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Re: Marmaduke's Raid AAR
Well we survived and no one got too hurt. Did I hear rumblings about rocks??? Oh, sorry I grew up with those rocks I thought the terrain was normal.
We had a scary (what I consider scary) when the wagoner almost tipped his trailer in a ditch with all his oxen and wagon. I didn’t think we would ever get the oxen out of that trailer on Friday but we did. Ike did a number on the trails I had spent a year clearing. It took all day just to get one of the wagons in and I was astonished to see the second one on Saturday. Thanks go to Gery Barker and Doug Harding for getting their wagons in and helping make the civilian side of the event. I’m glad Paul Arnold and his dozen mighty men pulled their gun in on Sunday. Those guys lugged that gun for two miles to get it up on that hill Saturday afternoon and they fired it like wild men. I’m glad Terry attacked our position Saturday otherwise there weren’t any patrols we could see and the whole weekend would have been pretty uneventful. Brian Hicks was full of good ideas about scouting parties and helped make me look much better or at least clearer than I really was.
My (I use this word loosely) “company” commanders led their men over difficult terrain on some pretty difficult scouts. Herb Coats, Mike Comer, and Mike Kupsch thanks for keeping the men in your squads together.
Tom your scouts were about as historically correct as they could be staying in the fort.
The ending didn’t work out quite the way I planned it but then the similarities between that and what really happened were pretty uncanny. Even in 1863 William Physic Zuber didn’t really care to charge around the next bend so he just went back to Patterson to find the rest of the army there. So the army pretty much dispersed the way it had back in ’63 just earlier than I wanted it to.
Terry without you I would have been worried about running an event, and two armies you took the federal army out of my hands. Thank you for that.
Thanks go to my Dad (who will never see this) for letting us set up on his land. As well as the Corps of engineers which was land that I don’t think we used enough. As well as the neighbors I didn’t know we had who let us cross their land and use their wells.
Raffle winners will be contacted via e-mail so we can hook them up with their prizes. The account is not balanced yet but with matching funds Ft. Patterson a.k.a. Ft. Benton will get about $3000 and “Ft. Barnesville” in Ellington will get around $400. If you did the IOU plan on raffle tickets please pay up.
In all I think things went well but I’m going to need time to allow my hair to grow back.
Glad you enjoyed the evnt.
Mingo Swamp
1863
Dear Sir:
As ordered I crossed the Black River and scouted the roads with a local farmer named T.J. He had been misplaced by the federal occupation of his home and was very willing to show me the trails. Because of recent storms we found parts of the road to be impassable and out of concern for our supply wagon we cleared what we could.
Returning to the River I found Captain Kupsch and placed him in command of the battalion and organize them as they crossed the river and ordered him to cook three days’ rations all foraged from the local population. I then set out to find out the condition of our wagon. When I arrived I found the wagon on a dangerous spot in danger of tipping over and the oxen in danger of falling. A small party of us were able to move the oxen to safety and right the wagon with much effort. I was half astonished that the animals could walk after the tumble they had taken.
I ordered our wagoner to meet us at the river crossing but hours later we still had not seen him and learned later that it took the whole day for him to move his wagon less than two miles. The recent storms had done much damage to the roads and he spent much of it clearing the way.
Once the wagon was on it’s way we returned to the river crossing and organized the men into a company and sent out last minute water details. This ground has been very rough on the animals and I found my command save one man dismounted from lack of forage, animals injured and drowned in the swollen river. Dismounted we proceeded up the Patterson road about two miles where we met up with our wagon. The poor man was exhausted after a tedious journey following a very rough road to our rendezvous point.
Shortly after we arrived at our bivouac at dark. Pickets were sent out but besides hearing very fait female voices in the distance nothing of circumstance happened all night.
Early on the 27th instant we awoke at 5 am after a short breakfast heading down the road about ½ mile until I felt contact with federal patrols was imminent. We traveled through the woods parallel to the main road for several hundred yards until nearly upon a group of civilians in the woods camping. We sent patrols forward but I was surprised to find no federals in the area. I sent two patrols forward to look for federals and continued to the civilians’ wagons finding them with several watermelons and sundry items. They informed me that a mounted federal patrol had visited them earlier that morning. Although the man had parole papers from Vicksburg the federals did not give him much trouble. Other civilians scattered as we arrived. Most of them were very hospitable towards us. Up to this time we occupied a rise in a stand of pine trees giving our artillery an advantageous position.
