Cedar Creek, 2009
AAR by M. A. Schaffner
Pvt., Co’y ‘BSS’ 16th Michigan VI

Most of us spent the week before this year’s Cedar Creek following the weather forecasts.  This probably wasn’t the best idea, since they grew increasingly worse, calling for rain most of the weekend, mixed with snow Saturday night.  Between the effect of the forecasts and the actual weather – which got pretty bad to the north and west of Middletown, Virginia  – attendance fell well below expectations for the event as a whole.

But not for Brady’s.  Although the weather stopped Pete Simpson and friends – our intrepid long-distance Michigan contingent – the expected locals all turned out:  Mark Maranto as 2nd Lieut., John Teller as 1st Sergt., Brian Whitaker as QM Sergt., Audrey Scanlan as corporal, and privates Geoff Golliver, Kevin Kelley, Dan Lewandowski, Josh Mordin, Ben Ogle, Schnapps, and Bill Wilson.

Despite our having attended the last dozen or so annual Cedar Creek reenactments, USV headquarters apparently weren’t expecting us and directed Geoff to set up on the line of the 3rd USV (the “campaigner” regiment) rather than with our traditional hosts in the 2nd USV.  Since our numbers have never been much above a dozen, the option of having us set up on our own as the sharpshooter battalion has never really come up.  In any event, because the 3rd USV had decided that, in light of the weather, canvas was the better part of sanity, our traditional double-fly field kitchen and company street of A-tents and well-insulated dogs did not unduly stand out.  

And, anyway, the 3rd USV seemed happy to have us.  With many of their units coming from well to the northeast, including New England, the weather cut their own numbers in half.  As small as our company was, it made a difference.  As a bonus, sort of, I agreed to help with the clerking and borrowed the 2nd USV’s template for a consolidated morning report from Sergt. John Kubilewicz, their regimental clerk.

By the time Bill and I arrived, Geoff had already got most of his outfit established, but we picked up some additional firewood and then put up our own A tent, along with a dog tent for Dan and whoever else might need it.  On second thought, though, with the temperature falling into the forties and rain spitting down now and then, I convinced Dan not to make this his first night in a dogtent, but to stay in his camper instead.  Reluctantly, he agreed.  I then snagged the bedding I brought for him and added it to my own stash after converting the better part of a bale of straw to nesting material.

As the result of the above, while nearly everyone else farbed out with a modern sleeping bag, I went hardcore, using only period sleeping materials, to whit:  two feet of straw, an oil cloth, three wool blankets, a gum blanket, and an overcoat.  Historians may dispute whether the average Federal infantryman at Cedar Creek carried a heavier or a lighter load than this but, perhaps needless to say, I didn’t lose any sleep over the question.

After attending to the bedding Bill and I got in the truck, hit parking, and headed over to sutler row to scope things out.  Most of the vendors were still setting up and a number of items that I had intended to purchase as necessities proved unavailable or maybe not so necessary after all.  I did pick up a couple of containers of percussion caps but less than I planned as I needed the one remaining arm to carry them with and my last leg to hop back to camp on.  En route we passed through the Confederate camp, visiting Greg Renault at CS headquarters and Generalissimo Bill Rodman with the ANV.  

Back at camp we discovered another key factor in combating the cold:  Geoff’s cooking.  Friday dinner included spicy grilled chicken breast, sauted potatoes, and a salad.  In the immortal words of QM Sergt. Whitaker, all these ingredients were available at the time.  

The few light showers ended and we had none of the expected rain on Friday night.  As it was not unusually cold for the Valley this time of year, I slept pretty snugly.  I woke just a bit before dawn, got the fire restarted, and, by the light of Geoff’s lantern, prepared the morning report for Brady’s.  I also ruled out a consolidated form, using the 2nd USV’s as a model and my pressed-paper spectacle case as a crude straight-edge.  All of this took a bit longer than I expected because I couldn’t get the top of my India rubber screw top inkwell off.  I tried, and Lieut. Maranto tried, but in the end we had to wait for Bill to wake up and come looking for coffee before I had access to my ink.  

