
Originally Posted by
Strawfoot
Wow, reading these posts I'm wondering if I was really at Wilson's Creek... This was basically my first time back in the field since Rich Mountain, almost five years. Hanging till the end, and getting out of there without a swarm of ticks on me was my primary goal. Everything else was gravy. Look, this event was what it was. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see it wasn't going to be an authentic event, so you just gotta make the best of it.
When I get to an event, the first question out of my mouth is, "where's the water...?" Everything else I just figure out as I go along. I was in the 1st Fed Div at Raymond in 2001. The water situation at that event could've been summed up in one word: dangerous. Wilson's Creek was nowhere near that bad, in fact I was pleasantly suprised with the water situation. They ran out for awhile on Saturday, no big deal. The problem was corrected and we pressed on. So the port-a-johns listed a little. Really?
Firewood? Never was a problem. Camp site? We were all aware of the lady discovering cancer, and what the organziers were up against. But to tell the truth, they did a commendable job of clearing that area. OK, so we tripped over a few roots. Big deal.
I showed up and soldiered with one of the best Federal companies west of Iowa in Cal Kinzer's 24th Missouri, and drilled under one of the best drillmasters ever to don a uniform by serving again with Dom dal Bello and his AoP. Learned some new calls listening to the best civil war bugler in the land. I didn't hear any bitching, whining, or complaining from any of my pards in our entire brigade, comprising both the AoP and the Frontier Battalion. It was a bully time, just like old times. A dead whale or a stove boat.
I guess it's all in your expectations. It's great to be back in the field.
+1!!! I must agree, over all good event. One way i can tell a good event......brought out a new guy and he had a blast! Formed up w/the AOP and mostly stayed in our hidden camp. Only thing that took us out of the moment was the odd visitors making a short cut to the parking lots. I hope they got as many Chiggers as I did!
Oh, one more point..........is there really a CW Re-enactor out there that does not hide a small roll of TP in your haversack??? The port-a-johnnies ALWAYS run out!
"In the heat of battle it ceases to be an idea for which we fight... or a flag. Rather... we fight for the man on our left and we fight for the man on our right... and when armies have scattered and when the empires fall away... all that remains is the memory
of those precious moments... we spent side by side."
Paul Bennett
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