The Journal of the Ninth Texas Regiment of Infantry: 

       Check schedule for updates and links
 

    Ninth Texas caps 2009 campaign with Rolling     Thunder at Fortescue, Mo

        HOLDEN EVENT A SUCCESS  AND HOMIE 

       SURVIVES AN ABDUCTION ATTEMPT!!

                        LAMONI Cvil War Days 2009 a Success!!   

  CITY'S POSITION ON DISCHARGING FIREARMS LEADS TO CANCELLATION

          As you know, I cancelled our participation in the Lawrence event which had been scheduled for August. 15, 2009, at South Park in Lawrence, KS. An article about that ran in the Lawrence Journal-World on August 15, and a number of user comments were posted. I posted the following and trust that it receives the approval of the rank and file:

I write concerning the cancellation of the Civil War reenactment in Lawrence, at South Park, August 15, 2009. Much could be said about that; little need be. The 9th Texas (with many members from Kansas) and other allied reenacting groups assumed that we would be permitted to do what Civil War reenactors do, including firing our weapons (with blanks). At the eleventh hour, city officials refused to grant us permission to fire in South Park although that had been done in 2007, the last time we were there. As such, I cancelled our participation. The statements in the Lawrence Journal-World on August 15 attributed to Debbie White, manager of the Lawrence Visitor Center, that the 9th Texas “couldn’t make the trip” and that “things [had] come up,” are, therefore, not entirely accurate.

The 9th Texas and its brother units are committed to the cause of historical preservation, including honoring those, both North and South, who chose to put their lives on the line for what they believed in. I know that the Civil War reenactors would have put on a good recreation of the life of the Civil War soldier in South Park had that been permitted. I extend my apologies to the folks in Lawrence and elsewhere that the event did not come off as originally advertised.

If the 9th chooses to participate in this event in the future, I hope that details can be worked out ahead of time to the satisfaction of all.

Brian Cox
Captain, commanding
9th Texas Volunteer Infantry
1st Missouri Battalion
 

    Additional note:

The Lawrence Journal-World ran an additional piece on the cancellation of the event in the on-line version of the paper, found at http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/aug/17/civil-war-re-enactors-actually-declined-lawence-vi/

The reader posts following the article are well worth reading.

 

