Did any of you attend the "Down in the Valley" event that was held last weekend on the Cedar Creek Battlefield? If so, we'd like to hear your impression of the event.

Thanks,    

Ups and Downs at “Down the Valley”
AAR by M. A. Schaffner
ex-Captain & AAG, Shields’ Division, “Fifth Corps d’Armee”

Having participated in the organization of the Union forces for this event for the previous six months, I arrived at the event site on the Cedar Creek Battlefield in Middleton, Virginia with a weird sense of relief and trepidation.  Relief that the event had finally arrived, and trepidation because I just worry about things.  I worry about problems I can easily anticipate, and when I’m done with those I try to anticipate other problems, knowing that when the actual event arrives my real anxiety will come from still others that I haven’t given the least thought to.

Friday Morning, Afternoon, and Evening

My buddy Bill Wilson drove us from Arlington; we stopped by registration at about 11:00 a.m., said hi to Chris Anders and others, picked up a radio from Suzanne Chilson, the indefatigable representative of the Battlefield Foundation, and proceeded to the Federal camp sites inside the gate off Veteran’s Road.  Bill and I picked out a level, visible spot for HQ and set up an A tent, fly, two tables and desks, the whole representing both the AAG’s office and local storage for Brady Sharp Shooter loaner gear.  The afternoon went swiftly as the rest of the Federal staff arrived:  Kevin Air, the commander, his adjutant Doug Dobbs, our Quartermaster Joel Hummel, bugler John Teller, and orderlies Andy Scanlan and Kyle Wichendahl.  Josh Mordin arrived with more Brady’s gear; he and Kevin Kelley, along with Justin Cradduck and Jason and Keith Usher would all fall in with the 28th Massachusetts in the 3rd USV.

Although I had expected some difficulties in establishing the “Mixed” and “Garrison” camps, these went up smoothly under the experienced leadership of the 1st USV and Mifflin Guard, respectively.  So too did the artillery once Mike Martorelli and his merry band of cannoneers arrived.  For the “campaigners” I simply directed folks down the road.  Hours later I went to check, found the 3rd USV fairly well situated, but the National Regiment still arriving and uncertain where they ought to set up.  I discussed the options then left it up to those on site.

I had prepared six copies of the first set of General Orders, one for each of our four battalions, our battery, and our troop.  These discussed the hours of reveille, lights out, and for submission of consolidated morning reports.  After consulting with Kevin Air, I delivered them, but kept the copy for our cavalry – only one horseman had registered and he would not be coming.

Facilities included eight or ten porta-johns at both ends of camp, with large water tanks.  We had a smaller water tank in the middle of our camps, originally intended for the cavalry, but now available for everyone.  The large water tank nearest the gate had been emptied and rolled into the nearby creek by vandals the evening before; the support crew fixed it Friday but it could not be filled before Saturday morning.

I spent much of the afternoon greeting folks driving in and directing them to their camps.  The Federal City Brass Band arrived and camped on the other side of the office from the rest of HQ.  It’s always a pleasure to see them, and I was especially glad to serve alongside Jari Villanueva again; we first worked together at “Into the Wilderness” where he served as regimental bugler and I as regimental clerk.  Now he had a band and I had a small staff.  A good thing:  as long as the Federal army has excellent music, it will tolerate a certain amount of red tape.

The little free time I had Friday afternoon went to the drawing up of a Special Order for a senior officers’ meeting at 6:30 preparatory to a meeting at 7:00 with the Confederates in the activities tent to discuss the Saturday afternoon battle (“First Kernstown”) and walk the field, followed by a meeting of all Federal officers back at HQ at 8:00.  This last would include a stationery issue of two consolidated morning report forms, some event information, and a piece of office tape.  All went as planned, although because Andrew Dangel did not show on the Confederate side, I fear my paper collar was a wasted fashion touch.

Speaking of fashion, if anyone felt a seismic disturbance Friday, that was from Bill finally buying a new forage cap at Dirty Billy’s.  The hat formerly known as Bill’s has been retired to the relic room of the museum of the Brady Sharp Shooters at the bottom of Four Mile Run.

