150th Anniversary Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri - August 17-19 2012

[wavey1us]

Yes Bill, mounted guys who can support our posted impression guidelines are invited to contact our mounted coordinator Robbie Maupin (mop1617@yahoo.com). For the limited number of mounted participants the reenactment site will accommodate, Robbie is overseeing both Federal and Confederate mounted impressions, so drop him a line.

As awesome as it would be to have all mounted fellows, per the original battle, we cannot logistically pull that off, and must rely on ground pounders for the bulk of our troops. Having available even a limited number of mounted impressions, however, will go a long way towards creating a more realistic environment, for the spectators as well as the participants, especially in the authentic camps.

The Confederate impressions won't be difficult, especially for the battle scenarios, since they fought on foot. The same MSG impressions that fellows were sporting last year at Wilson's Creek will work for Lone Jack also.

More challenging are the Federal impressions, portraying the mounted forces of the Missouri State Militia. The Lone Jack impression guidelines feature a MSM image gallery, and outline easy ways existing infantry impressions can be tweaked to achieve a believable MSM appearance, WITHOUT going down the path of farby dismounted cav impressions.

Check out the guidelines that explain in more detail what we're trying to accomplish, and please advise if you have any questions, etc. Thanks Bill!

Thanks Dan. I will drop Robbie a line.

[Jeffrey S. Quigley]

Dan and his boys have been working hard to make this a top notch event.
Count me in, I plan on being there.


Jeffrey S. Quigley

[Dan Hadley]

We've had good feedback from interested folks who have made verbal commitments, and registrations are trickling in. SO- if you are planning to attend this 150th western Trans-Mississippi event, get on www.lonejackbattle150.org, fill out a registration form and get it mailed in SOON- we need you!

As stated, this will not be a big event- we're going for quality over quantity. We currently have three Federal companies and a section of full scale 6pdrs in place, totaling approx. 75 troops. We have reached our minimum desired strength here, but of course more are welcome. Additional troops will fall in with the existing companies.

We have currently have two Confederate companies being organized Under Capts. Kupsch and Goser, and would like to form a third to round out our numbers at approx. 100. This is where the need is, and where we are recruiting to fill the ranks, so if you have a good Missouri State Guard impression that you wore to Wilson's Creek or Lexington events last year, you're probably good to go!

We've selected a couple nice spots on the site where the authentic camps will be- no tents, camp chairs, hay bales or the like allowed. The Feds along the edge of a field so thick with clover you'll sleep like a baby; the Johnnies across a corn field and past a locust thicket that offers lots of seclusion and shade from the August sun. For folks that prefer, there will be a third camping area away from the authentic camps where tents and non-authentic items are allowed.

The Federal camp was right in the village of Lone Jack; likewise we will place the Missouri State Militia camp adjacent to the recreated Cave House, where the civilian living history interpretive area will be. We will not be issuing rations at this event, but inquisitive Union Militia will discover the site has a garden, chicken pen, cellar and smokehouse. Lead civ interpreter Brandi Jones will portray Lucinda Cave, who made the fateful choice to stay with her children to defend her home that had been pressed into service by US Major Emory Foster as his HQ and a field hospital. There will be other civilians present portraying Lone Jack townfolk, whose loyalties are suspect.

The Confederate camp is just a short walk from the site of the original Confederate camps from 1862. The independent commands that were recruiting in the area joined forces to launch a combined attack at dawn on Aug 16, but they were accepting new recruits right up to the days before the battle. Many young men who came to join up were not armed, or mounted, so were not part of the effective fighting force. This camp will reflect the recruiting, swearing in and rudimentary training that would have been taking place. Here will also be a strong mounted presence, where the mounts were picketed before the force advanced on foot to launch their attack. Accounts indicate there was a single ordnance wagon in the entire command, so we will have one wagon in the Confederate camp with ammo boxes from which we will issue rounds. To accomplish this we will ask Confederates to yield a portion of their ammo before the event. Accounts also describe the scarcity of ammunition before the battle, some with as few as six rounds. Troops under Hunter and Jackman even retired from the battle line during the ragged fighting for want of ammunition, and had to march back to the ordnance wagon, where one eyewitness account describes Col. Cockrell hollering at some of the green troops who were milling about behind the lines, who got their first taste of fighting and didn't want to go back. These are a few of the details that we plan to incorporate into the battle scenarios.

So check out the website, get your registrations mailed in and plan to attend what will be the best Battle of Lone Jack event ever, and the best Trans-Mississippi event of 2012.

Dan Hadley
Lone Jack Historical Society
Tater Mess

[huntdaw]

Sounds like you've put a lot of good thought into this Dan and have set a nice event.

[c.west00]

Sounds amazing! Will be there for sure as MSG, Registration inbound.

[matt.b]

Sounds amazing! Will be there for sure as MSG, Registration inbound.

I'm in...doing MSG
with Curtis

[Dan Hadley]

Thanks for all the replies- looking forward to having everyone out for this great event. BTW, a small point of order, although MSG describes the impression pretty much to a "T", the Confederates at Lone Jack were indeed Confederates by this time in 1862, and the MSG, with a few isolated examples, pretty much ceased to exist.

Here's some updates on the authentic Confederate camp, and some of the scenarios we're working on:

The Confederate camp is just a short walk from the site of the original Confederate camps from 1862. The independent commands that were recruiting in the area joined forces to launch a combined attack at dawn on Aug 16, but they were accepting new recruits right up to the days before the battle. Many young men who came to join up were not armed, or mounted, so were not part of the effective fighting force. This camp will reflect the recruiting, swearing in and rudimentary training that would have been taking place. Here will also be a strong mounted presence, where the mounts were picketed before the force advanced on foot to launch their attack. Accounts indicate there was a single ordnance wagon in the entire command, so we will have one wagon in the Confederate camp with ammo boxes from which we will issue rounds. To accomplish this we will ask Confederates to yield a portion of their ammo before the event. Accounts also describe the scarcity of ammunition before the battle, some with as few as six rounds. Troops under Hunter and Jackman even retired from the battle line during the ragged fighting for want of ammunition, and had to march back to the ordnance wagon, where one eyewitness account describes Col. Cockrell hollering at some of the green troops who were milling about behind the lines, who got their first taste of fighting and didn't want to go back. These are a few of the details that we plan to incorporate into the battle scenarios.

We'll post more info as we work out details. See you all in August!

Dan Hadley
LJHS/Tater Mess

[cgoser]

The Lamar Rifles are more than proud to form a foundation for one of the MSG companies. Dan's been a good friend and Pard on the March through the Piney Woods. I'm truly honored to be supporting this fine event in our backyard.

Come one come all! Rise to the trumpets clarion call and join a band of stalwart fellows in the defense of our sovereign state! We're take all healthy men of integrity and character who wish to serve our state in her time of tribulation. Sign up today!

Your Sincerest Friend,
Clay Goser, Commanding