A Private Looks at Wilson's Creek

Perhaps as we arrived friday late afternoon, some of the issues were already being sorted out, but I will re-state that the event, considering it's size, was handled very well by those who I was directed to when it came to issues directly affecting our unit. As to whether or not those individuals were originally supposed to be in charge is not known by myself.
My crew and myself go into an event prepared to handle pretty much any issue that may arise. The larger the event, the greater chances are that something will happen.
Some events we have attended have almost given me nightmares, but again,in my opinion, Wilson's Creek does not fall into that category, and was a fine event.

As I have come to learn, there are no bad events- just some that are less fun than others. Perhaps more of us need to take that outlook.

Gosh, John, thanks for calling us the worst brigade at the event. And we were worst because??? Size? Yes, we were small. Substandard impressions? Hardly. Burbridge's Battalion looked great, but no better than the other two battalions in the 2nd Brigade of Cleburne's Division. I can post photos if a visual comparison would be helpful.

I am curious as to why as part of the "hard-core" bunch, you noted as highlights getting to watch movies and drink free beer on sutler row in the evening. As to "not being seen" by the spectators during the early spectator battles, even though in the battles on Saturday and Sunday when even bigger crowds were there and Burbridge's boys were in the middle of the action, I thought campaigners had different priorities. At least we did in the 2nd MS at Manassas three weeks ago. Just wondering.


Phil McBride
Adjutant, 2nd Brigade, Cleburne's Divison at Wilson's Creek

Perhaps I should clarify a few things. When I refer to the brigade being the worst, I'm referring to the folks we fell in with on Thursday and Friday. I'm not sure which organization(s) it(they) was(were), but they did not seem to understand even some of the more fundamental maneuvers, and just looked like a mob milling about on the field (which is incorrect, because even though this was early war, the MSG were hardened veterans by this batle). As to the not being seen, I should probably rephrase and say we couldn't see anything. We were always on the fringes or in the rear, and felt as though we were being deliberately kept out of things. Many of my men fired less than 5 shots on both days combined.

The brigades we fell in with all weekend, for the most part had decent impressions, but there was also a lot of farbs sauntering around at the event.

On Saturday, we were attached to Huckabee's brigade, and yes, we were in the thick of things, and from that point on, things were much better. As I said many times, the fights on Saturday made up for the perceived slights of the previous two days.

As to the beer and movies, that was the result of us being dismissed and given liberty for the night. I decided to farb-out a little, since we were at a Mainstream Event. I can be as hardcore as they come when it's a hardcore event, but I guess my "hardcoreness" got a little dulled after three days of the circus.

And yes, I'd like to see the pictures, if for no other reason than my camera messed up and I was unable to get any myself.

I am sorry that some of you were not pleased with aspects of W.C. As a SW MO native, I can say that we LOVED you all coming here and putting on a show the likes of which we had never seen. My first reenactment I saw was down in Louisiana and had a reb on a horse with reins in one hand and a AK-47 shooting blanks at full auto galloping out to meet the Yanks. Many others had less than perfect first exposures to reenactments so if there was anything that was not right here, it went largely unnoticed.

My son and I walked 3/4 of a mile from the parking area to the reenactment and missed the battle but caught the parade coming out of the field. It was a beautiful day and once again I am so happy that you all came and I apologize on behalf of SW MO if it did not leave you wanting to do this again. I understand though.

If you want I made a YouTube video and you might be able to see yourself. My favorite was the bearded drummer. He was so intense and period looking it freaked me out a little. Here is the link to the video, not the most exciting video ever so be warned :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rhBva6mLoM

The intense bearded drummer is a member of the First Minnesota, one of the longest standing CW reenacting units in the country. These well trained musicians provided us with a delightful evening Saturday, singing and playing at our modest cook fire in the Wagon Camp near Federal HQ. We ladies withdrew to the side and had a marvelous time listening to the company of men sing, and watching them being joined by others.

We are glad you had a good time and learned something--that's one of the goals of these events.

Events of this size are difficult to put together and require great attention to detail, the ability to listen and implement, and extensive long range planning. The difficulties with this event can be laid almost entirely at the feet of one individual with the Wilson's Creek Foundation, and is not a reflection upon the people of Missouri.

OK, Mr. Spain, your clarifications are appreciated. Here are a couple pictures of the Texas and Arkansas troops in the other battalions in the 2nd Brigade of Cleburne's Division, and one of Burbridge's Battalion. They all look pretty good to me for 1861 troops.

Phil McBride
Adjutant, 2nd Brigade, Cleburne's Division at Wilson's Creek

Nice pictures, and agreed, they do have pretty good impressions. However, the first photo with all the red trim is something we debated frequently. All the first person accounts we collected in our research for the event indicated that only officers and NCOs were wearing red trim by the time of Wilson's Creek (their earlier trimmed uniforms having worn out and been replaced). But, I say again, their impressions look pretty good. The red trim thing is me nitpicking.

Does that conclusion about red trim apply to all states' troops present at Wilson's Creek or just Missouri soldiers? I ask since we were portarying Arkansas soldiers. And for fun, since all the period photo images are in black and white, it seems perhaps a bit of a leap to conclude no red trim among the many units in the summer of 1861 unless a whole lot of written primary sources say as much pretty directly.

Phil McBride

The debate was only for MSG troops. State troops were wearing a variety of clothing that was more uniform than the civilian garb most State Guard was in. I believe that group was portraying Pearce's Arkansans and not MSG. Correct me if I'm wrong Phil, but I believe we were the only battalion in the brigade that was MSG - the rest were doing state troops I think.

I agree with moconfed 100%, while it was not perfect it was FUN and learned some new things from other units , Alot of people made the event better when they could have thrown their hands up .SO , we found water, we gathered wood, we watched out for splinters and thorns, we made the best out of it . I bet they did the same things 150 years ago ! (except for the having fun part)