That evening Jari and the band played, as did the ensemble of the 6th New Hampshire in the 1st USV camp.  Some time after dark a contingent of the Camp Chase fifes and drums showed, whom we bedded down next to the band.  The buglers coordinated for Tattoo and, later, Taps.  We discussed sounding “Lights Out”, which would have been more appropriate at that time in 1862, but I didn’t want anyone to misunderstand the call.  As it was, a bit of negotiation was necessary before everyone understood that we really meant folks to quiet down after Taps.  I don’t know when I finally went to bed, but it was not until after I talked to Jari about reveille and learned who wakes the bugler.

Saturday Morning

A bit before five I woke and made coffee for myself and Bill, then ate some breakfast, wrote up my journal, and got our desks in order.  After reveille, with the sun fully up, I noted with some amazement that we had no cars in camp, despite a wide open gate.  But around seven someone drove in so, after they disappeared over the hillside, I went and shut the gate, wrapping the chain around to make it appear locked.  Alex Miskell, a young man from the 5th Ohio, reported for duty at HQ and I posted him as guard to direct any vehicles to the main entrance while keeping an eye out for the water truck.  I tapped Kyle for his relief, and Bill and I rotated them every 15 or 20 minutes so they wouldn’t get too bored.

One vehicle we did let in was the porta-john cleaner.  As he finished with ours and drove through camp to tackle the next set he was met with general cheering, to which he responded by pumping his arm and shouting, “You boys take care out there – don’t change nothin’!”  The Union forever.

The General sounded at 8:00, by which time I had all the morning reports, which Bill labored to consolidate on a brigade return.  The good news was that everyone filled out their reports, more or less according to instructions.  The less good news was that the consolidated return continues to bedevil the modern mind, even when filled with the barest essentials.  Something about making all the columns and rows add correctly and agree with each other seems hugely challenging.  Maybe it’s just not the thing one ordinarily does while camping.

In any case, registration before the event totaled 370 people on the Union side (the Confederates had 570, but disproportionately more civilians and officers):  1&2 USV, 68; 3rd USV, 62; Mifflin, 39; NR, 80; “Other”, 30 (included 12 5th OVI, attached to Mifflin, and 7 Camp Chase); HQ 27 (included 11 FC Band, and several Brady Sharpshooters who fell in with the 28th), Artillery, 30; and 33 civilians.

Actual returns showed that of the 337 military registered only about 234 showed:

Federal forces at “Down the Valley,” Saturday, 16th June, 2007
Unit Officers Enlisted Aggregate
Head Quarters 4 4 8
Band (FCB & CC) 0 16 16
National Regiment 6 43 49
Mifflin Guard 3 29 32
1st & 2nd USV 5 43 48
3rd USV 7 59 66
Artillery 1 14 15
Total 26 208 234

I say “about” because the total remains approximate.  The original return shows an aggregate of 213, but a review of the numbers uncovered a few omissions (including two HQ enlisted) and some errors in math.  But this too is period.

As I reviewed the returns the water truck arrived and I gave young Mr. Miskell my regards for a duty well and faithfully performed.  Since he was a little too young to take the field, I requested that he remain at the gate till the army marched out, then close it and remove his guard to Head Quarters.

“The Assembly” sounded at around 8:45, then “To the Color” at a little after 9:00.  We lost some time requesting a matron and a vivandier to leave our ranks.  In all fairness to the ladies, we had one female enlisted on staff, who had received prior approval, two in the Band, and one in the 1st USV who I discovered later during the tactical and, under the circumstances, felt obliged to compliment on the quality of her impression.  Above all, there was nothing about the vivandier and matron that was more inherently inauthentic than the upcoming tactical itself.

We marched off at about 9:30 with the band in the lead playing patriotic airs.  I think I enjoyed this part of the weekend most – the weather was fine, the music splendid, and the countryside beautiful.  Our spirits soared like our standards on the breeze.  Or something like that.  Since I didn’t know quite where we were going I went to the rear of the column and Doug took my place at the front.   We stopped for water at a house where it appeared that a hose had been left on, pouring into the road, for our benefit.  Kevin asked that I turn it off as the army marched on and leave a note in the door to thank the family.  I complied, and only found out when we reached Belle Grove and our actual water supply that said family had, in fact, only been flushing their well.  Canteens were dumped then refilled, and we marched into the woods beyond the estate, over ground I last encountered during Recon II.