               AFTER ACTION REPORT - DILLER, NEBRASKA  JULY 9-11, 2009

                               CANCELLATION OF BENTONVILLE 2009

                            HUMBOLDT, KS, JUNE 12-14, 2009

The 9th visited again one of its old stomping grounds to support Mr. Downey and Humboldt’s home-grown Civil War history, including the October 14, 1861, sack of the town. And a fine time was had in Humboldt’s own, kinda hokie, but every bit satisfying way. By way of reference, Humboldt is about 2 hours south out of Topeka mostly on highway 75. The following account of the raid is found on the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce’s website: At about 4 p.m. on October 14, 1861, a Confederate cavalry suddenly invaded Humboldt. The Home Guard were caught by surprise at O'Brien's Mill where they were quartered. Most of the buildings were set afire after the women and children were allowed to remove valuable possessions and household goods. Rebels moved through the town, setting torches to homes and businesses. The night was illuminated by the flames of the burning town. The roaring of the fire and the crashing of the buildings could be heard for miles around. Nearly the whole town lay in ashes and ruin. The invading troops were made to think that a defending force was on its way, so they did not remain. The captives, who had been taken a short distance from town, were released. Present for duty were Col. Brad Amend, Battalion Color Sgt. Shawn Bell, 1st Sgt. Brian Shively, 1st Cpl. Randy Downey, Pvt’s Shemwell, Staab, Ralph, T. Leahy, J. Gibbens, Keidel, and your humble correspondent as Captain. Mr. Ralph, it was good to see you out and we hope to see more of you in the future. Likewise, Mr. Keidel. Greetings as well to Mr. Gibben’s new lady, Miss Donna Stambaugh. Did I miss anyone? Mr. Bell capably filled in as a private and brought some “Hollywood dirt” with him for that “just off campaign” look. Our friend and sometime Battalion color guard, Dave Jepsen, of the 10 MO, was also in attendance to support the event. Some of the boys from the 2nd Kansas, under Captain Greg Traxson, a group from down southeast, joined us and they were a fun group. They have a way of filling their ranks by students taking a CW class at Labette County HIgh School. Neat recruiting tool if you can get it. Together, we had our own rebel camp with a company street, captain’s tent at one end and an abbreviated civilian camp -- Mr. Gibbens’ -- at the other. Some buffalo soldiers made an appearance and they cut fine figures, although we had little chance to chat and compare notes with them. Permit me to thank the City of Humboldt, Ellery and Eileen Robertson, and Mr. Downey for being quite gracious hosts and permitting the 9th to largely have its own event. We had sandwiches issued to us for Saturday lunch, raw rations the next morning, plenty of firewood, our own porta-john with a hand-washing unit as well, and a suitable trash container. And I understand a bounty of $10 per man is in the offing. No complaints. Not to mention the relatively large crowds the event drew. Too bad it is only on a three year rotation. The weather, while hot, was tolerable, and certainly we could have predicted it, given our history with Mother Nature thus far this year (see various after action reports below), rain early on Sunday morning. The usual scenarios played to appreciative crowds -- including the rousting of the town, the later burning of the town, and the court martial and execution of Pvt. Driscoll, of which more later. Mr. Leahy also appeared as Old Abe, and under the big tent gave his usual speech of anecdotes and homilies. As the main event, at least in my book, Tom then presented Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, in pertinent part: Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether" and Gettysburg Address as well, again in pertinent part: The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. which for me, even as a reb, is pretty heady stuff. President Lincoln then stood for questions, and, as observed by me, Tom was able to pull that off capably, intelligently, and with good cheer. The rest of us formed up as Yanks for a little drill for the crowds as well as a short talk about the life of the Civil War solider. One thing I will say about Humboldt is that they pack alot of stuff into a very short time. Meanwhile, the court martial of federal Pvt. Driscoll had begun, and a full-blown although truncated court martial with live witnesses, and a panel of judges was in the offing. The ne'er-do-well was convicted by sworn testimony and sentenced to death by firing squad which was carried out by the 9th with our friends from the 2nd with military precision. Mr. Keidel, as the unfortunate private, had his hands bound and a cloth bag placed on his head. He was placed on the coffin, and his human flesh rendered by missiles of lead, and he was sent on to whatever reward our God has for deserters. Nicely done, and, I might add, Mr. Keidel gamely played the private and stuck to the script by going down on the first and only volley. After the execution, Mr. Bell and I demonstrated to some young spectators the fearful power of black powder even sans lead fired from a musket visited on a Coke can from five yards -- the can was blown ten feet and peppered by exploding grains of gunpowder. Later, on Saturday night, Mr. Keidel cooked us an excellent supper of venison stew and fruit cobbler. We were somewhat rushed as we wanted to make it over to the local high school for a screening of the hopefully finally edited version of Tom Goodrich’s Bloody Dawn, about the August 1863 sack of Lawrence, in which many 9th men dutifully played as extras (the film also played on PBS on June 24).  Messrs. Bell and Leahy mc’d the showing. Despite some false starts with the equipment, including shutting the whole showing down once due to problems with the equipment, the film was eventually played in its entirety. Everyone did his part in the film, but it is tough to overlook the fine acting skills of Mr. Leahy as Quantrill; Mr. Rader, as a defiant, and predictably soon dead, Lawrence civilian; Mr. Andrews as a local whose skin was saved by donning women’s clothes, and others. Acting chops the 9th has in spades! I might note that, while watching the film from the front row, I casually shifted my feet, hitting the cord to the player, and shut down the whole thing for several minutes. It was a truly Homie-deserving move, but I was saved by an inconclusive vote, of which more later. By this point, Col. Amend had joined us. Later, the Free Staters gave a concert in a room of the high school which seemed more suitably decorated for a high school prom, but nonetheless, an appreciative group of locals were in attendance and danced to the music. Well, it was about time for the climax of the evening -- our traditional visit to the “Tip On Inn,” a local watering hole in town and within walking distance of the school. I didn’t catch the names of the owners, a man and his wife, but they were perfect hosts, and we enjoyed free popcorn all night. We commandeered the large room adjoining the bar proper and played pool, pumped the juke box with quarters, played card games (mostly five draw, five stud, and seven card stud, mostly with Jacks or better to open), and had some liquid refreshment. It was great fun. During the card playing, much confederate scrip changed hands and I note that Mr. Gibbens and the undersigned took home our share.  Permit me to note that on the last hand, and by a provident cut of the cards, Mr. Gibbens’ straight fell to my flush, and so we headed back to camp, for a little more refreshment. Mr. Shively had some pretty good some cinnamon apple libation. A possible new recruit also joined us. Prior to our leaving, to commemorate our trips to the Inn, our resident creative genius, Mr. Shemwell presented a 9th Texas “tile” for the ceiling, and we all queued up to sign it, and Mr. Bell hoisted it into place. Front and center on the tile is a rendering of the 9th’s own Rebel Chicken of Defiance. Well, all to bed to await the morning rains. Col. Amend slept in his truck. Others stayed dry in their tents. On the morning, we had raw rations including eggs, sausage, bacon. As a special treat, Sgt. Shively, the recipient of a peanut butter pie the evening before shared that, and it was delicious. We also had an abbreviated church service, with songs, prayer, and sermon, provided by a young fellow who was youth minister at a local church.  The 9th, usually a boisterous lot, maintained a polite, composed demeanor. Homie was not awarded due to inconclusive voting, and remains at present with Mr. Downey. Upon finishing breakfast and packing up, we all left one by one, much satisfied with the event. ---------------- Here is an after action note from Mr. Downey: As I wind down (got to go into work tonight). I really want to thank all of the reenactors that came in to help this weekend. The boys from Coffeyville (yes and Welch, OK) and the Second Kansas were greatly appreciated. Likewise our honorary member from the Tenth Missouri! Naturally it couldn't have been done without my comrades from the Ninth. I really want to pass on how much we are appreciated by the Humboldt Civl War Days Comm. As I finished my recruiting spiel during the tour today, I overheard Eileen Robertson bragging on us to a bus load of people on how much the Ninth has meant to the preservation and presentation of history in Humboldt. I know that they want me to pass this on to all of you who have helped so much over the years. Have no doubt that our efforts were appreciated. My hat is off to you. Many Thanks. _____________________ I remain, your obedient servant, Brian Cox Captain, commanding 9th Texas Reg’t of Infantry 1st Missouri Battalion