After the patrols returned I learned that there wasn’t a federal between us and the fort. Knowing we were very close to the federal fort we moved forward to occupy the tip of a ridge along the Patterson road overlooking a valley perhaps 600 yards beyond our former position. “Pratt’s battery” commanded by Paul Arnold did valuable service to the army moving his gun around. That mountain gun proved to be worth its weight as every man on the battery had to pull it nearly two miles to get it into position. Once in place we began shelling the fort. Even the enemy was surprised by their rate of fire. During a subsequent parley they thought we had two guns and even timed them at 17 seconds per shot.
We spent most of the day sending out pickets to various points only losing one man captured. However even direct sorties against the fort usually failed to get the federals attention. Around 4 pm our position was assaulted but the ground being good and our artillery hot at work we were able to push them off without too much trouble.
Earlier we formed a plan to make a demonstration against the federal fort and on hearing dinner call sent up a small force. Hearing the drums roll in their fort I knew we disrupted their dinner. We were followed back about 105 yards by their cavalry and had a trap set to capture them when one of the men on my right fired prematurely but evidently hit the Major’s horse and sent him spinning off the saddle. The surprise ruined we fell back to our position on the hill.
Sprits were good in camp that evening. Men sang, rested, and did guard duty. We pulled pickets up the hill that evening and the men slept on arms that night.
At this time I received orders from Marmaduke to surprise the garrison and capture it with all its men and weapons. We fired a shot with our artillery before advancing deployed to the right of the fort as skirmishers. Arriving at the top we found the fort abandoned save their cooked breakfast and a couple of men who were either captured or shot. Their sutler had been left behind either looting him or trying to pay him in confederate greenbacks. Capt. Reves company to our left just arriving at the fort. With some effort I reformed the company and sent them after the federals. Our skirmish was short. After climbing a few hills we pushed the federals off the first ridge and seemed ready to push the federals back when the entire left end of my line disappeared.
In turn the federals pushed back I found myself on the front line alone the federals pushing forward and one hand to hand encounter and my army dispersed, I handed my pistol to a captain of the company in our front and surrendered.
For all I know everyone made it back out of those woods and are hopefully living well in that snake infested, flooded, Mingo Swamp.
Frank Aufmuth
On to the Piney Woods
Well we survived and no one got too hurt. Did I hear rumblings about rocks??? Oh, sorry I grew up with those rocks I thought the terrain was normal.
We had a scary (what I consider scary) when the wagoner almost tipped his trailer in a ditch with all his oxen and wagon. I didn’t think we would ever get the oxen out of that trailer on Friday but we did. Ike did a number on the trails I had spent a year clearing. It took all day just to get one of the wagons in and I was astonished to see the second one on Saturday. Thanks go to Gery Barker and Doug Harding for getting their wagons in and helping make the civilian side of the event. I’m glad Paul Arnold and his dozen mighty men pulled their gun in on Sunday. Those guys lugged that gun for two miles to get it up on that hill Saturday afternoon and they fired it like wild men. I’m glad Terry attacked our position Saturday otherwise there weren’t any patrols we could see and the whole weekend would have been pretty uneventful. Brian Hicks was full of good ideas about scouting parties and helped make me look much better or at least clearer than I really was.
My (I use this word loosely) “company” commanders led their men over difficult terrain on some pretty difficult scouts. Herb Coats, Mike Comer, and Mike Kupsch thanks for keeping the men in your squads together.
Tom your scouts were about as historically correct as they could be staying in the fort.
The ending didn’t work out quite the way I planned it but then the similarities between that and what really happened were pretty uncanny. Even in 1863 William Physic Zuber didn’t really care to charge around the next bend so he just went back to Patterson to find the rest of the army there. So the army pretty much dispersed the way it had back in ’63 just earlier than I wanted it to.
Terry without you I would have been worried about running an event, and two armies you took the federal army out of my hands. Thank you for that.
Thanks go to my Dad (who will never see this) for letting us set up on his land. As well as the Corps of engineers which was land that I don’t think we used enough. As well as the neighbors I didn’t know we had who let us cross their land and use their wells.
Raffle winners will be contacted via e-mail so we can hook them up with their prizes. The account is not balanced yet but with matching funds Ft. Patterson a.k.a. Ft. Benton will get about $3000 and “Ft. Barnesville” in Ellington will get around $400. If you did the IOU plan on raffle tickets please pay up.
In all I think things went well but I’m going to need time to allow my hair to grow back.
Glad you enjoyed the evnt.