While the weather had so far held up, it had indeed affected attrition.  The 3rd USV had more than a hundred registered for the event, but the consolidated return accounted for only 55, which included 11 Brady’s.  

Still, the weather didn’t diminish our appetites, and Geoff rose to the challenge with bacon and eggs and biscuits.  After glutting ourselves and attending to KP, we fell in for company drill, brushing up on our skirmishing.   Shortly after, we fell in with the 3rd for battalion drill, combining with Captain Peacock’s company to make one of three in the reduced regiment.  Undaunted by the dropoff in numbers, Colonel Buffington enthusiastically led us through a number of iterations of deploying from columns at half distance to the front, either side, and rear.  We also practiced the deceptively simple march in line of battle.  It’s not the sort of thing I would ordinarily describe as fun, but Scott obviously enjoys reading the manuals and trying to figure out how they work on a real field with, more or less, real soldiers.  He also makes that thrill of discovery contagious.

Not long after we returned from battalion drill a light rain started, and not long after that we got called out for a USV brigade dress parade.  It was pretty impressive to see all three battalions formed up beside the cavalry and artillery, but given the meteorological conditions, we were happy enough to get done with it fairly quickly.

A complication arose soon after the parade.  John Teller had stepped back to second sergeant in order to allow Peacock’s orderly to serve as first sergeant for the combined company, but the latter had taken ill and we needed a new first sergeant.  John had to go home for a domestic emergency (literally a shaggy dog story, but all turned out well), so Mark asked Josh to step up.  Josh jumped at the chance to boss us around – or to not to have to clean his target rifle, I’m not sure.  In any case he became first sergeant for the battle.

What can I say about the actual “battle”?  Last year the Saturday battle had apparently been intricately scrïpted and in part perhaps because of that was utterly bolloxed up by the reenactors.  This year it seemed that the organizers decided to simplify things:  on Saturday we would represent the initial Confederate push back of the Union forces; on Sunday we would do the Union counterattack.  With the Belle Grove site off limits again, this confined the reenactment to a few hundred yards in front of the spectators, from the edge of the Confederate camp to the ridge overlooking the Heater House from the Union side.  Pushing in just one direction with a minimum of twists and turns would reduce the chance of anything going massively wrong.

We set the bar lower, but still managed to trip on it.  The 3rd USV held position on the far left of the Union infantry; our cavalry deployed further to our left.  Beyond them were the spectators, the far right flank of those just perpendicular to our line.  Other Union troops were ahead of us on our right – we were told they would be engaged first, we would go forward to support them, and then we would be driven back.  In the event, the Confederate cavalry began moving – early, I think – and traversed the entire front of the spectator line before the Union cavalry came up to engage them.  By this time all the cavalry had passed behind our left.  Confederate infantry followed and, after a little to-ing and fro-ing, we began to retreat.

It seemed that most of the battle took place out of site of most of the spectators.  Still, we had fun.  Rather than retreating in the standard, face-to-the-front “reenactor shuffle,” Scott had us mix it up a bit.  To get across the creek in front of the Heater House we twice broke to the rear to rally on a new line marked by the field officers.  Once in that position we shifted left and then refused our flank by using the maneuvers we’d practiced earlier.  Finally we deployed as skirmishers by the left flank to screen the continued Confederate advance.

Despite spending what seemed an unconscionably long time just watching the Confederates flank us, and what seemed an hour replenishing the upper tins in my cartridge box, I fired more than forty rounds from my Sharps.  I had several misfires, but no more than I thought acceptable given the rainy conditions, the vagaries of the Armisport Sharps, and my experimentation with some new types of blanks.  The battle lasted perhaps a half hour – certainly no more than half as long as it has in the past.

Normally Saturday night at Cedar Creek provides a great opportunity for visiting friends and acquaintances in both camps.  But with the rain I decided to stay close to home.  After spending an hour and a half cleaning the Sharps, I partook of Geoff’s chili dinner (with a delicious peach chocolate cobbler dessert), then hung around the fire till I felt like going to bed.  Captain Peacock’s first sergeant had got worse, so the captain and the other three men, who had all driven down together, had to take him home.  Josh had only come for the day, and John needed to go, so we faced reduced numbers and a long, cold rain.  I did not doubt that the organizers would continue with the Sunday battle, but I began to wonder how many of us would stay around for it.