            

      

        

     

---

9th ingloriously surrenders at Ft. Titus, Lecompton KS

Lecompton, KS, June 17-19, 2009 - After Action Report

Pvt. Aaron Staab and your humble correspondent participated in the Lecompton event, including in the main the Battle of Ft. Titus, June 17-19, 2009, held on a three (3) year rotation in conjunction with the local Territorial Days, a local festival/fair. The latter attracted a fair crowd, and quite a row of food venders, clearly rivaling anything we have seen this year at any CW reenactment. Inexplicably, Territorial Days runs from Friday to Saturday, but the Battle is only Saturday and Sunday. Crowds had thus greatly petered out by Sunday. Go Figure.

Lecompton is a small burg about 20 miles out of Topeka, east on highway 24.  The Constitution Hall, a national historic landmark and the Territorial Capital Museum, are both situated in Lecompton -- see the further note below.

The event is quite small, perhaps tiny by comparison, but it was well-supported by the management of the site, including Tim Rues, site administrator, to whom I extend our thanks (more from Tim below). There was plenty of food, including raw rations, a place to camp (which could not hold large numbers), clean porcelain for those who preferred it, but very little firewood. We were even offered the chance to spend the night in cool AC in the museum, pretty tempting, but no takers.

Aaron and I set up our little camp and made our fire. We had an enjoyable time there on Friday night, trading stories and having some brew. Thought the traffic on the nearby street would be a problem but it proved not to be. There was a Saturday morning parade which Aaron and I did not attend, but we did stroll around the town to see what Territorial Days was all about. Lots of hustle and bustle and lots of locals -- typical local festival/fair.

The event was pretty hot and not much to speak of by way or recruiting, so, I spent Saturday night back home at the plantation with the gal and dog and went back for the Sunday battle. Mr. Staab did likewise.

Aaron and i were soon joined by a couple of the lads from the 16th MO, and one of Elliott’s Scouts joined us on Sunday.  At least some of the lads from the 8th Kansas and a local artillery crew we have seen in the past were also in attendance as well as  many others, mostly on the free State side whose units I did not catch.

The highlight of the event was the reenactment of the actual battle of (the re-constructed) Ft. Titus, described thus on the website of Historic Lecompton:

On August 16, 1856, some fifty Free State men under Captain Samuel Walker attacked Ft. Titus. After a brief battle, Ft. Titus and its thirty-four defenders, including Colonel Henry Titus, surrendered. Also surrendered were 400 muskets, a large number of knives, 13 horses, several wagons, a large stock of household provisions, farm equipment and $10,000 in gold and bank drafts. Slaves and servants owned by Titus were set free and instructed to go to Topeka. Two proslavery men defenders were killed and Titus and five other combatants were seriously injured. Eight free state men were wounded, Captain Henry Shombre mortally. The fort was then burned to the ground.
Ft. Titus was a proslavery stronghold in Douglas County about two miles south of Lecompton on the east bank of Coon Creek. Colonel Henry Titus built a fortified log house as a rendezvous point and place of defense for proslavery men fighting their Free State neighbors.
 ____________

Not told in this short account is the fact that, upon the surrender, the free State men were set to string up pro-slavery man Col. Titus, however, at the last minute, he gave the Mason sign to the Sheriff and was thus saved from a stretched neck.

Our part in the Battle of Ft. Titus began both days with the southern men lounging around our little camp, with the free staters set to assault it. The latter also brought up heavy ordinance -- in the form of a small cannon -- and greater numbers of men. And so, after a few volleys of small arms fire, we were forced into the log cabin-like “Ft.” Titus, a nice enough structure, if a little small, but clearly no match for iron balls which were soon poured fired our way. The event proved a good chance to break out the pistols, and I put two into play. Upon the signal fourth firing of their cannon, we showed the white flag, threw down our guns and were ignominiously rounded up for incarceration. Following the battle both days we answered questions and stood for photos for an appreciative, if small, group of locals and other history buffs.

Permit me to also note that we ran into 9th man Mark Gianelloni and his brood after the Sunday battle.

