Hope For the Hobby at Hope’s Campaign
AAR by Pvt. M. A. Schaffner
Co. ‘BSS’ 16th Michigan VVI

About 150 reenactors, roughly half union and half confederate, pre-registered for the tactical at the “Hope’s Campaign” site outside Elizabethtown Pennsylvania the weekend of September 25-27, 2009.  The site comprises more than 350 acres of private land, the owners of which provided it gratis, so that the fees would go to Brittany’s Hope, a private foundation dedicated to helping special needs children worldwide.

Reasonable people might question whether the whole 150 would show up, given a forecast of rain Saturday afternoon into Sunday, but as it turned out a number of folks signed up as walk-ons, including four Brady Sharpshooters – Mark Maranto, Andy Scanlon, Bill Wilson, and myself.  When finally assembled, the forces numbered about a hundred on a side.  

The Confederates had a nominal three battalions headed by Chris Anders.   On the Federal side, we had two “divisions,” each actually containing the equivalent of about two companies.  The first division, under Ron Palese, included our mounted cavalry – about eight men and women, half of them officers (I think I saw a major, two captains, and a first lieutenant, as well as a first sergeant and a corporal) – and three or four companies of infantry, totaling perhaps sixty men.  The second division, under Frank Ruiz, included the Liberty Rifles, probably the largest company on either side, with 25-30 men under 2nd Lieutenant Tom Scoufalos and 1st Sergt. Paul Boccadero.  Reinforcing them were a half dozen soldiers of the 14th Brooklyn, and Brady’s, the latter reinforced by two Berdan Sharpshooters, Rick Chapman and Tom Feeney.  Overall Federal staff consisted of Colonel Courtney Abel, AAG Matt Kraybill, and AIG Dave Wilson.  I was happy to see that the adjutant of the second division was none other than Bill Watson.

On the whole we had a lot of staff officers, but the event site consisted predominantly of thick rocky woods split up by a stream, and an old rail cut.  On Saturday both the staff and the highly-officered cavalry would prove very valuable in providing command and control for tactical elements widely dispersed over the rough playing field.

Be that as it may, Bill Wilson and I felt pretty valuable as part of the limited stock of privates on hand Friday afternoon.  We arrived from Arlington at around three, registered at the big barn, and pitched our A-tent next to Ruiz’s headquarters.  The rest of the afternoon we spent socializing with new arrivals and getting reacquainted with our friends from Berdans.  It was a beautiful early fall day and the sunset was especially pretty.  Clouds covered the sky by nightfall, which didn’t bode well for contradicting the forecast, but did keep temperatures comfortable for Friday night.  

Around eight o’clock, as I contemplated turning in, a bugle sounded “attention” followed by “officers call.”  As senior private of the sharpshooter contingent and a naturally curious fellow, I accompanied the second division staff to the barn for a conclave with the Federal command.  Col. Abel conducted the meeting and provided both housekeeping details and an overview of the operational theory of the coming exercise.  Reveille would be at 6:30 a.m. and action would begin at 8:00 a.m.  In an attempt to keep the event from degenerating into an hour and a half long slugfest, the first moves would consist of reconnaissance by both sides.  Patrols would scout the terrain and report by written message to the commanders.  Pickets would be set out and expected to send back intelligence.  Units could expect to encounter civilians and would be graded on the quality of their interaction.  Units would probably also be rotated on and off the field, but men would be well advised to go out with full canteens and keep food in their haversacks.  The event would stay live till 10 p.m., then pick up Sunday morning, again at 8, ending at noon.  Fighting could occur anywhere except in the fixed camps, the small area around the barn, and the sutlers (as it was, I think the only sutler was colloidian artist Tod Harrington).  And that was pretty much that, or at least as much as I wrote down.

As the night passed, more and more troops drove in and set up by the headlights of their vehicles, except for the Liberty Rifles, who hung around the barn for a while before marching off to bivouac in the woods.  I went to sleep and pretty much stayed that way till around 5:30, when I got up to get the fire restarted.  By reveille I’d had my coffee and breakfast, and the morning report went in on time by 7:30 showing four present for duty and three expected (in the “with leave” column).  Two of the three showed up at 8:00: Brady’s captain, Mark Maranto (as sergeant) and rifleman Andy Scanlon.  Our third Berdan remained MIA.  Since we were supposed to go live, Mark and Andy had time only to throw their knapsacks in the A tent and accouter up.  But at least we had a reinforced cell and someone other than myself in charge.