The Federal army continued into the woods, often in single file.  The trail led us to a broader one leading from the Valley Turnpike down to Cedar Creek itself.  We turned left and headed up hill, deployed variously, encountered Confederate skirmishers, and matters devolved into a full scale engagement involving all our forces.  What can I say – it was a tactical.  I think it lasted maybe 40 minutes.  By that time the 3rd USV on our right was still holding its position relatively undisturbed, but the other three battalions had been compelled to fall back in nearly a complete circle with Confederate units appearing on the road behind them.  My duties carried me throughout our formation – I saw some Confederate prisoners who had obviously hurried quite a distance at some speed to gain our rear;  I saw our men in some confusion, Confederates likewise, who had managed in the thick woods to get within maybe a dozen feet of each other.  I called over the radio for a cease fire at about the time a bugle signaled the same.  

Some tacticals, like those at Neshaminy and Fort Branch, occur year after year and seem to evolve their own rituals of conduct.  Others, like this one, Recon III, and the last Loudon Heights, seem to end up in confusion and recrimination.  One commander observed that his men had been pushed back by the enemy repeatedly rushing within the safety zone.  Another commander would later state that several of his men had suffered flash burns and that the enemy would not give way.  With no scrïpt or umpires, on rough ground in thick woods, it could probably have turned out no other way.  

I had from the first sound of gunfire asked Bill to keep the HQ enlisted back with the Band.  Gathering them together, I went down the trail to Cedar Creek to scout out the trail back and ran into the 5th OVI, who had wisely withdrawn with the colors.  Just beyond, the Band discovered refugees at Cedar Creek.  I only spoke with these authentic civilians briefly – we didn't have much time for interaction because the Confederates were on the way. I thought the conversation went well enough, and I congratulated myself for at least not blowing their period moment, when suddenly, looking down, I realized that I had the @$^$&# walkie-talkie clipped to my belt the whole time. I just hope they thought it was a dispatch case, though that would hardly explain the antenna.

A delay occurred as the Federals moved off onto a side trail.  We were supposed to rest some distance down after setting up a grand guard, but about this time we found that we had no water – apparently the site had proved inaccessible to the planned tank.  Plenty of water was available at Belle Grove and the Turnpike, but many had already emptied their canteens.  Suzanne made a valiant effort to provide a resupply of bottled water, but this only went so far.  At length we decided to march back, water up, and return to camp before the afternoon’s scrïpted battle before the spectators.

Saturday Afternoon and Evening

It took some time to get the army, such as it was, out.  Bill and I brought up the rear and were further delayed escorting a lamed soldier.  I got to Belle Grove in time to refill my canteen and briefly check in with Kevin before the bulk of the army marched back.  Some took a shuttle to the camp.  The day was still gorgeous and, though quite warm, a strong breeze blew which was a relief after the humidity of the woods.  Once back at camp, I think I had about a half hour to stand down before we were to march out again.  Unfortunately, I had counted on a lot more time to go over the scrïpt – it was 14 pages long and had a lot of moving parts.

I don’t remember much about the afternoon battle.  I walked around with a radio and a big scrïpt and played a key role in adding to the confusion of the National Regiment and 3rd USV as they deployed east of the Heater House, moved further east, then west, then down the creek to the other side and up the hill toward the crest over which lay the Confederate army.  For a brief while I also helped confuse the 5th Ohio.

After maybe an hour of marching around we came over the hill to rout the Confederate Army, only to hear a series of radioed attempts to coordinate among and between both armies, and position water, ice, and EMTs to the men now beginning to collapse in some numbers from heat and exertion.  The Confederates never did rout, but fell back to the spectator line to water and ice up as soon as the fight ended.  I heard a bugle sound the cease fire, and messages to the same effect, but when the battalion I was with fired a volley to clear their weapons, the nearest Confederate battalion fired back, and it took several more minutes and some frayed tempers to finally end the action.