Of course, at the tail end of the Sunday battle, and as we were being led off, the captured Southerners, then broke the scenario and began to run. i guess we’ve got too much of the 9th in us!

_______________

Here are some comments on the event and the history of the site by Tim Rues, Site Administrator:

Captain:  It would be my pleasure [to offer a few comments]:

1)  Everyone I talked to thought the event went very well, both days.  Paul Bahnmier, president of the Lecompton Historical Society and sponsor of the battle reenactment, was very impressed with the quality of the reenactors.  He (and I) really felt the battle was just the right length, and was exciting  enough to kept the interest of the spectators. Paul really liked the  Q&A between the reenactors and the audience members after the battle.  They were able to have their questions answered by a very knowledgeable group of living historians.  In our opinion things could not have gone much better.  We look forward to the next one in three years, or if things change, sooner.

2)  In the fall of 1857, a proslavery constitutional convention met in the territorial capital of Kansas Territory, Lecompton, and wrote a constitution that would have made Kansas the sixteenth slave state.  Pro slavery delegates to the Lecompton Constitutional Convention met inside Sheriff Samuel Jones' hall now known today as Constitution Hall in September 1857 and again in October through November 1857 and drafted the famous Lecompton Constitution. It was voted on three separate times and finally rejected in a landslide election by antislavery Kansas voters in August 1858 after intense national and congressional debate, thus ending the South's last ditch attempt to bring in Kansas as a slave state.  Realizing Kansas was lost,  many pro slavery supporters left the territory after this vote. This document was mentioned 55 times as one of the prime topics of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and catapulted Lincoln onto the national political stage and eventually into the White House. The defeat of the Lecompton Constitution and the loss of Kansas to slavery were two important causes of the coming Civil War.  Kansas was admitted under the Free State Wyandotte Constitution on January 29, 1861 and victorious Free Staters chose Topeka over Lecompton as the new state capital.

3)  The Territorial Capitol/Lane Museum: is operated by the Lecompton Historical Society as a museum with three-floors of exhibits and is listed on the Kansas Register of Historic places.  This building was started with an appropriation of $50,000 from the United States Congress to be the state capitol of Kansas. It was completed only to the bottom of the first floor windows when the United States House of Representatives defeated the Lecompton Constitution by only eight votes and all work was suspended on the capitol.  It sat as a ruins until 1882 when Lane University was completed on its unfinished ruins. The university operated in this building until 1902.   President Eisenhower's parents  met here  as students of Lane University and were married there  in 1885.   

Constitution Hall: was built in 1856 and still has the original native cottonwood floors and framing and black walnut siding.  It is probably the oldest known wood frame building left in Kansas.  It was built as a temporary office building to house the first federal land office in the territory and as a capitol building for the territorial Kansas government.  In 1974 Constitution Hall was designated a National Historic Landmark by the US Department of the Interior and became a Kansas State Historic Site in 1986.  It was opened as a museum in 1995 and is operated by the Kansas State Historical Society.

There you go.  Let me know if you need more or have any questions.  Thanks to you and the 9th for making "The Battle of Ft. Titus" reenactment a huge success!
_______________

Brian Cox
Captain, commanding
9th Texas Reg’t of Infantry
1st Missouri Battalion


 

9th Texas survives rain, hot tactical, meets old friends, at Kingston MO.          

         The Ninth and the Battalion assault center of Federal line at Jeff!         

                 AFTER ACTION REPORT JEFFERSON CITY

145th Anniversary of “the Capture” of
Jeff City, MO, May 15-17, 2009

The 9th has tucked another enjoyable Jeff City reenactment under its belt, this time with memories of spirited hand-to-hand assaults on the center of the union line, a 2 am “raid” on the federal camp, and luscious pork steaks at Saturday dinner to tide it over until the next event. You guys who weren’t there are missing out!

Now, keep in mind that Mother Nature was in full force, at least on Friday night, continuing her morning downpour from St. Joe, and greatly complicating the arrival of soldiers for the event. I might note that this was billed as “the Capture of Jeff City.” I was a little unclear whether the capture in fact related to the the actual capture in 1861 by the federals or the non-capture by Price in 1864 who threatened the town but apparently chose not to attack.

Present for Duty for the 9th were 1st Sgt. Brian Shively, 2nd Cpl. Bob Albert, Pvt’s Shemwell, Anspach, Staab, J. Gibbens, Fasula, and your faithful correspondent as captain/private. Our own veteran and raconteur Mr. Visser was a major for the weekend.

I took a “van team” of six 9th men out of Topeka, leaving Friday at about 6:30 pm, in the downpour. Our departure was delayed for about an hour by a wreck on highway 75 north of Topeka encountered by Mr. Visser on his way down from Lincoln NE. We picked up Mr. Anspach in Lawrence and Mr. Shemwell in Overland Park, and also checked the weather report there. It rained on us literally the whole way. Mother Nature teased at times, seemingly letting up, only to open up again. All told, the trip was about five hours to the site. Forgoing highway 70, we took highway 50 most of the way.

