Well lessee...

I believe I am the only reenactor that has had correspondence with a horse. Hit's tha gospel truth.

You see some time back I had to move to a different county in Texas. We had sold our home and wifey had picked out what, in her opinion, was a more agreeable part of the great state of Texas to call home, the little town of Crockett. Named after none other than ole Davey hisself.

Well I had a problem. Until we got settled in our new establishment I had to find a place to temporarily put my ole buddy Trooper. Trooper's my hoss doncha know and like one of the family. I started looking around and found nothing suitable and was beginning to feel a tad bit desperate when a fellow member of the SCV, one Mr. Kirk Foster, sez, "I can keep him in my back lot, which is about 2 or 3 acres, and has a small shed on it. The only problem is I have a hugh Rodesian Ridge-back dog that he will have to get along with."

So I loads up said Trooper and hawles him to Foster's back lot and very carefully leads him into the pen with the Ridge-back. They both stare at each other like two wrestlers sizing each other up. Slowly with a throaty growl the Ridge-back approaches with hackles up. Trooper has never really cared for dogs and he puts his nose down near the ground and lays his ears back and with a deep muttering sound in his throat slowly comes to meet the dog. They touch noses and both stand there in this pose for a full two or three minutes. The horse, in the past, had always been able to send dogs scurring away with tail between the legs. Foster said that the Ridge-back was fearless and it proved to be so. Neither gave an inch and looked as if any moment they would tangle in a battle to the death.

Slowly, the dogs hackles came down and the horses ears came back up and they seem to relax a little, having decided that neither was afraid of the other. The dog went back to knawing on his bone and the horse started clipping the lush grass. Foster and I decided that the animals had come to an understanding so he thought it would be alright. It turned out to be so. A few days late Foster called me on the phone and said they were enjoying each others' company and at times frolicked together.

I made my move to Crockett and after some months bought a place fenced it and built a horse shelter on it as well as a new home for wifey. Then one day I got a letter. It was addressed to Mr. Owner Dale. I opened it and darned if it wasn't a letter from Trooper. It read like this:

Dear Owner:

Mr. Foster said if I would dictate he would write a letter to you so here it is. I am doing very well. I don't mind telling you I had some misgivin's about being left here with these people who I didn't know and have an over grown pooch for a room mate. But it has worked out real well. The grass is plentiful, the Fosters feed me oats at least once a day and sometimes a carrot or two. Not bad folks, for humans, these Fosters. Mrs Foster likes me and sometimes we go for a little jaunt around the country. As for the dang dog he ain't all that bad. We've had our differences a few times but mostly he's o.k. He just wants to play more than I do and that gets on my nerves some times.

Anyway just thought I'd drop a line and let you know how I was doin. When are you coming to get me or you just going to leave me here? This pen is pretty small and I get bored sometimes. I shore would like to see some of the Roberts clan.

Yore ever faithful horse,
Trooper

PS - Them dang cars are just a passin'fancy; what with all the fuel shortages and eco-damage, one of these days it will be up to us horses again.


Well of course I was surprise to get a letter from a horse to say the least but then I knew that ole Trooper was pretty smart. So I wrote the following to reasure him that he wasn't an orphan and that he needed to hang on a little longer.

Dear Trooper:

Well now Trooper, I had myself a good horse laugh when I got yer letter. There is nothing like getting it straight from the horse's mouth.

I am pleased that you are doing so well. I tried to tell you those Fosters were good folks but you kept whimpering and snortin' 'bout going over there. Now see how wrong you were. Shucks having all that grass and oats and being coddled and curried sounds like you are doing fine. Not only that you got a nice dog, nearly as big as you are, to play with. I sure never thought you was smart nuff to dictate a letter. Now if I could only teach you to yodel instead of all that whinnyin' I could make a show horse out of you and we would both get rich.

I got yer paddock done and almost got yer shed finished so it wont be long now.

Tell the Fosters howdy and give them a whinnie for me and take it easy on them oats. I don't want a hoss that is too fat to ride.

Yer ole pal and feed bag,

Owner Dale

So there you have it, blogger types. I bet not a one of you has gotten a letter from a horse. If so you can join my club.

D.R.

Advice for the new reenactor recruits

Now just about anyone in the hobby can help you get involved in this sometimes-insane activity, but it is the small stuff that gets overlooked sometimes.