Right at 8:00 our cavalry left camp for a reconnaissance and perhaps half an hour later the rest of the first division, all infantry, followed them.  I don’t know where they went, but I assume that the job of the first division was to find and fix the enemy in place, because the job of the second division – as I heard it in the ranks – was to sneak out to an area called “the Ardennes” and prepare a redoubt.  Here we could either sucker the enemy into attacking us at disadvantage or, if the signs were right, sally out to help the first division beat them elsewhere.

As it was, the second division set out around 9:00 accompanied by Colonel Abel, AAG Kraybill and AIG Wilson.  The 14th Brooklyn was initially in the van, followed by the LRs, with Brady’s in the rear.  Considering how most tacticals go, I was quite happy in the rear, but it seemed a mistake to put zouaves with bright red clothing in the forefront of anything other than an obvious decoy.  After marching a few hundred yards this thought seemed to penetrate the collective consciousness of the Federal command, and the order was reversed, with Brady’s taking the lead as we entered the woods and crossed the creek.

I’ve always thought that tacticals were pretty exciting until the shooting started, and this early part of the event seemed enjoyably tense as we stalked through the underbrush keeping an eye out for wascally webs.  I had thought to bring a pair of field glasses but soon realized that they were useless when the woods limited every line of sight what I could see perfectly well with the naked eye.  

About 9:30 we spotted Confederate cavalry.  We all took cover, but as soon as we began moving forward again they reappeared and opened fire on the LRs as the latter double-quicked to get out of view.  Brady’s deployed as skirmishers to drive the horsemen back and we advanced cautiously over the field, firing a few shots and receiving a few in return.  Most of us could see that there were no more than two or three of the Rebels and – as is often the way in tacticals without OCs to assess casualties – they’d be content to count and shoot us as long as we’d let them.  So I tried the old Brady’s tactic of calling out specific shots – “You in the blue-gray coat – you’re dead!”  That sort of thing.  On one level, this is offensive yahooism:  the only thing that differentiates it from screaming “I SHOT YOU!” is that there’s no implication of offense taken, only of a certain smugness at having shot the other fellow before he noticed you.  I should add that the telescopic sites Bill Wilson and I have make this game a lot more fun for us.  Not only can you tell what the other fellow is wearing, but you can wait till you see him look at you before you pull the trigger, and you can gauge the shot’s effectiveness by their expression immediately afterward.  As I’ve said before elsewhere, they still don’t take hits, but knowing they’ve been killed slows them down a little.

A few more shots and volleys of derision served to push the Confederate cavalry back, and Brady’s again went to the head of the column as we marched through the woods toward the road to Elizabethtown (Market Street).  Rick Chapman and I formed one pair (a telescopic rifle and a Sharps make a good combination for scouts, by the way), and we were briefly detached as rear guards and flankers, but ultimately the whole half dozen of us ended up where the forest road opened onto a field next to Market Street.  Here we set up a picket post under the genial and sage oversight of Adjutant Bill Watson while the LRs busied themselves engineering some works a couple of hundred yards to our rear.

Now followed a good two hours of intermittent boredom and excitement.  Sergeant Maranto and I made a quick scout of the field and found that three roads exited it to parts unknown.  With half a dozen men we couldn’t cover them all, so Maranto posted us back where we could both observe the exits and exit ourselves if too many Rebels popped out.  Bill Wilson and Tom Feeney took position on the far left, Mark and Andy in the center with Bill Watson, and Rick and me on the right.  On two or three occasions the cavalry popped out, but we chased them off each time with a few shots and yells.  Then a handful of infantry appeared, but we sent them off too.  Finally, shortly before noon,  three cavalrymen rode out into the field, followed at the double-quick by five Confederate sharpshooters.

They had a good hundred yards of open ground to cover but since they weren’t looking at us I guess they thought we were shooting at someone else.  Wilson and Feeney fell back on Maranto and we all fell back a few yards into the cover of the dense woods along the road we were to screen.  Adjutant Watson sent a quick note back to second division and the appearance of a few LRs – or the impenetrability of the terrain – halted the Confederate flanking manuever.  They were then left to face us, and our Sharps, scopes, and annoying vocalizations.  The cavalry couldn’t hide their horses, so they soon fell back, leaving their five sharpshooters to make the best of the situation.  These fell back to our edge of the woods where three of them all tried to take cover behind one tree.  Working around the other two, Tom, Andy, Mark, and Bill Wilson flanked them on the left, while Rick worked around their right, and I entertained them from the front.  Wilson told me later that he had a good view from behind their position; he told them himself while he was shooting at them.  Bill Watson joined us in taunting the poor fellows and we began interspersing our shots with dog barks and other animal noises; it was pleasantly reminiscent of the time I’d served in Watson’s Company I at Burkittsville portraying the 4th Vermont, who were known for imitating barnyard animals on the skirmish line.

