King of the Blair Witches and his Two Headed Henchman
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The Regular The Official Newsletter of Sykes Regulars October Regular

Field Commander’s Report

The Commander’s report was eaten by his cat.










Brigade Schedule
October-November 2000
Date: October 21,22
Place: Belle Grove Plantation,Middleton , VA
Event: Cedar Creek Living History
Uniform: Heavy marching order, fatigue uniform, shiny brass, tents, you know the drill
Info: Sykes' Regulars have been invited to provide a living history program at the Belle Grove Mansion at the Cedar Creek Battlefield in Middleton, VA during the upcoming 21-22 October 2000 reenactment. We will be setting up a company street in the paddock area of the mansion where we will provide the public with a view of the life of a Federal soldier in the 6th Corps during late 1864. A Confederate unit, the 42nd Virginia, will be providing a similar impression in and around the mansion. The Frederick Ladies Relief Society, who we will be supporting, will be on hand in the mansion and will feed us for a nominal fee for both days. Uniform will be late war with heavy marching order...as with any living history, the more variety we have, the better we can communicate our story to the public. We'll be in dog tents and we should be able to set up a more or less substantial fire pit and kitchen area.
Directions: Take route 81 to Middleton, VA and look for a sign for Bellle Grove Mansion.

Date: October 28, 29
Place: Brownsville Pass
Home of Larry and Julie McGrane
Event: Work Weekend at Winter Quarters
Uniform: Work clothes and tools.
Info: This is the long awaited work weekend for the winter quarters. We will be congregating at the McGrane residence early on the morning to build great manly forts in the woods. Much has already been accomplished but there is much to be done.
Anyone with construction skills, please bring them along. If you have none we still need you! The First Sgt’s hut is already in process and next we’ll be working on the officer’s quarters. You don’t want the First Sgt. to sleep in the snow, do you?
Things to bring:
Bring warm clothes and work boots. Shovels, work gloves, chain saw if you have one, axes and a willingness to work.
Directions: Take route 15 to route 340 west to route 67 Boonesboro. Off the exit drive 5miles and look on the right for sign for Brownsville Road. Go into town and look for Brownsville Pass and make right and go to end of road. Larry’s is on the hill.

Date: November 18
Place: Gettysburg, PA
Event: Remembrance Day
Info: This is our annual parade in remembrance of the slain at the Battlefield of Gettysburg. We will march in the parade and ensue in the usual festivities. If you need reservations at Days Inn call 717-334-3373.
Uniform: Dress Blues, shiny brass, shiny weapon and your pride as a Regular.
Directions: Go to Gettysburg. Days Inn is off of Route 30 east of town.