So you got yer yerself entangled inspite of my warnings of impending addiction and here ya are surrounded by yer new gray uniform. You got a spanking new .58 caliber three-banded Enfield shoulder cannon, a fine canteen full of Doctor Pepper, a haversack stuffed with hardtack and other possibles, and about thirty rounds of good ole black powder lady fingers. You have worked yerself into a excited blood-lust and are thinking, "Just show me a d---Yankee and I'll - !"

The cannons began to roar and the muskets began to rattle (muskets always rattle doncha know), you hear this command "COMPANY - ON MY COMMAND - " Hey you are trembling, why are you trembling? "- FIRE!"

Well now, that is fun. Be careful, this has an addictive feel already. You spend the next 25 minutes shooting them "blue bellies" and then you hear a voice behind you say "Take a hit!"

You have been taught that this means to fall dead on the ground. Like a good, loyal soldier that has given his life, you dramatically drop your piece and flop to the ground as your life blood pores from your poor bullet-riddled body. Others are falling, you open an eyeball and squint around - hey what the samhill is that crawling up my pant leg???? OH NO, it's fire ants! I'l be eaten alive - I ain't supposed to move... I'm supposed to be dead - YEOW they are stinging me - dead or no dead I'm outahere. You jump up and scurry off and ruin a perfectly good death scene. As you leave you hear the other dead bodies chuckling.

You see it's the little things that they don't tell you about, like picking yer place to fall dead. Yeah and there are a lot of other things they don't say anything about, like be sure that stopper is secure in the canteen or you will lose yer Doctor Pepper. And marching three miles in new brogans means blister blisters blisters.

After the first battle if you are the average recruit you will be thinking something like, This was supposed to be fun and I think I have enjoyed about all I can stand. But after you recover some you will most likely be saying "Ah - when did you say the next reenactment takes place?"

Ya see, yer hooked. I don't know why it works that way but it does.

Unusual happenings at reenactments

Some times a person is priviledged to see some interesting and unusual sights at a WBTS reenactment. I shall recite a few and maybe you readers can corntribute some as well.

Sometimes when serving on a gun (cannon), when the gun fires it will produce this giant smoke ring. My dad used to do this while smoking his pipe. I don't know what causes this phenomenon but I have a few theories. It could be they are using powder encased in a donut-shaped package. Maybe using a mixture of gunpowder and cherios, or tobacco, or pot.

If you happened to be a pony soldier, you well know bringing a horse into the scene is to introduce a variable. One cannot always be sure of the horse's behavior, no matter how well trained or how gentle. Here are a few examples I have witnessed.

One of my friends in the 8th Texas Cavalry has a horse name Maxwell; yeah that's right Maxwell. My friend, whom I shall refer to as Hank, took lots of pride in Maxwell. Yessir, he never tired talking about his beautiful black mare named Maxwell. The thing is, "black beauty" had never played war horse before.

When the cannons began to boom and the muskets began to rattle (muskets always rattle, doncha know), Maxwell decided, War is not my best game, but I sure know how to Rodeo. While everyone else was shooting Yankees and wielding sabres, Hank was fighting for his life topside of Maxwell, who was exibiting her best moves as a rodeo star. Ultimately Hank went sailing with his arms a-flapping all the while. Hank came to earth pretty much nose first. He wasn't seriously injuried but his dignity was ripped to tatters.

Yours truly once borrowed a horse because my own was not available. Don't do this if you can avoid it. I rode the gentle old mare around before the battle and she handled like the 20-year-old that she was. Nice ride, good gates, very laid back. Our unit was standing to horse immediately in the rear of a row of guns (cannons, doncha remember). For the opening salvo the cannons did what is known in the trade as a ripple fire from the right to the left. When the guns started belching fire and brimstone my gentle old mare sez, I don't wanta play. She turned into a demon, reared up front hooves flaying and teeth bared. She thumped me good with a hoof to the shoulder and broke away to find a quieter place to sleep.

Another example - the script called for a cavalry duel between our best sabre-wielding pony soldier and the best Yankee long knife. They put on a good show but the script called for our good ole Reb to lose and fall to the ground. He was well practiced at falling. ' Course, the horses had not been consulted as to their preference. The Yank's horse slipped out from under him like the saddle was greased and - so - the script was quickly changed to suit the horse's taste.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Anyone like to contribute????