After about ten minutes the Confederate sharpshooters gathered together in a group, got up, and ran back whence they came.  A few moments later I looked behind the tree they’d defended and saw the underbrush beaten down where they’d tried to take cover, and just a handful of cartridge papers to illustrate their reluctance to raise their heads to return fire.  We’d held our ground and felt pretty good about it.

We had a few other interactions with our sharpshooter counterparts, comprising equal parts parleying and invective, but they were old friends from the CVG so there wasn’t anything vicious in it.  Except that I shot their officer a couple of times when he was waving a handkerchief to talk.  But I think he survived.  During our little parley he noted that “You have one mouthy little fellow on your side.”  I admitted it was me but, on further thought, it could have been one of the Bills.  

But, as all good things must end, so did our work on picket as a Confederate force of about two companies debouched from the woods and came at us through the field.  Adjutant Watson tried to have us fall back gradually, making the enemy develop their strength, but they didn’t have to develop much to take care of a half dozen rifles.  Plus, we’d fired enough over the course of the morning that fouling and misfires began to be a problem.  Nonetheless, we did what we could and reloaded as fast as we could while hopping to the rear.  By the time we got back to where the LRs had been constructing “works” they had a platoon there and we quickly scurried behind the cover of the combination abbatis and stickfort.

For several minutes it seemed like a dicey situation.  I estimate we had maybe 30-50 Confederates against about twenty of us, and some of us had to replenish our upper tins and try to clear fouled weapons.  But the Confederates stopped to fire a few volleys from the road.  It seemed pretty odd, actually, to stand in the open in a closed formation against works, but the thought that we weren’t facing their A Team made me, at least, feel a little better.  They attempted a charge, yelling their yell, but Watson encouraged the men around him to yell back, and Brady’s served out its typical ration of catcalls.  The Confederates halted, fell back to the road, and then began to retreat whence they came.  Rick and I were sent to the road to keep an eye out lest they should return, and we could see that they’d only gone back a little ways to regroup.  At this point a company of the first division showed up and immediately went into action, followed shortly by a second company and their staff.

For my part I was happy to see them all go so I could sit down and grab a bite to eat.  The Federal attack seemed to be successful, at least in that it cleared the field again and Bill Wilson was able to take our canteens and get us watered up.  The clouds grew thicker and the air felt a little cooler – or maybe that last was because I was finally just sitting down and not hopping around burning powder.

But that didn’t last either.  Soon after Bill came back with the water the entire first division returned, with the commander announcing that they were going back to camp to have lunch.  I assumed this was coordinated with the overall commander, but apparently not.  The idea of being left to face perhaps all of Anders’ force was not pleasant to contemplate.  Every other tactical I’ve been in against Chris he’s had at least a 50% numerical advantage and, really, I’m tired of being his bitch.  A few moments later Watson came onto the road and told us to get ready.  We were going off to find the enemy and “kick some ass.”  He meant theirs, but I admit to being less than sanguine about our prospects.

Second division assembled on the road, marched off to the field next to Market Street, then into the woods on the trail from which the enemy had emerged, first taking a few moments to remove the blockade they’d placed.  Brady’s brought up the rear, which seemed a good place to be if we walked into an ambush of overwhelming forces, which seemed likely since Chris had to know where we were and we weren’t being very quiet.  It was early afternoon and maybe we all just wanted it over with.

The LRs split into two platoons, one of which wheeled off to the right in skirmish formation.  Soon shots rang out through the woods and their line extended left in front of us.  The 14th Brooklyn had gone on ahead and apparently were heavily engaged.  As Brady’s marched up behind and then on the right of the second LR platoon, we received orders to deploy and advance up a rocky wooded slope to the railroad cut.  Between the rough terrain and the morning’s exertions, this proved easier said than done, but with lusty cheers from the LRs and a few “I’m too old for this sh*t” from Brady’s and the staff, we scrambled over the rocks and along deer trails through the brambles, reached the top of the hill, and began firing on the Confederates on the other side of the cut.