Report from the Field
Chancellorsville
The event that turned from Gloom to Gold.
The Chancellorsville event for the Regulars was almost a non event as it seemed there were many conflicts and bad reports of weather. This made attendance poor. Which is all the more the pity as it turned out to be an excellent event. This goes to prove you never really know what you’ll get until you get there. The weather was supposed to be rainy all weekend. It spritzed Friday evening and Saturday morning with fog then cleared. Sunday was sunny and warm. The terrain at the site was varied. Provisions were close by but the firewood was poor. That’s the worst that can be said about the weekend.
We arrived Friday night late and waited till the morning to set up camp. The National Regiment was there in force and we bivouaced in a cozy spot along a tree line. Breakfast was rushed as we had to make dress parade. We briefly practiced some battalion maneuvering and were soon called to battle. The atmosphere was murky and foggy. So much so that we could barely see ten feet in front of our faces. This of course made finding the enemy rather difficult but it made for a rather dramatic morning.
As we reached the battle ground the NR went into line of battle and advance into a gully filled with debris. We broke apart and reassembled on the other side of this obstacle still not being able to see any sign of the enemy for the fog. We stood for awhile waiting and waiting. The a breeze kicked up and blew some of the fog away and to our surprise we found the enemy. Not straight in front of us but above our heads on a ridge line at least two stories above. There were many pronouncements of a graphic nature concerning the transformation from the battle of Marye’s Heights to Missionary Ridge. But, like the good Union men that we were we stood our ground and girded ourselves for the task ahead. With order to advance ringing in our ears, we assailed the heights and were summarily cut down like wheat under a scythe. Men were falling like leaves and we hugged the slope for dear life using the dead as breastworks. We knew we had to move one way or the other or suffer annihilation. My comrade Pete B. and I had the battle fury and knew we had but one chance. We screamed for the others to join us and we attacked up the slope. It was the wrong move.
We took no more than three strides and we were struck down. Seeing this valiant suicide attempt the rest of the survivors melted quickly down the hill. As we laid there for a time in the swirling fog and battle smoke, we could see the Yankee forces gathering and with a mighty rush in a column the lads attacked the hill with determination and celerity. Their momentum carried them over the top as the Rebs had no time to reload. They breached the defense and quickly surrounded the nearby Rebel companies as the others retreated into the fog. It was a mighty surge that had carried the position. Those of us dying on the slope went off to our last hurrah with pride in the bravery of our comrades in arms. Then we all got up and went back to camp.
We hung out and did the various and sundry things that soldiers do which entailed taking a nap. Soldiers love to take naps. The day was clearing and we prepared ourselves for our next military adventure. Somehow we had a portent that it wasn’t going to be the rousing victory we scored in the morning. The usual 6 to 1 odds Confederate to Yankee had something to do with it.
Having this instinct in our bellies we marched out to await the overwhelming hordes in the woods. This was the Chancellorsville portion of our program and we had that 11th Corp feeling. You remember O.O. Howard’s ill fated Corp, the one that couldn’t buy a break. The one that Stonewall and his smelly minions happen to fall directly upon.
Having that losing feeling made the lads in the ranks a little cantankerous, so when a troop of dismounted Reb cavalry took up a position in front of us (of course they weren’t supposed to be there) we assailed them not with led but with insults. This reporter had never heard such a clever barrage of colorful effrontery. Of course it was a little too colorful for our family publication so we’ll leave it to your imagination. We could see the faces of those unfortunate mule riders turning red in the woods and we were very pleased with ourselves until…… they attacked. Then we ran like a bunch of girls. (No offense to the female readers who can skedaddle well) To say the least we were steamrollered by a swarm of gray and butternut of biblical proportion. We heard the Rebel yell nipping at our heals as we hightailed out of there taking tons of casualties. (This also sounded like girls screaming) It was a horrible day. We tried to remember to face the enemy while firing so as to not to take a hit in the back like a coward. Many went down. We heard that by the time we stopped, there were only 30 members of the NR still standing. Then we marched back to camp.
Back at camp Mr. Brooks made a traditionally fine stew. With the addition of purple cabbage the stew took on an interesting hue. Pete didn’t think it was his best work, but those of us who did partake thought it was just fine. When dinner was a memory we toasted the birthday of our beloved First Sgt. Hanson. We were pleased that he would spend his day of birth in 1804 with his comrades in arms. We always thought he was an immortal on this his 334th term of enlistment. Again, Happy birthday First.
As night fell we were pleased to have some of our neighbors visit and share the warmth of our hearth. Our great friend, Ed Stewart of the 5th NY came by in addition to Joe Gannon of the 27th Conn. Mr. Gannon brought along a few friends one of which was an excellent tenor by the name of Rick Mahone. These boys regaled us with their grand stories of the Irish in exchange for our stories on our recent trek through the Emerald Isle. We then of course sang between tales and shared the provisions at hand. Joseph was kind enough to sing us one of our favorite songs ’The One Ball Riley’. We were also fortunate enough to get the waltz version. Some of the lads from the 5th NY came over and regaled us with an excellent ribald composition on the ’merits’ of Stonewall Jackson. We’ll work on acquiring the words to this clever tune. In the end we considered it social evening of the highest order. We sang the Parting Glass, shook hands and went to our respective bunks to crawl into the arms of Morpheus and dream of victory and home.
The morning brought coffee, eggs and bacon and that stuff that resides in the corner of your eye. The sun was shining this day and the warmth grew each minute. We reported for dress parade and came back to clean up the company mess that is not at all misnamed. We were to be called out to battle later in the morning so we decided to hump out our gear to the wagons early as to get a jump on the usual traffic cluster. It took us three mighty treks with complaint for fuel.
After a very quick nap we donned our gear and headed to the field to join our comrades as they waited in the tree line near the Chancellor house that looked curiously like a big cardboard garage. They were to set it on fire later in the day. The Rebs filed on by on their way to their position on the field. We tried to goad the 5th NY into singing their new song but they didn’t want to incite a riot. Common sense prevailed. Too bad they didn’t have such sense back then. We gathered in a defensive position and watched as the same swarm that overwhelmed us the day before emerged from the tree line to do the same today. My comrade and I took early hits and having already said our farewells carried ourselves to the wagon and began the long road home.
For those of you who couldn’t make it, you missed a grand time.
The End