Friday night -- in getting in and setting up lay the major trial, as it turned out, of the weekend.

The drive down was largely uneventful except for the rain and except for Mr. Shemwell falling out of the van on his butt -- ouch! Not enough, however, to win the homie, of which more later.

Except for those who arrived on-site early, the rains overflowed the banks of a creek in Binder Park, the site for the event, rendering the grounds impassable. Thus, our eager van team was left to spend Friday  night in a park shelter. Not too bad considering and we made it our home for the night, having a little brew and goobers, and telling stories. After a bit, some of the boys from the 4th Arkansas joined us. Most of us spent the night, quite comfortably and dry, thank you, atop the picnic tables. Morning traffic and the sun awakened us, and we made our way into camp, now bristling with activity.

We were almost immediately confronted by a well-meaning provost from Collins Battery who was adamant that our van could go no further. So, we parked and took one trip in on foot with as much as we could carry, and that was about a 1/2 mile trip, and us, or some of us, with much more to carry. Some of those present, however, told us of the back way in which we gratefully took, and that got us to a point about 100 yards distant from our camp. And there our van sat the whole weekend, facing downhill, with one tire on gravel and the other three on slippery grass. I began to worry.

The second trial of the weekend was the hill which we had to negotiate all weekend. Although it was great being in camp on top of the hill, the reality was that, to get anywhere, the sutlers, the battlefield, the federal camp, you had to go down the hill, and that meant only one thing -- what goes down, must come back up again, and so it went. Some huffing and puffing, and bones creaking, was heard.

Permit me to note that present for staff were Col. Brad Amend, Major/Adj. Sam Looney, Sgt. Major Gary Sutton, and as noted, Mr. Chris Visser as Major. Mississippi, we are missing you ....

Present in the Battalions were Capt. Dave Burnos’ 1st MO; Capt. Bob Allison’s 2nd MO;  Capt. MIke Girdner’s 3rd MO; Captain Daniel Keith's 4th MO; Captain Bob Wayne’s 5th MO; Captain Dime Hollingsworth’s 9th MOSS; Captain Todd Connor’s 16th MO. Also, Elliott’s Scouts were present in force. I never saw Captain Broski of the 10th MO, but understand he and his boys were present, many doing, however, an artillery impression.  Mr. Jepsen of the 10th took the colors for the weekend.

The overall federal commander was Terry Cadenbach, who, one said, bore a striking resemblance to our John Beck. I believe that the Muddy River Battalion under Col. James Crofutt was present as were other federal units, as follows:  4th MO Cavalry; 8th KS Cavalry; 1st MO Light Artillery; 3rd KS Light Artillery; 77th PA Infantry; 17th MO Infantry; 8th MO Infantry; 7/30th MO Infantry.

Del Warren was the main familiar sutler present although there were others present, including a broom maker, and several food venders.

The 52nd Regimental String Band was there and set up and played through the weekend.

Porta-potties were close and kept clean. Firewood and water were never an issue.

Saturday --

Saturday morning was uneventful, and dry.  Mr. Jason Gibbens showed up and did the Saturday and Sunday battles with us.

We spent no little time after some morning drill rehearsing the hand-to-hand, falling in with our brothers in the 4th Mo, and its estimable Captain Keith. We wanted it to look good but safety was paramount. The yank infantry who would participate were a little slow in arriving, but they were a game lot,  from the 1st Nebraska, and we may have a chance to play with them again in the future.

The plan, which we essentially repeated for Sunday’s battle, was to make three assaults on the federal line, but withdraw each time, the only exception being the combined 9th TX/4th MO would then, instead of falling back upon the failed third assault, charge and breach, if momentarily, the center of the union line. Our “copse of trees” was marked by the center federal cannon with abatis on both sides.

Saturday battle --

We had massed artillery to soften the federal line, some 7 or 8 cannon to the federals 2 or 3.

The crowd, or at least much of it, was favorably situated directly behind the federal line, which, faithful reader, you will understand explains many of the excellent photos which are going to surface, including here at ninthtexas.com, of the hand-to-hand.

During the battle, some of the mounted redlegs were roaming the field, and at one point, rode by and shot our wounded. Oh, if we could only have caught them alone (the redlegs were in fact galvanized reb cavalry, I heard). On Sunday, one of them went down with his horse for awhile and shot from behind its cover. Neat trick!

The appointed signal for us to go in was to be the federal commander pulling off and waving his hat. Col. Amend said after the battle that he hadn’t waited for that, and when our guys did go in, the federal commander was furiously trying to wave us off. But it all went well.

Ultimately, the hand-to-hand went without a hitch and no one got hurt. The battle overall was 45 minutes long, but ended as “resurrect” was called a little too early. But overall, pretty satisfying.

