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ITW/Recon III Civilian Report
A group of 10 women and children made up the civilian component of ITW. This was a 24-hour first person immersion event for which we developed backgrounds and stories relating to the 3 families we portrayed. This was my first immersion event, and was for several others in the group as well, but I was very impressed at how all our preparation came together and worked!
The Woolfrey and Tapp families started the weekend at the Woolfrey farm. The Dobyns family traveled to us and ran into some problems crossing through the Union lines along the way. We spent the weekend nursing the sick Mrs. Woolfrey, getting searched and treated suspiciously by Yankee soldiers, trying to help at the field hospital that ended up being moved, providing what aid we could to a wounded Union soldier, and developing a relationship with the hospital steward only to have him taken from us suddenly by some evil Georgian cavalrymen!
The highlights of the weekend for me were:
- As it was my first refugee-type event, I enjoyed the challenge of packing light to move whenever we needed to, sleeping under the stars (or in that blessed shed on Saturday night in the rain), and living off very little.
- 24-hour first person interaction was very gratifying and I think we all did a good job sticking with it!
- Friday night being searched by several Yankee soldiers and the fear of having to leave the property and not knowing where we would go.
- By far the best part of the weekend was our group’s interaction and relationship with Hospital Steward Briggs. We started the weekend very suspicious of this Yankee soldier, but he soon proved to be our protector and champion throughout all the searching and threats on Friday night. We got to know bits and pieces about his life back in Maine and grew to really like him.
Saturday afternoon we were searched and interrogated by Yankee cavalrymen, who after finding nothing of interest stole items from Mr. Briggs. They framed us by telling Mr. Briggs that we had stolen from him. Of course, he knew that we hadn’t, and came to tell us about it. As we were just sitting down to share a meal with our friend, Confederate cavalry came upon us. We were so happy to see them, as we had seen no Confederates all weekend. They paid us no mind, but focused right in on the hospital steward. They emptied his pockets and cornered him by the shed. Despite our pleading and begging for his life, they shot him dead right in front of us all. I have to say, the death of Steward Briggs was one of the most emotional first person events I had ever been through and actually cried real tears over his dying body. We heard his last words about his wife, prayed with him, and in honor of his loyalties, one of our ladies sang the Star Spangled Banner. It was quite a moment.
The downsides of the weekend for me were:
- The water and “privies” were quite a distance from where we were camped up by the farmhouse. We made do, but I think many of us drank less water than we should have simple because the walk was such a distance.
- A condition of our helping with the hospital was that we would be provided with bacon and hardtack to eat. Because the hospital scenario did not work out, we were left with only some slabs of bacon. Some of us had brought a bit of supplemental food, which mercifully was not confiscated by soldiers, but without that we would have been very, very hungry. In reading other reports about the event, I am certain that the soldiers ate better than we did. It certainly added to the experience, but it did become somewhat of a health issue by Sunday for some.
- I would have liked to have had more interaction with soldiers. I realize that plans change, but with the hospital relocated and no soldiers around our area, we were left with a lot of down-time. Thankfully we were visited by both cavalry groups and appreciated the interaction with them.
I can’t even say the rain was a downside, because once we got situated in our leaking, but mostly dry shed, we passed a very comfortable night!
Thank you to Linda Trent, who put in so much effort to make the civilian side of this event such a success. I know that she worked hard on the heals of “Struggle for Statehood” to guide us all into making this experience work so well. Linda also kept us going all weekend both in terms of first person and watching out for our safety (both fictional and real). Thank you also to Noah Briggs for some phenomenal first person interaction and drama. The weekend would not have been the same without you! The organizers of this event are also owed our thanks; they provided great logistics for getting us to and from our site and gave us the opportunity to spend some time on very historic and appropriate land.
Once I recover from the trauma of so many tick bites and this chest cold that set in on the way home, I’ll start looking forward to the next Recon!