At that point it seemed (not quite correctly, as it later turned out) that everyone was unhappy.  The spectators saw very little of what battle there was, it didn’t come off as scrïpted, and people were tired, hot, and cranky.  Temperatures were in the 80s but felt hotter.  We’d all marched a total of some 6 miles, a lot of it over hilly and rough ground, and fought two actions, both ending in some frustration, at least for the Federals.  It was all the more dismaying because of the success of previous joint efforts like “Gates of Washington,” “Summer of ’62,” and Ballestone.   In retrospect, the day disappointed only when compared to expectations, but that was no comfort then.   Both commands agreed to scratch the evening planning session and the pre-dawn scenario of “Gordon’s Retreat.”  We felt that we could better use the time to let everyone water up, rest up, and get our heads straight for the Sunday spectator battle.  This disappointed some of our men who would rather have fought the cool, pre-dawn battle than wait for the temperature to hit 90 on Sunday afternoon, but we owed the people at Cedar Creek their spectator battle and, we thought, ourselves a little rest.

I forget most of Saturday evening.  After a little dinner I enjoyed the musicale put on by the Federal City Band, Camp Chase, and the 6th New Hampshire, playing in rough rotation.  Tattoo was sublime, but not much later I lay down and passed out.  They tell me that Taps was especially beautiful that night, marred only by the sound of snoring in the AAG’s tent.

Sunday

Again I rose at first light, this time feeling considerably the worse for wear, but a cup of coffee brought me around.  After reveille some folks began to leave, or at least pack up, but all of them– heavy campers as well as campaigners – on their own initiative carried their goods to the rear gate and loaded up there.  No one tried to drive into camp.

After consulting with Kevin Air, I prepared one Special Order for an officers’ meeting to plan the upcoming battle.  I prepared a further Special Order commending the ladies of the Mifflin Guard for services to wounded soldiers – a young man had come into Head Quarters earlier with a lip hugely and painfully swollen from a probable spider bite.  His comrade had found no one in the activities area and thought I might know what to do.  I did, and got a Benadryl from the vivandier/EMT with Mifflin and some ice from the Band, and the lad made it back to the ranks in time for the battle.

In the meantime Sergeant Wilson received the morning reports and prepared the consolidated return.  The adjutants made various efforts to account for turnover, but the total “for duty” was:

Federal forces at “Down the Valley,” Sunday, 17th June, 2007
Unit Officers Enlisted Aggregate
Head Quarters 3 4 7
Band (FCB & CC) 0 17 17
National Regiment 5 54 59
Mifflin Guard 4 26 30
1st & 2nd USV 5 40 45
3rd USV 6 37 43
Artillery 1 14 15
Total 24 192 216

The numbers are again problematical – some soldiers appeared after roll call on Saturday, so that day’s numbers were probably understated.  Some soldiers left after roll call on Sunday, so the above may be overstated.  There were also mathematical errors at all levels of reporting.   Very roughly, we lost about 10% of our strength.  Maybe not so bad for Father’s Day.

What Sergeant Wilson may have lacked in mathematical ability he more than made up in the cleverness of the “Remarks” column.  By the Band, he noted “Unusually healthy and active.”  Other notes included “Deserted, presumed in Boston,” and “Officer last seen puking.”  It was all very amusing and I have preserved the whole set of documents, neatly bound in red tape pending Wilson’s Court Martial.

I prepared one last Special Order, for the Camp Chase boys, who late Saturday came up with the idea of drumming someone out of camp.  I got a detail from the 3rd USV (28th Mass, God bless 'em) for four soldiers and a Rogue, wrote out the sentence (no, I didn't have time to do a Special Order for the detail), and read it, then accompanied the group to the edge of camp, where the musicians continued on to parking. I'd never heard the Rogue's March before – it's really a jaunty little tune (check it out at:  http://www.geocities.com/cwfifedrum/schedule.html ). The Rogue and his friends went back to camp, the former bearing souvenirs in the form of the Special Order condemning him for theft from the Company Fund and the board we’d hung around his neck.  Kudos to the 1st USV for the barrage of apples.

At the officers’ meeting before the battle of First Winchester we adjusted the scenario and scrïpt to account for our losses and compressed the field of play to mask the shrunken size of our formations.   Back in camp the regiments prepared, and I had the honor to be present as the 1st & 2nd USV held a joint parade and safety inspection with the 3rd, all wings of the hobby together as one.  To me, that alone was worth everything.