Saturday night --

The Saturday evening meal was prepared and except for the relatively minor affront that we were to be fed after the federals, it was very good:  massive pork steaks, BBQ sauce, baked beans, potato salad, and bread. Only thing missing was something to drink and something sweet. Hard to complain about those pork steaks ‘tho (dreams are made of stuff like this!).

Later, at about 7 pm, some of the Battalion rebs went over to the federal camp to pick a fight and to their credit, the yanks responded. None of the 9th participated.

I might note that there were too many cars in camp, however, in their defense, the organizers may have instructed those folks to keep their cars in camp, once there to unload, to avoid more cars being stuck in getting out.  At one point, i saw a local farmer using his tractor to pull out one civilian whose car was stuck up to its axles in the mud.

It was quite warm on Saturday but it cooled down considerably Saturday night and in fact got a bit cold, although it didn’t freeze, say low 40’s. Oh warm weather, where are you this year?

1st Sgt. Shively appeared Saturday afternoon, after some car trouble in a first rate new jean wool uniform. Glad to see him.

We had a fairly spirited campfire and some libations were passed and some tales and jokes told per usual. We may have started a 9th tradition, something along the lines of having a chicken head sitting atop a suitable elixir bottle, Rebel Yell, for example, concerning which the drinker must take a gulp, and then either give that yell, or a rebel chicken of defiance “b’gok.” Unfortunately, there was no nautically-themed discourse in the offing from Capt. Girdner, he having to rest his vocal cords from the day’s activities.

There was a nighttime artillery demonstration on Saturday night culminating in some fireworks, I assume blasted out of the cannon barrels.

Later, at 2 am, many of the men helped me reprise the confederates’ “raid” on the federal camp at the Wilderness in 1996 when the 9th went as the 7th Wisconsin which was part of the Iron Brigade. Upon our awakening at that long ago event on Sunday morning, we discovered that the rebs had snuck into our camp sometime in the night and planted dozens of little confederate “stick” flags all over our camp. Neat trick. I bought the flags this time, and made arrangements for us all to awaken at 2 am and return the favor, 13 years and a thousand miles distant.

The raid could not have gone better. Although the grass was very wet with dew, which dampened our pants and brogans clear into morning, we made our way down our hill, across the creek, and up the other side, and left two signal lanterns so we could find our way back across the cut in the woods. It was about 1/4 mile to the federal camp, and we thought that our sloshing along in the mud and puddles might give us away, but our luck held. We split up and began to plant our flags, encountering several federals who were up, and must have seen us, but they raised no alarm. We completed our job, and went back to camp, and then to bed, much satisfied with our effort.

Sunday --

After Sgt. Major had awakened us, and our robotic chicken was unceremoniously thrown into my tent (thanks, Gary), we heard the long roll, as the federals were audacious enough to cross the creek around 7 am to attempt an assault on our camp. They looked around 30, but I never got close enough to really see as they hugged the tree line. In any event, even without pickets, the Battalion was immediately up and into a line and we had a brief firefight until the federals sent out a flag of truce. One of our number went out and received back two of our stick flags in recognition of our raid the night before. Good sports, those Yanks (I wonder if they will try to repeat the favor sometime? Nah.)

We ate breakfast, had morning parade. Captain Keith and our brothers in the 4th kindly consented to permit your faithful correspondent to command on Sunday. I took the combined companies out for some drill including some points that Col. Amend wanted us to work on, including “fix bayonets” and “stack arms.” All went well. 1st Sgt. Shively and Cpl. Albert followed up on some finer points of drill with some of the new men back in camp.

Captain Keith held his usual church service.

Prior to the battle, and tempting the gods of war, Col. Amend, 1st Sgt. Shively, and your humble correspondent sat down for a bit of cards prior to the battle. No feigned ciphering here; we were at serious work, five stud, draw, and seven stud, which the presence of two pistols, and one Arkansas toothpick on the table attested. By a provident cut of the cards, the undersigned took away most of the cash. Col Amend has sent his challenge for a repeat to win his money back.

Sunday Battle --

Prior to the Battle, we did our usual “hurry up and wait,” and stacked and set up our color line. Mr. Jepsen was there guarding the line and not much got by him. In a scripted move, one young 4th MO man crossed the line and paid for it, the Sgt. Major coming over and berating him and making him carry his rifle over his head and run around the battalion three times. At another point, a 4th Arkansas man was just near the line when one of his pranking pards “accidentally” knocked him across the line. He would have been in more trouble but just then, we had to form up. (I absolutely deny offering him a greenback if he would cross the line to tempt Mr. Jepsen.)

Temperatures had considerably warmed at this point, getting into the 70’s.

Again, as on Saturday, Col. Amend ably commanded our little army through three assaults on the federal line, all ultimately unsuccessful. I might note that Col. Amend broke the scenario a little, in the second charge, he had us go much nearer the federal line to scare them, before pulling back.

