Battle of Unison 150th, October 26-28th, 2012

[Tom Craig]

Hey All,
I've posted this event before in 2011, but it's high time to post it again here in the new year. For those of you who attended the Hodge March, this event is in spirit the same event, and uses the same ground, plus some. If you've been, you know what it's like, if you haven't been, you owe it to yourself to get there!


Battle of Unison 150th Anniversary, Unison, VA October 26-28th 2012

What: Portrayal of the battle that took place in early November 1862 as the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia began their movement toward Fredericksburg. The battle featured cavalry, artillery and Federal infantry and was a running fight that took place over roughly 20 miles of Loudon County.
For the infantry the event will feature a march of roughly 12 miles, along 100% of the original route, with skirmishing at the original locations. For Federal cavalry the march will be approximately 20 miles, again with skirmishing along the way in the same locations that the battle was fought 150 years ago. For those of you who participated in the Hodge preservation march back in the early 2000's, this is the same ground. There are also roles for a limited number of authentic civilians.

When: October 26-28th, 2012
Where: Unison, VA (Loudon County, near Middleburg)
Who: Hosted by the 1st Maine Cavalry, the Valley Light Horse, 1st Maryland, and the Unison Preservation Society
Preservation Component: All proceeds from the event after expenses will be donated to the Unison Preservation Society for the preservation, maintenance and acquisition of original battlefield land.

Communication: The event will have a website up in the next few weeks. The event also currently has a Facebook page, under 150th Anniversary of Unison.

Standards: Detailed standards will be posted, and those standards will be strictly enforced.

Registration: Registration will open once the website is up. As of right now the Federal infantry is limited to 100, CS limited to 60, and Federal and CS cavalry is unlimited as long as you can meet the standards.

General Info: This event will be a semi-immersion event. The community of Unison is nearly pristine, but there are modern power lines and cars do come by occasionally. The march will occour on dirt roads, and cross country, but there is one half mile stretch of pavement. The community of Unison will be hosting their 150th celebration of the battle, and we will put on a skirmish for the townspeople on Saturday mid day, otherwise this is a non-spectator event. This event is a serious marching event, and is not for the first time campaigner, or those who are out of shape. The temperatures will be cold at night, and there is a very real potential for adverse weather, but due to the nature of this event, it will go on rain or shine, so be prepared, and bring your "A" game.

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Tom Craig]

To let you all know, the website for the event can now be found at: http://unison.mainecav.org Much more will be added over the coming weeks, and registration will open shortly.

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Tom Craig]

In this current age of "Adjunctivitis" there are still some actual stand alone quality events still happening. You can find registration for one of them here: http://unison.mainecav.org

Registration is open. All proceeds will be donated directly to preservation. This is a campaign event on original land, NOT a static event or an adjunct to a mainstream gig.

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Tom Craig]

There are a bunch of great events coming up this Fall. I invite you all to take a look at the Unison event. It's a mobile campaign event and march on entirely orginal battlefield land, with the proceeds going to historic preservation. The event will feature moving and fighting on the original ground, in pretty close to real time, and will also feature civilian interaction.

Registrations are rolling in, and it will be capped at 100 Federal infantry, so get in while the gettin's good. Registration and more info can be found at: http://unison.mainecav.org or on Facebook.

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Tom Craig]

People are starting to look to the Fall, and there is no better time to start thinking about hitting up one of the few stand alone EBUFU events that is happening in the east this year.

So far for Unison, beyond what has already been described, we have:
US infantry hosting a Lorenz company formed by Rob Hodge and friends-the 95th NY, one of the infantry units engaged, were armed with Lorenz
The CVG looking to provide two companies in blue
Bill Birney and the Washington Guard looking to raise a company

On the CS side, the Liberty Rifles are going to forming the basis for our dismounted troops portraying Stuart's troopers who spent most of the battle on foot, behind the cover of stone walls...the walls are still there BTW, and we'll be using them.

We have AGSAS doing a full on immersion event at historic Welbourne Manor, and the civilians from the Liberty Rifles will be portraying the citizens of the village of Unison, with access to the period Methodist meeting house that was used as a hospital at the time of the battle.

And oh yeah, you get to march and camp over pristine original battlefield in just about real time...how cool is that?

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Doughboy]

We did a walk through yesterday with command and there was palpable excitement from everyone. This promises to be one of the outstanding events of the 150th cycle. All dirt/gravel roads. Fields are unchanged from days of the battle. About 6 miles of hard marching with constant skirmishing along the original route on the original battlefields.. Beautiful land that promises hard riding for two days. Plenty of citizen interaction in the actual towns along the way as well as at the Welbourne manor. This land is absolutely pristine and is where the actual events occured! If you ever wanted to truly relive a mobile event as it happened, don't miss this one. Smack in the middle of Virginia horse country. You must be capable of making the march while fighting all the way. This will truly test your mettle. If you think you are fit enough and can meet the guidelines register now. We particularly need CS cav and infantry. Hope to see you there!

[Jalaco]

Mr. Craig,
What groups are going as CS infantry? I'm with the CVG normally, but prefer to do confederate. If any of the groups doing CS infantry would be willing to take in an extra, I would love to join them and attend.
And forgive me if this was already stated, but I didn't notice if it was. Is there a recommended number of rounds? I'm just wondering how many I'll need to roll in the wake of MMM if I go to Unison.

Thanks!

[Doughboy]

Some CVG will be there. You are welcome to come Jeff Hayes is CS infantry cmndr. Go to website and contact John Sweeney.

[Doughboy]

We determined 60 rounds min. should be sufficient

[Jalaco]

I'll check it out and get in contact with him. Thank you for the info!