This time the battle went pretty much as planned, Mifflin and the Nationals brigaded on the left, the two USV battalions on the right, the artillery in the middle.  The Federals did not have very far to go; the Confederates had a short march, but on our right had a steep and rough final approach.  There was quite a bit of firing, a fair amount of movement, and pretty realistic distances.  In the end the Federals collapsed as the scrïpt demanded, the brigade on the left took massive hits with the remainder routing.  The 1st&2nd USV largely fell where they stood, the 3rd took hits, broke and ran, and a small party staged a fairly dramatic surrender from a hollow obscured from the Confederates till the last moment.  At one point I drew my sword as if to stem the rout, but it was only to try to detour some fellows away from Martorelli’s battery as they pulled the guns back.  It ended in handshakes and a general feeling of “all’s well that ends well.”  Only the spectators – hundreds of yards away at an acute angle – were disappointed.

After helping to attend to a heat-afflicted Confederate, Doug Dobbs and I turned to go back to camp across the pasture.  A Killdeer staggered in front of us, then abruptly took off in ragged flight.  We watched, then Doug said, “Look – I’ve never seen this before.”  At our feet, under a rough teepee of dried grass, was a nest with four small eggs.  I don’t know what amazed me more – those fragile eggs, or the thought of the battalions of brogans that had just missed them.

Hungry as we were, we left them for their mom to return to.  Maybe we’ll see the kids at September Storm.

Mike,

Ander's productions have a very good track record concerning authentic, well scrïpted, battle scenarios. Do you have any idea what went wrong on Saturday?

I understand that"Murphy" attends every event!    

Regarding Saturday's scrïpted battle, I think it proved that sometimes when you push the envelope it tears.  So much had gone right at previous events, that we probably took some things for granted.  In addition, hurdles that might not have posed much difficulty on their own proved too much when combined with other challenges.  For example:

1.  The scrïpt:  The scrïpt for First Kernstown was great in concept.  It called for action to start in the distance to the far left of the spectators, then gradually move closer and closer and conclude with a dramatic Federal charge and Confederate collapse right in front of the activities area.  To show this, however, required 14 pages.  I don't have the scrïpts from TTGW and S062, but those for Ballestone ranged 5-7 pages.  In the case of Ballestone we also got those out to participants in advance.  But that proved logistically undoable at DTV.

2.  The briefing:  Usually this happens right before the battle and includes all officers and senior NCOs, plus anyone else who wants to know.  This time, because of the tightness of the schedule for Saturday, we held the briefing Friday evening.  This left about a 20 hour gap between the time we went over the scrïpt and the actual battle.  Plus, because it was Friday evening, a lot of key Federal staff couldn't make the walkthrough.  For one of our battalions we got one senior enlisted man; for another, the back-up to the adjutant.  Both, I think, hadn't done this before and may have had problems remembering their complex roles or finding the time to discuss them.

3.  Battle management:  On the Federal side, Kevin Air, Doug Dobbs, and I had radios and were attached to different portions of the army.  In my own case, it's an open question as to whether I helped or hindered the scenario.  We had messages flying among ourselves, between ourselves and Chris, and between everyone and the support staff.  At one point -- since we weren't sure what page we were on -- Kevin asked Chris if we were on "3", meaning page, and someone broke in on the line to say "no, we're all on channel 2", referring to the radio.  

4.  Compressed schedule:  The morning march and tactical took longer than anticipated, so there was no real time for a pre-game conference on the Federal side to address challenges posed by 1-3 above.  I can take credit for this, too, because I delayed my return to camp to attend a medical issue that was already in good hands and, when I did get back, I needed to rest, which brings us to...

5.  Heat and fatigue:  The temperatures weren't bad but it was the first warm weather event for all of us, and if you barely broke a sweat going up Sitlington Hill in early May, you might have forgotten what humping up and down the hills at Cedar Creek in June would be like.  The effect hindered our ability to meet the timing and coordination challenges of the scrïpt and, as we got people actually collapsing toward the end, forced last minute changes that further gummed things up, not to mention sparking a few medical messages that pre-empted attempts to command and coordinate.

I won't say that everything that could go wrong did go wrong, but there was enough negative synergy to kinda muck up my day.

Interestingly enough, not everyone saw it that way.  Some fellows who had come out from Ohio to play the 5th OVI (and who actually had a kind of boring, static role) were really impressed with the effort that went into the scrïpting and coordination, and actually enjoyed the outcome.

