Having returned from the Officer's School at Bedford village, how many here attended and what were your thoughts?

1) Great location.  
2) I came away with some new knowledge and idea to apply within our unit.
3)I was able to meet or be able to put faces with common names seen on a the more common fora.

Greg,

As you know, I was there. I had a good time for basically the same reasons you did. This was my second trip. I enjoy the mix of reenactors who attend the school.

Something new this year was the mix of mandatory and elective classes to attend.

Bill

If I might ask, what were the "required" courses?

Dave -

Just got back home about 7:00 last night, myself. The published schedule was as follows:

Friday night - Leadership (Tim O'Neill)

Saturday -

7:30 am - Saber Dueling (Todd Kerns)

9:30 am - Electives:
Evolutions of the Line #1 (Bob Denton & Scot Buffington)
Adjutant's 101 (Andrew Dangle)

11:00 am - Use of Cavalry (Todd Kerns & Dave Myrick)

1:30 pm - Electives
Mapmaking & Field Reports #1 (Andrew Dangle & Michael Schaffner)
Evolutions of the Line #2 (Bob Denton & Scot Buffington)
Outpost & Grand Guard #1 (Bill Watson & Mike Lavis)

3:00 pm - Electives
Military/Period Etiquette #1 (Matt McLaughlin)
Mapmaking & Field Reports #2 (Andrew Dangle & Michael Schaffner)

4:30 - Use of Artillery(Gilbert, Martorelli, Forquer, McLean, Lydic, Preston)

6:00 pm - Electives
Military/Period Etiquette #2 (Matt McLaughlin)
Outpost & Grand Guard #2 (Bill Watson & Mike Lavis)
Field Paperwork & Period Penmanship (Michael Schaffner)

Sunday -

7:30 am - Saber Dueling (Todd Kerns) - Cancelled

10:00 am - Combined Arms Operations (Chris Utz)

I'm still putting my thoughts together and will be forwarding an AAR to Chris Anders later this week.

Regardless, tremendous kudos to Chris for putting all of this together. He really does have an extraordinary vision for the hobby. He's been knocking around it twice as long as I have and is not even 1/4 as jaded as I am!

Bill

Yup, saw you there and it was neat to see the mixture of guys from around the hobby.  

Now we just need to push for an NCO school of a similiar setup at the same location.  And I have to admit the broom closet where we were sleeping was quite comfortable.

One of the neat things was to see that some problems we think are unique to our unit are not so unique.  

Bill -

Was that you who sat in with our group during the Friday night leadership case studies?

Greg,

Yep, I was the guy trying to hide the Farby spectacles!  

Bill -

We'd only made introductions with first names, so I wasn't sure.

Damn, I feel bad now!

Quote :

Forquer wrote : Bill - Damn, I feel bad now!

Greg,

No reason to. It's not like we wear name tags! Although, at that type of event, it might not be a bad idea!  

Quote :

Bill wrote :   Greg, No reason to. It's not like we wear name tags! Although, at that type of event, it might not be a bad idea!

But will they stick to jean cloth and wool and kersey?  

I don't want anyone to get a coronary, but I've written the following short AAR...

Bedford Officers’ School After-Action Report

Last weekend (March 9-11, 2007) I attended the second Officers’ School at Old Bedford Village, put on by Chris Anders and the Chesapeake Volunteer Guards.

Approximately 80 students stayed in the historic village, sleeping in cabins, houses, schools, and shops, heating themselves at woodstoves and fireplaces, and dining communally in the tavern.  We had classes in two school buildings and the upstairs of the tavern (which had the advantage of modern lighting).  A couple of sessions were held outside.  The Visitors Center provided running water (cold only) and modern sinks.

The weekend began with a social Friday night, with ham and cheese sandwiches in the tavern, followed by a workshop on leadership conducted by Tim O’Neill.   About 70 students attended this, which lasted till nearly 11 p.m.

Saturday morning began with drill in the use of the saber on the village green, directed by Todd Kerns and Dave Myrick.  It was a decent workout and of some practical value.  In infantry units we tend to focus so much on the manual of arms for the rifle-musket that the proper way of drawing and returning a sword gets overlooked.

Other classes continued throughout the day, lasting until, I believe, 8:30.  Of these, I particularly enjoyed “Evolutions of the Line,” taught by Bob Denton and Scott Buffington; the use of artillery, taught by a group of artillerists, whose names I unfortunately neglected to note; and the use of cavalry, taught by Kerns and Myrick.

Denton and Buffington brought an engaging blend of enthusiasm and experience to their discussion of the military history underlying civil war tactics, brigade maneuvers during the civil war, and implications for the reenactor.  

The artillerists gave the best organized presentation, combining classroom instruction on technical aspects of artillery and case studies of its use, with a field exercise in which class participants deployed as the members of an artillery battery, so we got to see how much space the unit would actually occupy.  This underscored the absurdity of the common reenactment maneuver of passing infantry battalions through batteries.  

The cavalrymen presented a fine talk on the development of cavalry in America, compared to its European counterparts, and related it directly to the use, and abuse, of cavalry in reenactments, with an emphasis on safety and the welfare of the horse.

Other classes covered the work of the adjutant (taught by Andrew Dangel), period etiquette (Matt McLaughlin), and mapmaking and field reports (Andrew again).  I assisted on “field reports” and taught a class on paperwork and penmanship to about a dozen hardy souls who’d already survived four or five other sessions.