Mingo Swamp
1863
Dear Sir:
As ordered I crossed the Black River and scouted the roads with a local farmer named T.J. He had been misplaced by the federal occupation of his home and was very willing to show me the trails. Because of recent storms we found parts of the road to be impassable and out of concern for our supply wagon we cleared what we could.
Returning to the River I found Captain Kupsch and placed him in command of the battalion and organize them as they crossed the river and ordered him to cook three days’ rations all foraged from the local population. I then set out to find out the condition of our wagon. When I arrived I found the wagon on a dangerous spot in danger of tipping over and the oxen in danger of falling. A small party of us were able to move the oxen to safety and right the wagon with much effort. I was half astonished that the animals could walk after the tumble they had taken.
I ordered our wagoner to meet us at the river crossing but hours later we still had not seen him and learned later that it took the whole day for him to move his wagon less than two miles. The recent storms had done much damage to the roads and he spent much of it clearing the way.
Once the wagon was on it’s way we returned to the river crossing and organized the men into a company and sent out last minute water details. This ground has been very rough on the animals and I found my command save one man dismounted from lack of forage, animals injured and drowned in the swollen river. Dismounted we proceeded up the Patterson road about two miles where we met up with our wagon. The poor man was exhausted after a tedious journey following a very rough road to our rendezvous point.
Shortly after we arrived at our bivouac at dark. Pickets were sent out but besides hearing very fait female voices in the distance nothing of circumstance happened all night.
Early on the 27th instant we awoke at 5 am after a short breakfast heading down the road about ½ mile until I felt contact with federal patrols was imminent. We traveled through the woods parallel to the main road for several hundred yards until nearly upon a group of civilians in the woods camping. We sent patrols forward but I was surprised to find no federals in the area. I sent two patrols forward to look for federals and continued to the civilians’ wagons finding them with several watermelons and sundry items. They informed me that a mounted federal patrol had visited them earlier that morning. Although the man had parole papers from Vicksburg the federals did not give him much trouble. Other civilians scattered as we arrived. Most of them were very hospitable towards us. Up to this time we occupied a rise in a stand of pine trees giving our artillery an advantageous position.
After the patrols returned I learned that there wasn’t a federal between us and the fort. Knowing we were very close to the federal fort we moved forward to occupy the tip of a ridge along the Patterson road overlooking a valley perhaps 600 yards beyond our former position. “Pratt’s battery” commanded by Paul Arnold did valuable service to the army moving his gun around. That mountain gun proved to be worth its weight as every man on the battery had to pull it nearly two miles to get it into position. Once in place we began shelling the fort. Even the enemy was surprised by their rate of fire. During a subsequent parley they thought we had two guns and even timed them at 17 seconds per shot.
We spent most of the day sending out pickets to various points only losing one man captured. However even direct sorties against the fort usually failed to get the federals attention. Around 4 pm our position was assaulted but the ground being good and our artillery hot at work we were able to push them off without too much trouble.
Earlier we formed a plan to make a demonstration against the federal fort and on hearing dinner call sent up a small force. Hearing the drums roll in their fort I knew we disrupted their dinner. We were followed back about 105 yards by their cavalry and had a trap set to capture them when one of the men on my right fired prematurely but evidently hit the Major’s horse and sent him spinning off the saddle. The surprise ruined we fell back to our position on the hill.
Sprits were good in camp that evening. Men sang, rested, and did guard duty. We pulled pickets up the hill that evening and the men slept on arms that night.
At this time I received orders from Marmaduke to surprise the garrison and capture it with all its men and weapons. We fired a shot with our artillery before advancing deployed to the right of the fort as skirmishers. Arriving at the top we found the fort abandoned save their cooked breakfast and a couple of men who were either captured or shot. Their sutler had been left behind either looting him or trying to pay him in confederate greenbacks. Capt. Reves company to our left just arriving at the fort. With some effort I reformed the company and sent them after the federals. Our skirmish was short. After climbing a few hills we pushed the federals off the first ridge and seemed ready to push the federals back when the entire left end of my line disappeared.
In turn the federals pushed back I found myself on the front line alone the federals pushing forward and one hand to hand encounter and my army dispersed, I handed my pistol to a captain of the company in our front and surrendered.
For all I know everyone made it back out of those woods and are hopefully living well in that snake infested, flooded, Mingo Swamp.
Frank Aufmuth
On to the Piney Woods
Just kidding, that was just exactly what you should have done. :D We just walked in the door about 20 minutes ago, and I have to get some sleep. I'll write my AAR later this afternoon or tonight once I gather all my thoughts.
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