I have no clear way of describing what happened next.  We got orders to extend to the left, and did so until the intervals between men approached ten paces.  Firing continued on our right.  Firing broke out on our left, and then the enemy appeared in our rear.  I was busting two or three caps for every round that went off, and sometimes firing a double load – 120 grains from a .50 caliber rifle over the echo chamber of a deep railway cut sounds pretty neat, by the way, except to the person pulling the trigger.

As the line of the LRs contracted into a circle more or less reminiscent of Custer’s personal troop at the Little Big Horn, I began to expect the worse.  Lieutenant Scoufalos ordered his men to fire in retreat.  I observed that we had nowhere to go.  I don’t know if he heard me but he halted his platoon and had everyone load.  Then First Sergeant Boccadero observed that the men in our rear were not that numerous.  Indeed, the entire wave of Confederate sharpshooters had rather more enthusiasm than depth.  With other opponents their aggressive gamble might have bagged us all, but the LRs weren’t buying it.  Scoufalos had his men fire two volleys (they were in a single line, so he improvised by having the ones fire, then the twos).  Boccadero ordered his men to charge, shouting “Give it up, Johnny!” and more forceful expressions.  Scoufalos ordered his men to charge – I accompanied them for several yards, yelling, happy to see the backs of the enemy, when I remembered that this wasn’t my unit and returned to my position to fire another token shot or two across the rail road cut.

A few minutes later the LRs began to return to the position – not driven back, but with captive Confederates in tow.  The LRs had fought the entire morning with their packs on their backs but still ran down the enemy attempting to retreat down the rocky slope.  Scoufalos’ men brought back three or four, Boccadero brought back more, including the sharpshooter officer I’d conversed with earlier, still others came in from the right.  The last prisoner came in escorted at sword point by none other than AIG Wilson.  I lent him that sword, and I must say it’s the best work that field and staff officer’s sword has done to date.

Firing continued as we gathered our harvest of POWs but the forces on the other side of the cut suddenly gave way and I saw our cavalry appear in their place.  With a huge yell the entire Confederate force pushed around our right and to our rear and I wearily went back to shoot at them.  But after the first shot I realized they weren’t attacking – they were trying to get the hell out of there.  We let them get.

We slipped down the slope into the railroad cut with our prisoners and, upon safe delivery of the 14th Brooklyn, who’d been captured by the other side, released our own catch.  After a few minutes standing in the newly arrived rain, we marched back in the direction of camp, the sharpshooters leading the way, singing one of our war songs – in this case, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”  We capped off, then Sergeant Moranto ordered, “Brady’s – Rest!” and we broke formation and went back to our canvas.

The rain intensified.  The organizers opened the barn for those without canvas, the LRs taking the upstairs and the CVG the downstairs.  Hostilities were called for the day and night – it was about three in the afternoon but it seemed much later.  I got our fire going again while we debated whether it was worth Mark and Andy putting up canvas in the rain based on the dubious prospects of a resumption of hostilities in the morning.  Ultimately they decided to leave, as did our friends from Berdans, but not before Tom gave us the rest of his bacon and Rick helped us share it.  

I had a chance to get down to the barn a little later.  Many of the LRs had headed into town for dinner and the CVG seemed to have captured a secret cache of Yankee pizza and Yuengling.  The general atmosphere was one of elation, for no particular reason except that everyone had had a helluva workout and a good event.  I ran into Chris Anders on my way back to second division and he conceded that, while he thought they’d got the better of the morning, we garnered the laurels for the afternoon.  All’s well that ends well, I say.

As it turned out, a number of folks did leave that night, probably from a combination of fouled weapons, no ammo, fatigue, and the feeling of having already had a pretty full event.  And in the morning the organizers decided to call the event anyway – the rain fell heavily most of the night and although it seemed to have broken up into showers, it had left the field of operations one big bog interspersed with rainslicked rocks.

This will, of course, open the organizers to criticism.  But two thoughts came to my mind.  First, what did the 20th Maine do the day after Little Round Top?  Second, I thought again about this quote from Theodore Ayrault Dodge and the difference between what reenactors call campaigning and what real troops thought:

 December 16th [1862] “Col. Peissner, who thought we were to move in the rain and darkness (he has never been on campaign before) kept sticking his head out of his blanket & calling ‘Adjutant!’ to send me here and there.  He is forever doing something unnecessary, which he calls ‘obeying orders,’ i.e. we had orders to march at 6 A.M.  But as it was so dark and rainy, the reveille was not sounded from Head Quarters as usual.”