Written by the Editor

For more pics of the weekend click here.
Report from the Field
McClellan’s Headquarters and Torchlight Tour
Antietam Battlefield
Hardest Working Living History Day of the Year
General McClellan saw fit to leave a staff of officers in charge of a report that would enable him to make his decision to pursue the enemy out of Maryland after the Battle of Antietam. That staff (namely us), having little or no information, justified the General’s decision to stay put even though he had 84,000 effectives. Go figure. Though he didn’t have this particular staff he probably would have come to the same conclusion regardless.
Our goal in this scenario was to present a different side to the historical lambasting McClellan justifiably receives. We present the logistic and supply nightmare following a battle and in this light it is easier to accept his decision not to follow Lee’s army. We are McClellanites on this staff and we goes so far as to call Abraham Lincoln names. (This part always makes me nauseous)
As many times before the gallant staff of General Generic shrugged their shoulders, winced at the General’s derisions and redundantly uttered the phrase that saves “I’ll have that for you at the next meeting, General.” The staff, being woefully unprepared for the barrage of questions put to us by the General, concentrated his ire on the hapless quartermaster played by Mr. Pete Brooks. Having endured the barbs and stings of the irate Brigadier before, Major Brooks stood manfully against the storm and shrugged his shoulders with dignity and grace. We were in awe as the major, having used every excuse man could conceive to why he didn’t possess the answer for the General, utilized a tactic never before used. He told the truth. With nary a flinch, but with great courage he said, “Sir, I just don’t know.” The staff nearly fainted from shock. The General barely knew what to say or how to react. The blood could be seen rushing from his face and his mouth dropped open and a fly flew in. The world stood still and only a tree frog could be heard faintly in the distance.
In took us a full thirty seconds to regain our composure, but once it had the truth had set us free and now when the General asks us a question now, we all say, “Sir, I just don’t know,”; ”Haven’t got a clue Sir”: or “Sir, I really wish I knew.”
The rest of our heroes in our cast were played by: Some kind of Engineer played by Joe Vilar; ‘Topographic Guy with maps that are wrong or no maps at all’ was played by Jason McConnell ; ‘Logician Extraordinaire’ played by Don Rivera “There are a lot of wounded guys out there, Sir”; Colonel “I don’t think so Sir” played by Steve Hanson ; Captain McCadem played by Andy Fieckert (with an alias as Secondary and Tertiary Road Man) ; Sidekick to the doomed Quarter Master ‘Somebody help me’ Brooks, was played by Mongo Kohls as Major “That Man’s Lying” ; Frank Hall played the part of the sort of competent Major Domo in charge transporting something ; Craig Mastapeter’s role was that of ‘Officer on horseback on the Scene’; Fred Grogan played the part of ‘Detached Cavalryman with no horses no spurs but clean boots’; the ‘Wretched, Hungry and “I can’t figure out the last time I ate or what unit I’m in” Private was played by Bruce Spahr and his under study was our new member Tom Campbell ; the ‘I’ll tell you anything that’ll keep me out of trouble’ lieutenant was played by Jim Wassel ; and the guard that was the hero of our scene because he didn’t get into any trouble at all was Super Sentry Claude Bauer. In an extra special cameo appearance Son of Spahr played the part of ‘Clerk that writes with no ink’.
Our program was well received and some of the audience even threw some intelligent questions our way. So as our quest to enlighten and have fun doing it was accomplished we were all summarily fired by the General. We thanked the General for his wise decision and we went on to the next scene.
Torchlight Tour.
As the sun started to slowly remove itself from our sight, the Regular Players switched gears from the McClellan Staff of daytime to the McClellan Staff of the night. In this impression we are the first stop on the Antietam Torchlight Tour. Our mission is to tell the tale of the Lost Order 191.
The cast:
Will Hutchison plays the naïve general Kymball who takes a reporter at his word that the information he so freely parts with will remain “off the record.”
Don Rivera plays the part of the sidekick of Gen. Kymball, Colonel Colgrove, Cosgrove, Coswell. We never remember the right one. The Colonel tells of his how the order finally came into the hands of General McClellan.
Jim Wassel plays the part of the wily reporter who asks the important questions and fools the General into giving away the scoop of the century. At the end of the scene the reporter runs away at into the night at speed of light and never trips once.
Steve Hanson plays the part of the Sgt.Bloss who in concert with Cpl. Mitchell played by Jason McConnell, find the infamous order and bring it into the pages of history with no cigars for their trouble.
The supporting cast of Mr. Mastapeter, Brooks, Bauer, Feickert all lend great layers to the scene by milling about smartly in the background.
We all put in a lot of hard work as we performed scene after scene after scene into the night. The last tour some of the cast tagged along and we were able to see just how compelling this torchlight tour really is. It holds no bars as it portrays the nightmare that was the battle of Antietam in a dozen scenes. Cudos go to all the volunteers who work on this tour each year. They do a great job and they do it for the sake of the teaching Americans their history. A worthy calling.