Be that as it may, there are several factors, some built-in, that should help us avoid these problems at September Storm:

1.  For the scrïpts, we really will try to get them distributed to command staff on-line before the event.  The homework will help, especially as we continue to try to keep some inventiveness and creativity in the scrïpts.

2.  The schedule is such that we will be able to have the usual walkthroughs right before the battles, starting Saturday, when everybody should be there.

3.  Battle management:  I will try harder.  More importantly, we plan to have horses for key command staff.  We will also have a cavalry troop that knows their business, including that of couriers.

4.  Schedule:  Still tight, but with several hours between battles and more familiar distances.

5.  Heat and fatigue:  September can be hot, but by that time we'll have had all summer to get used to it.  Also, marching distances will be much shorter and there's lots of shade at the Boonsboro site.

With all that, we will still have challenges.  Numbers could run to three or four times as many as previous events.  In and of itself that's a challenge; when you consider that many of those folks will be new to this kind of event, that's another.  Still, most of the leadership and cadre are veterans now, and I could tell from just casual interactions at DTV that they get it.  In fact, one of the most positive takeaways from DTV, was the extent to which my pre-event worries proved groundless because of the professionalism I saw and cooperation I received from unexpected quarters.

Sorry to run on, but then I do.  ;)

Although Kernstown wasn't the greatest Battle with Buglers.....you could have used Bugles to cue a unit's movements. We routinely follow scrïpts with cavalry, artillery, multiple infantry units... and start moving them by scrïpt, with the bugle providing the impetus.

Unfortunately, for many others, usage of bugles is not routine......

Oh Well....

We had two buglers available for the battle (in addition to Jari's group, who we relied on for camp calls); I think the CS may have been limited to young Mr. Dixon.  

I wish we had been able to make better use of them -- there's a point of diminishing returns with the radio, plus the fact that even if you have it "just for emergencies", simply having it leads you to use it.  On the other hand, the distances involved for that particular scenario, and its complexity, really worked against confidence in the bugle option.  But probably the biggest reason we didn't use buglers was because that too would have required some coordination on prelude calls and timing, and we didn't have the time.

I'll take another run at it with September Storm.  If we get the scrïpts out far enough in advance and get a good feel for how many bugles will be there, I'd much rather work that way than with the radio, for a whole range of reasons, not least of which is that it's more period, and why go through all the frickin' bother of "authenticity" in every other respect but that?

If it's any comfort, getting the period clerking up and running is an uphill struggle, too <g>

Cupcake,

An older practice that has lost momentum these days was to have the buglers along for the walk through, and have them sound the calls at appropriate locations.  This worked well on several levels, and could be used again.

Good idea.  I'll include musicians in the orders as mandatory participants for the walk-throughs -- I know I can do at least that.

My mania for writing things up stems in part from a desire not to lose knowledge.  So much of what we do rests on the lore of mortals who move on, and a lot of folks in the hobby have moved on.  

On the clerking side, I discovered fairly early that there were folks who had been laboring in the same field for decades and had enormous knowledge, but had never written much up.  Hence "School."

The other part of my mania for writing things up is just mania.

 

Another item that used to be a big help was a small leather bag (about like the ones we used to keep toy marbles in as kids)with painted pieces of small wood (3/8" square and maybe 1" long) to represent the manuver units during the walk throughs. Just squat down, lay out the handful of pieces, and one has an instant "sand table" to explain what is supposed to be happening. IMHO, joint walk throughs worked a lot better than Side A and Side B doing their own thing.  It's a lot simpler than a ream of full color printed Power Point slides.

You are right, a lot of the proverbial batons get dropped between generations.

Good period signals can be a big help too. This year, at Neshaminy, modern commo between myself and the Federals died on Saturday and some stuff went to mayonnaise. On Sunday, one of my signal people galvanized and went over to the Dark Side. (Blue)  It's amazing how fast good signalers can send and receive messages.    

Biggest issue-

folks reached the "screw it" level in the heat and exhaustion, and things unravelled- sunday went liek clock work again

Lessons learned, and properely documented.

Next step, finshing SS scenarios so I can get them out to folks

C