Saturday night concluded with dinner and a social in the tavern.  After a round of toasts to the President, the Queen (from a Canadian attendee), those who had gone before, and Joseph Gillott, inventor of the flexible steel nib, we tucked in to a delicious beef stew and tasty desserts.  

Sunday morning the School concluded with a presentation on “Combined Arms” and a final message from Chris Anders.  Despite the loss of an hour to Daylight Savings Time, we managed to leave by noon.

Altogether I found the School a helpful and worthwhile experience.  In addition to the practical value of the classes, it provided an opportunity to see and speak with a number of fellow reenactors from both “mainstream” and “progressive” groups, and to talk frankly about challenges facing the hobby.  

I also had the chance to see a number of friends.  I found it interesting to see a number of fellow “Scrivener’s Mess” members there:  Matthew Burbank, John Buker, Andrew Dangel, Glenn Jones, Paul Kenworthy, Paul Lockhart, Mark Maranto (also a fellow Brady Sharp Shooter), Matt McLoughlin, Jay Novicki, Greg Renault, Bill Rodman, and perhaps a few others whose names I’ve regretfully overlooked.  Many members of the Mess are not primarily clerks or administrative types, but they all have a keen interest in an often-overlooked, yet essential aspect of Civil War armies.  I took a certain pride in seeing how well we were represented there.  Perhaps next year, we can arrange our own little get together during the social and spend some more time comparing notes and experiences related to paperwork in the field.

Mike,
I'm buying a pen and inkwell. Anyhow, you always say a #? steel nib is best. I forget the number. Help?

Mr Schaffner

It was a pleasure to meet you during the sword drill on Saturday morning.  I was the confederate standing to your left and we discussed the difference in weight between the repro and original swords.  I think we compared the ones we were using to the original Jeremy Hornbaker was holding.

Grumpy,
Check out John Neal Books:  http://www.johnnealbooks.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/shophome.html?E+scstore

I think if you look under tools & materials and copperplate you find their nibs and inks.  If someone knows of another source, I'd appreciate hearing about it, but so far these guys have worked out best for me.

I recommend the Gillott 404 for regular writing and the Gillott 303 for extra-fine work.  Both nibs were specifically mentioned at the time in QM documents, and are still made by a successor company in Birmingham.  They're roughly about a buck each and will last at least a season for our purposes.  I have a bunch of each, because I use them a lot and sometimes have a HQ set up where I try to equip several clerks.

A lot of other pens/nibs were in use at the time, and I also like the Hunt 22 (or 22 vintage, which is even better) and EF Principal.  All of these have squarish bodies, rather than rounded (they look, in other words, like metal quill tips), but I frankly don't know enough to say that all period pens should look like that.  For that matter, the shape and composition of the 404 may have changed at some point over the last century and a half.  We're not yet at the point where we can tease someone for using the wrong kind of nib -- that's just one more hobby milestone to look forward to.

For ink I very highly recommend the McCaffery's Penman's oak gall ink.  It costs a little more, but it would seem to be more correct and -- much more importantly -- it's just a lot easier to use.

Check out Pendemonium for inks (inkwells):  http://www.pendemonium.com/  Click vintage inkwells and scroll down.  The broken top inkwells they describe as "mid 1800s" are probably from later in the century, but the type is not inappropriate to our time.  They used to have nice octagonal inks for $15, but appear to have sold out.  If nothing else, the ribbed and round will give you an idea of what to look for if you ever go to an antique mall, where you will often find them much cheaper (also, if you ever see Bill MacIntosh at an event, anything he has is good, and a great price).

Sorry to go on, but you asked <g>

Greg, it was great to meet you.  My arm has nearly recovered.  Looks like a fun season coming up.  Hope to see you in the field.

I was hoping you'd go on... That stuff is interesting as all get out.

Quote :

Michael Schaffner wrote : The artillerists gave the best organized presentation, combining classroom instruction on technical aspects of artillery and case studies of its use, with a field exercise in which class participants deployed as the members of an artillery battery, so we got to see how much space the unit would actually occupy.  This underscored the absurdity of the common reenactment maneuver of passing infantry battalions through batteries.

And a period photo to also see there isn't much space between sections..

http://www.treasurenet.com/images/civilwar/CIVIL008.JPG

Battery at drill. [Online version on Jan 1st 1996, at http://www.nara.gov/nara/nn/nns/civil008.jpg]

Great picture, Greg.  Looks like the view from the Visitor's Center.  

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I see several pairs of dark blue trowsers in this pic.

Quote :

lhsnj wrote :   And a period photo to also see there isn't much space between sections.

Greg -

The demonstration on Saturday afternoon was to show the distance between the guns according to the book. Naturally, terrain always dictates what you are, or aren't, able to do.

I almost wonder if the guns weren't placed so close together due to the field of vision of the camera without losing any detail in the image. There does, however, appear to be enough space to allow the limber teams to pass to the left of the guns in order to limber up.

That's Ringgolds Battery. AT DRILL which, may have dictated the closeness of the guns. I think the book says 16 yards? Anyway, ground and space would dictate how far apart the guns were placed in a combat situation. Look at the guns around the angle at Gettysburg as a fine example. Yep, dark blue trowsers.