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SEEING THE ELEPHANT-PART 5 Our cavalry finally got into the fight and chased the Union cavalry away. We were ordered to straighten back into battle line and we advanced toward the Union Infantry. They retreated about 200 yards as we advanced. Theoretically, this allowed their cannon to fire at us without hitting their troops. We started to take casualties as …
SEEING THE ELEPHANT-PART 4 Once we halted behind our artillery, we were given the command “Front”. This put up in a brigade battle line. We were also commanded to load our muskets. Our artillery quit firing, which allowed us to move through their battery and advance on the Union Infantry that was threating the taking of our cannon. On the …
SEEING THE ELEPHANT-PART 3 The day was hot for the first weekend in December. It was one of those freak hot spells we sometimes get in Arkansas. I had been drinking from my canteen and it was about half full. I was sweating profusely, but was feeling like a kid in a candy store. We marched off to the battlefield …
THE PATH The Path is a walkway, a very narrow lane Between where we are and where we are going. It is unique for everyone who wants to grow. It is dynamic for each one who wants life to flow. We peel away the layers of our life’s story and begin to learn who we are and what we’re meant …
SEEING THE ELEPHANT-PART 2 Saturday morning a few of the unit member’s wives cooked us breakfast of bacon, eggs, and bread along with steaming hot coffee. Food cooked over a fire in a camp setting seemed to bring out more favors in anything you eat. I was stuffed to the gills and loving it. After breakfast Pard and I looked …
SEEING THE ELEPHANT-Part 1 Seeing the Elephant is a weird expression. During the Civil War and in today’s Civil War Reenacting it means participating in your first battle. I remember the first Civil War Battle for me was the first weekend in December, 1994, at Prairie Grove Battlefield in Northwest Arkansas. The reenactment commemorated an 1862 battle that confirmed Missouri …
“FIX BAYONETS” If there is any order we receive in reenacting that sends a chill up my back, it is this order, “Fix Bayonets.” I guess it is because pulling a 12 inch Civil War bayonet out of its scabbard and attaching to the end of your musket seems to make it more of a lethal weapon. Only about 6% …
A CIVIL WAR REENACTOR’S HIGH Let me say that after 18 years in the Infantry ranks I still get a natural high when we come marching onto a field of battle and view the spectators. Many times they cheer or look at us with awe. I know they wonder what it would be like to be out there with us. …
THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN OF 1862: THROUGH ARKANSAS EYES I have walked the part of the charge route of the 3rd Arkansas and 27th North Carolina that is still open to the public and have placed small Confederate flags in Mumma’s Lane to commemorate their valor many times. Since I reenact with the 3rd Arkansas I feel a special affinity with …