Written by the Editor

For more pics of the weekend click here.
Report from the Field
Antietam Military Demonstration
Antietam Battlefield Park, MD
The lads gathered once again on the open fields of the ‘bloodiest day.’ The National Regiment mustered once again under the command of Major Hutchison to perform military maneuvers for an audience who braved the cold breezes of an early October frost.
The lads set up a bivouac camp around the Maryland monument near the old Dunker Church. It was a beautiful site and the NR was resplendent in their impression. Dog tents dotted the scape and three cook fires smoldered bringing that lovely smell of camp to our nostrils.
We set about the chores, polished the brass and the weapons and prepared our selves for our premier. Dress parade was quickly followed by company drill and First Sgt. Hanson soon had us back up to fighting trim. We later gathered for battalion drill and practiced the maneuvers that we were later to do for the audience. The drill came back to us like it had never left. We helped the newbies and the lads that hadn’t been out in awhile. It was good to see our old buddy Buck from the north. The man has been reenacting since the dawn of time and he still has the cleanest uniform and rifle of all the Regulars.
We relaxed till was time to do our show after lunch. The show consisted of demonstrations by artillery, cavalry and infantry with the infantry of course being the stars. We stacked arms and waited in the wings till our que. We marched in column and formed line where we fired several battalion volleys. Each one noted for there timing. The officers were impressed. We then demonstrated fire by rank and firing by file.
We then did a scenario where we stacked arms and rested until a cavalry scout delivered word that the enemy was in our front hidden in the corn. We got back on the stacks and skirmishers were sent to the edge of the cornfield.
We blasted corn for awhile and then rallied on the companies and we blasted the corn in a battalion front. That corn never stood a chance.
After the show we lazed about and then started dinner which consisted of two healthy chickens with vegetable matter and all thrown over a bed of fluffy rice. Thanks go out to Tank Nickle for preparing this delectable grub. The evening wound down after dinner and we decided to go to town and we found a pub that was warm and inviting. There was singer there and we tried to get him to sing ‘The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down’, but he wouldn’t. So we played trivial pursuit instead. It was a rousing game. We made our way back to camp and hung about the warm fire and talked of things humorous. Mostly Jason and Tank doing Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was amusing.
We finally formed our winter cocoons and tried to sleep without getting up for the call of nature. You were lucky if you made it. We awoke to find frost all about and a hearty breakfast ensued. Then we did our show again and went home. The End.

Written by the Editor.