We were to reprise the Saturday hand-to-hand which was, relatively speaking, quite closely scripted. We did not rehearse again on Sunday, and indeed, assumed that our “opposite numbers” would still be there. In any event, at the last minute during the battle, we reconfigured the positions in line of the 4th/9th to put hopefully the same boys in the same position as closely as we could prior to the final charge.

We had a real scare at the tail end of the battle when it was called due to an injury suffered by a Yank artilleryman. Thankfully, it was not due to the hand-to-hand. Apparently, as we advanced, he “took a hit” -- as you, faithful reader, will know is a necessary part of reenacting -- falling over forwards or backwards, and striking his head on some metal part of his gun, knocking him cold. It must have looked great, but that is above and beyond the call. He was revived and is apparently ok.

Getting out and Epilogue --

We had a good time and a good turnout for the Battalion, some 100+, and received generally high marks from Col. Amend, who sent out a comprehensive report following the event, which I have reproduced  in part below.

Mr. Anspach handled our massive van quite well, getting it down to our camp the rest of the way to load, and then back up the hill to the main gravel road, and out.

On the way home, the six in my van team took a vote on awarding Homie (sorry, Bob and Brian S., that we did not take the vote before shoving off), and for Jeff. City, there were co-winners. Mr. Fasula won for his comment on Saturday night, after he had repaired to the van to sleep, when he stated to Mr. Visser, who was in the process of getting in, “Brian, what happened to your beard” (Tom thinking Chris was me). The other winner was Mr. Visser who related his series of mishaps with period timepieces, culminating, unfortunately, with his leaving his vest with watch at Mr. Shemwell’s house in OP where we had stopped on the way in to pick up Mr. Shemwell and take a short break. Mr. Downey you are relieved of further care of Homie until further notice.

We missed our usual Cracker Barrel on the trip home, but settled for a very good Ryan’s all you can eat. We were greatly pleased by the scenery while we ate.

Some pretty impressive photos of the hand-to-hand have materialized, and one of the photographers with the big lens made contact with me and has some 500 photos which she will put on a cd for $20. Well worth the money, I think. She will be at Kingston.
_______________________________

Col. Amend’s assessment of the Battalion and etc.:

To Battalion Company Commanders and Battalion Staff,

Gentlemen,

At the risk of repeating myself too often and watering down the praise I wish to extend to you, I must once again say “Well Done”! I was very pleased with our turnout for the weekend. You and your men performed up to and beyond expectations of the event sponsors and our federal counter-parts. There were many libations accepted on my part for the most excellent job the 1st Missouri Battalion put forth for this event. It never ceases to amaze me how the federals marvel at what we do and how we do things. There were several times during both battles that we actually put the fear of God into them pretty well. Many comments were received on how they were ready to run so they could get away from us. The hand-to-hand was also well done. The 4th Missouri and 9th Texas have helped start what I hope will be more possibilities of hand-to-hand scenarios in the future. And not least, we gave Colonel Croffit and his boys a good look at what an event can be if they will show up in numbers, and play with us more. We will have an excellent opportunity to do this come October. The sponsors were more than pleased, and received much positive feedback from the spectators, and are already planning the next event for this site. It was my most distinct honor and privilege to lead you and serve with you this past weekend.

In closing, I am always impressed with the steadfastness of the men of the 1st Missouri Battalion. There truly is “No Better.”
_______________________________

Some thoughts by Mr. Shemwell:

Life is a journey and one must always strive to learn from every experience.  This is what I learned this past weekend...
 
Falling out of a van in a driving rain can be painful.
 
You can sleep in a park and not get molested by bears.
 
You can take 243 photos but only 220 will be "keepers.”
 
As you age, every hill gets steeper with every climb.
        
You can have fun at a "Ryans" if you can't find Crackerbarrell.
 
_______________________________

Your obedient servant,

Brian Cox
Captain, commanding
9th Texas Reg’t of Infantry
1st Missouri Battalion

St. Joe April 17-19, 2009 - After Action Report

On the back of Shoal Creek, the 9th again had the chance to test the fortunes of war at the St. Joe Missouri event. Haven’t ever been to a reenactment this close...

SHOAL CREEK AFTER ACTION REPORT

APRIL 3,4,5, 2009

Corpl. Downey and the Ninth at Edna

3/24/2009
Near  Edna, Kansas  on into Indian Territory
After Action Report

Early on a Saturday morning, a party consisting of myself and Pvt. Keidel took off in the rain to meet with Shawn Bell and four stalwarts from the Eighth Kansas.  Our objective was Hayrick Mound Ranch, about six miles South of Edna, Kansas and right across the state line into Indian Territory.

