I remember that old "tavern" at many early to me P. Hill events before it was finally knocked down.

 

[RedRover]

Jack Coleman wants me to share one of his favorite Red River tales of 1994.. So here goes.

One of the oddities of the event was of course the entire lack of "facilities," considering we were marching in the wooded country, etc. Consequently calls of nature had to be attended to in the most natural mode.

One night, late during the week, after dark, Jack wandered into the woods to find himself a decent spot for his own purposes. It was after dark, and he was walking a good distance from the bivouac fires in the relatively thick woods. On his trek, he saw a candle light flicker in the dark, and figuring he was on something of a trail walked up to it... and what he saw was quite amazing...

Jack came upon a fellow reenactor, seated on an extemporized "johnny" made of sticks and wood!... More, he was smoking a pipe, and while so seated was reading a repro Harper's Weekly by candle light! The gentleman bid Jack a good evening, and Jack moved on...

On returning to our bivouac and informing us of his curious encounter with the unflappable gentleman, so far as I recall, our small mess debated what was more impressive... the construction of a seat, the fact he kept a newspaper in readable condition during the trek, or that he bothered to carry the extra weight of a candle!