Reenactment scenarios that I thought were good.

If you are a reenactment fan (and if you ain't, you should be) let me describe a few scenarios that played well.

Most reenactments start with a cannon fire exchange to kick things off, and that is fine but it gets too predictable sometimes. I attended a reenactment at the Liendo Plantation in Texas that began with our confederate troops sitting around camp entertaining visitors, family, and friends. Everything was cool and relaxed. The designated battle area was close by with only a fence between. As the time neared for the battle to begin we were told to just stay put until further notice. I was serving with the Texas Dixie Grays, a segment of Seldon's battery. I was eating a taco sitting in my camp chair with my feet propped up on an amunition box. The weather was fine, just a nice cool autumn day. There were quite a few visitors milling around in camp as usual.

Suddenly, with out warning, a cavalry videt came riding hard into the camp yelling the "Yanks are coming! The Yanks are coming and are just over that hill!"

Well, within seconds all was bedlam and panic. The cavalry bugler began blowing "Boots and Saddles." Officer of the infantry began yelling orders, soldiers and civilians were running around in chaotic disorder. Mommas were grabbing up their little ones and trying to get clear of the stampede. I saw one woman running with a very small child under one arm and another by the hand, some were falling down and crying. I'm sure the small kids had the daylights scared out of them - what with soldiers running around grabbing up their weapons, haversacks, canteens cartridge boxes and all kinds of other accessories, all the while trying to hear and follow the orders of the officers. The screams and yells and bugles were something to witness.

Within minutes, the cavalrymen, the first line of defence, were mounted and in formation and went pouring through the gate to the battle area. We cannoneers grabbed canteens, knives, side arms if any, and sprinted to our guns, the while trying to sort ourselves out and get organized.

The pony soldiers managed to meet the Yankee cavalry at the crest of the rise and engaged them. This gave us time to get our stuff together and guns deployed in a battle line.

This whole thing was scripted and staged by the event hosts but they purposely did not let us "lesser creatures" in on the thing. Well sir, I do believe this was about as close to the real thing as I have seen. It was hair raising, interesting and altogether fun, except for the little kids.

A few skinned knees were the only casualties. I am sure in the real war scenes like this were not that uncommon. Anyway it was a different way to commence to wage warfare, don't you think? Maybe someone out there in blogger land can give us some of their own experiences as to how to kick off a good fight.

Another opening scenario that I liked went like this.

Again I was with a cannon crew and we opened with answering fire to Yankee cannon fire. Our infantry was forming up behind our battle line and they had about twenty Yankee captives in a small pen with guards around. On cue, the Yanks made a break for it, overpowered the guards, and burst upon the scene with the guards' guns and began firing at us cannoneers.

Some of our men had small arms and we had our own little battle as an opening. Our infantry soon recovered and took up the fight, killing about half of the Yanks. The other half escaped and hi-tailed over the hill. The Yanks who were killed, of course, were galvanized Rebs and the bodies were dragged back into some woods where they ungalvanized and, out of site of the gallery, they joined their own units.

The only down side to this was the fact that I had to take a hit and spent the entire battle as a wounded soldier. Some of our dead were carried to cover and resurrected and joined their units. Anyway, I thought the new opening was an interesting variation.

Howdy Bloggerites. I thought I would toss out a reading list for lovers of the politically incorrect.

A good place to start is "Hamilton's Curse" by Thomas Dilorenzo. This book takes one back to the beginning of this nation's troubles with an overreaching government.

"Red Republicans and Lincoln's Marxists" by Walter D. Kennedy and Al Benson, Jr. shows the connection of Lincoln's vision for this country and Marxists.

"The Real Lincoln" by Dilorenzo strips away all the myths, fantasies and lies associated with Lincoln and lays bare his real agenda.

"Complicity" by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jeneifer Frank gives you a better grasp of slavery as it was promoted, prolonged, and profited by the northern states until it was no longer profitable.

"Myths and Realities of American Slavery" by John C. Perry is a very good history of slavery in general and in the South in particular.

This should give you a good running start on becoming a disciple of the politically incorrect.

Oh, yer politically correct friends are goin'a love ya.