As I thought about it on the ride back to Arlington, I realized that I had not heard a single complaint from anyone about any aspect of the event, including the decision to end it early.  The troops present represented a pretty wide range of the hobby, from bivouacking campaigners to canvas caravanserai mainstreamers, but they had followed each other’s orders and cheerfully fought side by side.  The CVG and the LR provided a big chunk of the manpower and come as close as any decently-sized units I’ve seen to the appearance of real civil war soldiers – demographically, as well as in terms of material culture.  Beyond that, they know their field craft and have the stamina to fight day-long battles in full equipage.  And then there were guys like me.  

But it didn’t matter; with everyone pulling their weight to the best of their ability, we’d had a good event that everyone across the spectrum of authenticity enjoyed, which provides an apt title for this AAR.  With that kind of spirit, next year should be even better.

Mike,

We ended up on the CS side having about 65 rifles in one battalion and a detached company, as an fyi.

Pards,

Chris

...and a few privileged military gents got some interaction with some local "Virginia" civilians... they really ought to watch out for that g'hal in green with the hatchet :P ...and skirt facings make a WONDERFUL place to conceal quinine packets.. as do skirt pockets, large-ish rag dolls, and slat bonnet channels.
Of the 4 times we were stopped and questioned by the military, our foodstuffs remained unmolested... they must have been too full of pizza. ..your loss gents, I make terrific fruitbread.
 ...and to the gents in the loft.. thanks for being gentlemen about us civies sharing your space.
It was indeed a fun event that I enjoyed a great deal. It gave me a better understanding of what living in a contested military area might have been like for the civilians caught in the cross-fire of two opposing forces.

Hope’s Campaign – After Action Report – Sept. 25-27, 2009 – Co. A, CVG as Alabama Sharpshooters, 1864

Arrive around 10 pm Friday Sept. 25 with Pvt. Birney – Sgt. Martin had established camp and had things in good order – men from Co. A were serving on picket duty when I arrived – woke up around 5:30 am Sept. 26 – 6:00 am Sgt. Martin conducted role call and completed the morning report – rations were soon issued and we cooked them immediately – 7:00 am Company Drill after the arrival of a couple of stragglers – total company strength was 16 officers and men – Drill went very well and men of such dedication required little instruction. They were well prepared for the task ahead of us. Officers meeting – maps and instructions were provided. Major Dangel informed us that they enemy was near and in superior numbers. We would have our work cut out for us so all men were encouraged to take extra ammunition. The Battalion was formed around 8:30 am. The company from the CMF and our cavalry was deployed while the rest of us waited for orders.

For the most part the next couple of hours were uneventful. We sighted three civilians across in the tree line across the low ground to our east. Some occasional musket fire could be heard in the distance to our south. Eventually we were ordered to move to a more concealed position in the woods near the stone wall to our South. Co. A sent several patrols out with little luck in finding the enemy. I followed Sgt. Martin’s patrol South along the railroad cut. Sgt. Fisher led a patrol to the east. Lt. Casella led a patrol along the western road that ran south parallel to railroad cut. Eventually all patrols were reunited with the battalion except for Lt. Casella’s group. They had found the enemy position and were keeping them under observation. The rest of the battalion retired to a rocky defensible position near one of the intersections on the railroad cut. While at this position our forces detailed and searched two civilian ladies.

Soon our cavalry arrived with information about the enemy’s positions. We planned to advance on their position with the CMF launching a diversionary attack from the south east and the rest of our forces coming in from the north. The sharpshooter company led the advance of our northern attack in conjunction with the cavalry. As came near the enemy position we came under fire from Federals hidden in a group of pine trees to the south. We lay on the ground for a few moments and then charged to a safer position in our front where we linked up with Lt. Casella’s patrol. I ordered the entire company forward as skirmishers to clear the way for the rest of the battalion. We swept through the pines and drove the enemy back with Co. C advancing along the road to our right. The enemy fell back to their breastworks. I attempted to move around their flank in hopes of eventually finding troops from the CMF but received orders to fall back. Some of Lt. Casella’s men almost managed to link up with the CMF, but they did not have the numbers to make much of a difference. As we fell back to Co. C’s position, some men of the 14th Brooklyn tried to attack their rear. Just as they were about to capture our surgeon we charged in and ended their attack taking four of the “Red Legged Devils” prisoner including a lieutenant.