We had been invited by Carrico’s Cavalry group to participate in a small scale tactical.  Our job was to skulk in the brush and act as bushwackers.  This was certainly not a stretch for the three of us from the Ninth.  The gentlemen from the Eighth Kansas did step up and skulk with the best of us.  Battleshirts, civilian attire,  shotguns, and pistols were the order of the day.  Hayrick Mound Ranch is located on a gravel road and consists of 1600 acres of prairie, hills, woods, and creek in one unbroken chunk.  They also have a complete town with saloon, a bunkhouse and numerous cabins.  These are completely lighted by kerosene lamps or candles with no electricity.  It was one of the best period locations I’ve seen, especially with the modern vehicles parked over the crest of the hill and entirely out of sight.  There was plenty of room to play!  Numbers were relatively small, with approximately 10 cavalrymen on each side.  The goundpounders consisted of 13 confederate bushwackers and about 20 Union Infantry.  There were also two teamsters complete with wagons and a couple of buggies adding to the atmosphere. 

Due to rain the night before, the creeks were running higher than expected and this somewhat hampered our movements through the brush.  We straggled and moved in true bushwacker fashion and found that hanging out in the downed brush and trees helped keep the cavalry at bay.  We located the boys in blue and exchanged a few volleys back and forth.  They retreated to the base of the ridge with their cavalry screening the withdrawal.  Luckily the rebel horsemen appeared and occupied the union cavalry. We then followed the infantry with the intention of committing mischief and even managed to catch a couple of prisoners.  At this point we attempted to ford the stream at the foot of the ridge and came to a screeching halt.  It really wasn’t too surprising as they had a Gatling Gun emplaced to dispute our passage.  We continued to probe and snipe, but didn’t have enough manpower to swarm the gun.  One or two individuals were able to flank the gun, but were not in numbers to take on both it and the infantry. We were defeated, but not without giving a good showing of ourselves.  Luckily that afternoon provided us with an opportunity to turn the tables.  As the Federals withdrew towards the town, we laid an ambush at the crossing of a small slough that had brush on either side of  the road.  We allowed the Union Cavalry to spot us in the brush and weeds, then retreated to the safety of the banks immediately next to the road.  The five foot bank provided excellent cover.  As their wagons and infantry approached we let off a volley.  Relying on conventional wisdom, their infantry immediately advanced on our front, assuming that our rifles and shotguns would not be reloaded in time to stop them from overrunning our position.  However, they forgot about the guerilla penchant for carrying multiple pistols.  As they approached, we rose up and decimated their ranks.  Shortly after this sharp engagement, the union cavalry appeared. Due to the late appearance of our own horsemen, they were able to flank our position.  We still were quite satisfied with our performance for the day.

At one point after the skirmish, Pvt. Keidel was napping on the porch of the saloon.  A ball and chain was setting on the afore mentioned porch.  Representatives of the Ninth were present.  I think that nothing more needs to be said!

That evening we were treated to a tasty repast consisting of brisket, baked potato, green beans and cobbler.  All were cooked in Dutch ovens over coals.  It was one of the best meals that I have eaten at a reenactment!  After dark the owners of the gatling gun treated us to a night firing.  It was quite impressive.  We also had two gentlemen with guitars playing at the campfire and were treated to everything from sixteenth century sea chanties to modern country western.  When it came time for bed, Mr. Bell and I threw our blankets on the porch of the saloon and slept quite well.  Mr. Keidel slept inside between the bar and the pot bellied stove.  I will make no comment on how natural he looked there.  The next morning we arose and took our leave.  It was a very enjoyable and satisfying time and we appreciated the hospitality shown to us!

Cpl. Randy Downey
9th Texas Reg't of Infantry

 

Reinforcements Arrive For the NINTH!!

Abe Lincoln (Tom Leahy) celebrates Kansas’ birthday with Gov. Sebelius, addresses Kansas Legislature
 

Our own Pvt. Tom Lahey reprised his role as  Abraham Lincoln at Kansas Day activities in Topeka at the Museum of History this past Thursday (January 29). Tom regaled a crowd of eager school children with anecdotes of Old Abe and a stirring rendition of the Gettysburg Address. Governor Sebelius was also on hand to help celebrate Kansas’ 148th birthday and to highlight Lincoln’s Kansas connection. (Our 16th president, having toured some of Kansas' eastern towns, said in March 1860 that, "[i]f I went West, I think I would go to Kansas.”) Tom also amiably stood for autographs, hand-shaking and photographs. Also present to support Tom’s performance were Col. Lang Perdue, Pvt. Aaron Staab, and your faithful correspondent, all dressed out in blue.

The next day, Tom addressed the Kansas legislature, and also offered some thoughts to a Topeka Capital-Journal interviewer on the nation's current economic troubles and the legal troubles of another Illinois politician who has been in the news (check out the CJ website for a story on Tom’s performances).

Brian Cox
Captain, commanding
9th Texas Reg’t of Infantry
1st Missouri Battalion
 

Captain's Corner, a new link above for the Captain to keep us informed

From the desk of Captain Brian Cox, 9th Texas regiment of Infantry

The Journal of the Ninth Texas Regiment of Infantry: 

2007 to 2008

Home