Surprisingly, the rain stopped at around three in the morning and dawn brought clearing skies and wind.  We breakfasted on French toast and sausage, then took advantage of a brief relaxation of the “no cars in camp” rule (some were allowed just inside the entrance to the Federal camp) to get much of Geoff’s stuff loaded so he could finally fall in for a battle.  The rest of us packed our own gear up as well, just leaving the tents standing to dry in the wind.

The morning report showed that the 3rd’s numbers had dropped to 30 so we formed in one company with two platoons, the first being the 28th Mass. and the second being Brady’s, augmented by four fellows from other units.  In the absence of both Josh and John, Ben stepped up to serve as first sergeant.

The afternoon battle was an attempt to portray the counterattack of the Sixth Corps at Cedar Creek.  It took part in the same section of the field as the previous day’s event and pretty much involved just a straight advance for three to four hundred yards down the hill to the creek and up the hill on the other side.  This time Scott’s innovation was to have the 3rd USV attack through a series of “Indian rushes” – we advanced in line of battle to the creek, fired a battalion volley, then, on the command to reform on the other side, charged yelling across the creek, routing one line of Confederates largely by voice.

On the other side of the creek we fired a few more battalion volleys, went prone, rushed forward to fire another volley, went prone again, etc.  It made for less firing and I felt a little apologetic to Geoff who was behind me in the ranks with his own Sharps.  I’d asked him not to fire but we ought to have moved him to the front.  In any case, while the battalions on either side of us advanced in standard-issue reenactor phalanx formation, getting well ahead of us, when we did rush forward, the hell-for-leather charging and yelling had a disproportionate impact on the opposition.  Our third or forth rush resulted in a whole CS company (or small battalion – one can never quite tell and they did have their colors with them) reversing arms and giving up.  First platoon took care of them while Brady’s reassembled on the opposite side.  We got ready to go in again, but the bugles called out Cease Fire, then Church Call and Taps.  If anything the battle had been even shorter than Saturday’s.

At this point both sides were supposed to reassemble for a “pass in review” in front of the spectators but, in the confusion of the immediate aftermath of battle, we ended up clearing our weapons and returning to camp instead.  I’d had some trouble with my experimental rounds and between that and most of the fire being confined to battalion volleys, fired perhaps half as many as the day before.

Brady’s talked a little afterwards about the difference between falling in with the 3rd and the 2nd USV.  The 2nd USV has always been a friendly host to us at Cedar Creek and inevitably sends us out as skirmishers at the beginning of the engagements, letting us fill our role as light infantry as best we can thereafter.  In contrast, with the 3rd we were kept in battalion formation Sunday, and most of Saturday’s battle.  It’s hard to honestly say whether we fired any less than we would have with the 2nd – both battles were shorter than usual and our normal Cedar Creek role of running around and firing whenever we can find a gap among the phalanxes has its own drawbacks.  We have friends among the 3rd as well, and had a good time both learning and practicing some new tactics.  It’s something for us to talk about for next year, though, along with how to make sure the USV command knows we’re coming in the first place.

Funny, I spent almost the entire event holed up in my tent. Bronchitis really sucks when it's forty degrees and raining! This event gave me the opportunity to remember just how much I love my US Army extreme cold weather sleeping bag.

Thanks to the Weather Channel, the First Battalion, ANV lost about two-thirds of our members. I am happy to say the core group, who showed up, stayed until the end of the event. We fell in with the Seventh Battalion, ANV as their biggest company.

We had two women from other ANV Battalions, who fell in with us. They did an excellent job. Both could easily pass the ten foot rule and spent the weekend, wet, cold and miserable along with the guys. If all the "Galtroops" were like these two, it just wouldn't be much of an issue.  

--Last edited by Bill on 2009-10-29 13:33:11 --