We had a few moments to rest and as Lt. Casella’s men returned, the Yankee’s made their counter-attack. We attempted to hide in the grass of the open field where the fighting first began, but many of the men just would not keep their heads down. The looked like a bunch of gophers with their heads popping out of their holes. As I was ordering them to get down and trying to reload my rifle, Capt. Stevenson threw me to the ground and save me from a Yankee bullet. Capt. Stevenson should be commended for his heroic act. The Federals were sweeping the woods to our left. We were in an exposed position and fell back quickly. Once our left flank was clear we moved by the left flank into the woods and prepared to defend our position and screen the retreat of our battalion. However, the Yanks did not come. Once our battalion had passed we fell back to our position at the railroad cut intersection. Canteen details were sent and the men took a break for rations and to refill their cartridge boxes. The sharpshooters took positions to the east of the intersection, so we could observe the open fields to our east. It was an elevated position that also gave us a good view of the woods across the railroad cut to our rear.

Soon we heard some firing coming from across the railroad cut to our rear. I observed a Federal company advancing on the cut through the woods. I ordered the sharpshooters north and then west across the railroad cut at the double quick in order to get on the enemy’s flank. Sgt. Martin was doing a good job having our fire platoon fire into the enemy’s flank while maintaining a concealed position. Lt Casella and second platoon captured two Federal privates and attempted to move on the enemy’s rear. My hope was that we could divert the enemy’s attention long enough to allow the rest of our forces to attack the enemy’s front across the railroad cut, but I had failed to make the rest of the battalion aware of our actions and intentions. The Federals realizing that they could be surrounded decided to attack Lt. Casella’s platoon, and many of them including Lt. Casella were taken prisoner. First platoon fell back to the stone wall in our rear and prepared a defense. Orders from Major Dangel instructed us to retire across the cut and rejoin the battalion. We had suffered heavy loses and only half of us made it back to the battalion. Col. Anders ordered us to the front once again. This time he needed us to spearhead a charge out of our defenses. We led the battalion out but at the price of two more men from my company. There were only five of us left and served as the rear guard. We tried to slow the enemy down, but they moved on us quickly with their superior numbers. Our battalion attempted to charge the Federals in hopes of regaining the initiative, but it was too much to ask of our small battalion.

That ended the events of Sat. Sept. 26. As we made our way back to camp it began to rain. We moved most of our stuff to a nearby barn and spent the night there out of the rain and catching up with old friends. Pvt. Amend had to leave after Saturday’s fighting because of a knee injury that he had prior to the event. I was impressed that he stuck it out as long as he did. The rest of the men stayed for the night. On Sunday morning Pvt. Kochara had to leave because of a family emergency, and Pvt. Latham could not stay. Pvt. Valle also decided to head for home. That left 10 sharpshooters and 2 officers for duty on Sunday morning. Sadly many of the other companies had left because of the weather, and our company was the strongest available to take the field. We were willing to go back into the field again but the organizers and leaders of both sides agrees to cancel Sunday’s activities and let everyone go home to their wives and sweet hearts early.

Overall I was pleased with the event. I sort of wish we had done some fighting on Sunday, but I know my family was glad to have me come home early. I was very proud that so many of Co. A, CVG remained through the night and were willing to go back into the field on Sunday. I was impressed with our drill Saturday morning. I feel our NCO’s are getting better at running patrols. We could do a better job of concealment in tall grass, but overall company performance was very good.

Respectfully,
Capt. John A. Wyman
Co. A, CVG

Thanks for the detailed AAR you all. I enjoied reading them.

Eric G.

Captured one feral after a pretty long sprint. Never ask a man to surrender if his rifle is aimed in your direction. Lesson learned by feral number two. Then captured by feral number three, escorted back at sword point. So took out two yanks and I was captured once. Good odds. Anyway, good site. I was glad to get an idea of what the ground and terrain was like for a proposed adjunct next year. And for a mainstream tactical, I really enjoyed it.

Sweet William,

Welcome to the Common Ground Forum. Around here we require everyone to sign their given names to their posts. The easiest thing is to just set up a signature block.

I am a law-abiding citizen. Thought I set my signature when I signed up, but will see to it. Thanks. Bill Birney, Columbia Rifles

Ya gotta watch out for those feral Federals, ya know......
They gots sharp teeth, just like that bunny.