Jessica Craig
(formerly Margaret Tapp)
A group of 10 women and children made up the civilian component of ITW. This was a 24-hour first person immersion event for which we developed backgrounds and stories relating to the 3 families we portrayed. This was my first immersion event, and was for several others in the group as well, but I was very impressed at how all our preparation came together and worked!
The Woolfrey and Tapp families started the weekend at the Woolfrey farm. The Dobyns family traveled to us and ran into some problems crossing through the Union lines along the way. We spent the weekend nursing the sick Mrs. Woolfrey, getting searched and treated suspiciously by Yankee soldiers, trying to help at the field hospital that ended up being moved, providing what aid we could to a wounded Union soldier, and developing a relationship with the hospital steward only to have him taken from us suddenly by some evil Georgian cavalrymen!
The highlights of the weekend for me were:
- As it was my first refugee-type event, I enjoyed the challenge of packing light to move whenever we needed to, sleeping under the stars (or in that blessed shed on Saturday night in the rain), and living off very little.
- 24-hour first person interaction was very gratifying and I think we all did a good job sticking with it!
- Friday night being searched by several Yankee soldiers and the fear of having to leave the property and not knowing where we would go.
- By far the best part of the weekend was our group’s interaction and relationship with Hospital Steward Briggs. We started the weekend very suspicious of this Yankee soldier, but he soon proved to be our protector and champion throughout all the searching and threats on Friday night. We got to know bits and pieces about his life back in Maine and grew to really like him.
Saturday afternoon we were searched and interrogated by Yankee cavalrymen, who after finding nothing of interest stole items from Mr. Briggs. They framed us by telling Mr. Briggs that we had stolen from him. Of course, he knew that we hadn’t, and came to tell us about it. As we were just sitting down to share a meal with our friend, Confederate cavalry came upon us. We were so happy to see them, as we had seen no Confederates all weekend. They paid us no mind, but focused right in on the hospital steward. They emptied his pockets and cornered him by the shed. Despite our pleading and begging for his life, they shot him dead right in front of us all. I have to say, the death of Steward Briggs was one of the most emotional first person events I had ever been through and actually cried real tears over his dying body. We heard his last words about his wife, prayed with him, and in honor of his loyalties, one of our ladies sang the Star Spangled Banner. It was quite a moment.
The downsides of the weekend for me were:
- The water and “privies” were quite a distance from where we were camped up by the farmhouse. We made do, but I think many of us drank less water than we should have simple because the walk was such a distance.
- A condition of our helping with the hospital was that we would be provided with bacon and hardtack to eat. Because the hospital scenario did not work out, we were left with only some slabs of bacon. Some of us had brought a bit of supplemental food, which mercifully was not confiscated by soldiers, but without that we would have been very, very hungry. In reading other reports about the event, I am certain that the soldiers ate better than we did. It certainly added to the experience, but it did become somewhat of a health issue by Sunday for some.
- I would have liked to have had more interaction with soldiers. I realize that plans change, but with the hospital relocated and no soldiers around our area, we were left with a lot of down-time. Thankfully we were visited by both cavalry groups and appreciated the interaction with them.
I can’t even say the rain was a downside, because once we got situated in our leaking, but mostly dry shed, we passed a very comfortable night!
Thank you to Linda Trent, who put in so much effort to make the civilian side of this event such a success. I know that she worked hard on the heals of “Struggle for Statehood” to guide us all into making this experience work so well. Linda also kept us going all weekend both in terms of first person and watching out for our safety (both fictional and real). Thank you also to Noah Briggs for some phenomenal first person interaction and drama. The weekend would not have been the same without you! The organizers of this event are also owed our thanks; they provided great logistics for getting us to and from our site and gave us the opportunity to spend some time on very historic and appropriate land.
Once I recover from the trauma of so many tick bites and this chest cold that set in on the way home, I’ll start looking forward to the next Recon!
Jessica Craig
(formerly Margaret Tapp)
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