Thoughts on Manassas

[BrianHicks]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Despite the heat and carnival atmosphere (both of which I expected), I personally had a bully time. 'Twas fun to see some old acquaintances and meet some new pards. To the officers in Co.C, I say THANK YOU for looking out for all of us rank and file, from the ice to the decision to skate out early. I applauded the early exit as my flight back to CO would NOT have happened having to had stayed at the event site until mid-to-late afternoon on Sunday. Looking forward to Shiloh.

Mark,

We where pleased to have you with us! April will be another mega fest, but our regt. will twice the size of what we enjoyed at Manassas, and the Temps will likely be half what we endured this past weekend.

[Gawd Awful Lad]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

The three men who "stuck around" were F company men of the Liberty Rifles. Who were woken up to some pretty hard comments and having our fire put out when coffee was needed but pitched into cleaing up anyways. Who cares though, cause that was the best regiment I have ever been apart of.

[Marser]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Despite the heat and carnival atmosphere (both of which I expected), I personally had a bully time. 'Twas fun to see some old acquaintances and meet some new pards. To the officers in Co.C, I say THANK YOU for looking out for all of us rank and file, from the ice to the decision to skate out early. I applauded the early exit as my flight back to CO would NOT have happened having to had stayed at the event site until mid-to-late afternoon on Sunday. Looking forward to Shiloh.

[boreguard]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I meant to say in my last post that I was very proud of the officers...to a man. Great job Skip, Matt, and Pat. And to my fellow line officers I was equally proud of your performance. Three cheers and a Tiger to you all.

[boreguard]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

"These 150ths (as has been posted before), are about the only pace we'll ever get to maneuver as part of a full size Regiment, as part of a large brigade Brigade, and be able to look across the field and see our opposition, in line, filling our entire field of vision. We will not experience this at our campaigner events. " This comment made by brother Hicks can't be emphasized enough.
What we do is non-competitive when it comes to health, safety, and individual agility. I never look upon another person inability to participate and say they're soft, just as I hope someone won't use that same judgement on me. In 20 years of this hobby I finally met my own personal match. The decisions made were the right ones.

I'm marching forward to the next and will endeavor to give that one my best.

[elcid01]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I was praying Friday evening that the 8PM formation didn't include drill! LOL!!

Galen- yeah we needed to drill! Though when we were able to do some of the manuevers with out drill, in my opinion that impressed me even more on the capabilites of the men and leaders in the regiment! thank you!

[GWagner]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

On a different tone. This was the first big event my son Daniel had ever participated in (he had previously been to one other, much smaller, campaigner type event in far more accommodating weather). He survived, and is anxious for the next big show. These 150ths (as has been posted before), are about the only pace we'll ever get to maneuver as part of a full size Regiment, as part of a large brigade Brigade, and be able to look across the field and see our opposition, in line, filling our entire field of vision. We will not experience this at our campaigner events.

And a fine job he did. That stack arms was good after only a few tries. I wish we had had the time, and energy to drill Friday evening. We would have done much better on the field if we had. Having said that, I was praying Friday evening that the 8PM formation didn't include drill! LOL!!

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Mr. Hicks,

Well said...whether it's a campaigner event, or larger effort - tough choices get made. While not everyone may agree with those all the time, when the welfare of the men is considered paramount, I don't believe these decisions challengable.

The 2nd Miss. looked good, being deployed before the 4th Ala. Yall were sharp, your rate of fire was speedy, and your volleys were crisp.

Paul B.

[John5]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

My clothes skipped ripe and went straright to spolied!

Hahahahahahaha! That was the truth Parson!

[BrianHicks]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Caring for the men. Allow me to relate a personal, and tragic story. At one point in my previous life, I had the pleasure of serving as the SNCOIC of the Scout/Sniper School, 1st Marine Division. The last week of the 11 week course was 'Challenge' week. Five days of continuous missions, about 5 hours sleep aggregate, and two meals. After debrief on the final day, the men where ordered to stand down, and stay in the barracks for the next 12 hours (minimum) prior to to leaving for the weekend. We had one student (a Staff Sergeant) that disregarded this order, and chose to drive the 2.5 miles form Camp San Onofre to Camp Horno, where his Battalion (and his regular barracks room was). Just 2.5 miles, that's all. He never made it. It appears that he fell asleep, crashed, and was killed.

That was a horrid lesson for many of us at the school regarding how we take care of our men. Not only during an event, but immediately afterwards as well. Those whom have served at events with me (especially Piney Woods, BGR, Backwaters and In The Van) know that I am constantly walking the ranks inquiring as to the welfare of the men, looking men in the face, encouraging them to drink, remove their hats to let the heat out, etc. The same care and concern must be exercised on the final night of the event, with respect to who has the farthest to travel the next day, who stands picket duty that night, what have the accumulative effects of the marching, the heat, sleep and food deprivation had on the men who have the farthest to travel. These are all concerns that the leadership must consider. I applaud our Regimental Staff at Manassas for considering these issues, and for bringing their concerns to the Company Officers and allowing all of us to contribute to the decision making process.

On a different tone. This was the first big event my son Daniel had ever participated in (he had previously been to one other, much smaller, campaigner type event -Race to Knoxville- in far more accommodating weather). He survived, and is anxious for the next big show. These 150ths (as has been posted before), are about the only pace we'll ever get to maneuver as part of a full size Regiment, as part of a large Brigade, and be able to look across the field and see our opposition, in line, filling our entire field of vision. We will not experience this at our campaigner events.

[Johnny Lloyd]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

Company H had challenges from the outstart, but overcame them VERY well.

As you know, my boys mostly came from the upper Northeast and the Potomac Legion (Some of the far ones: Marc Averil from Maine and Bridger Zadina- all the way from Los Angeles!). Early on, the PL decided to support the 1st Minn. (that is fine) and that did detract from my recruiting efforts for a Confederate company at a 150th anniversary event. As you know, most hobbyists in the Northeast like to put on the blue, but grey is less popular for obvious reasons (it is the flip side of things in the South- go figure). I knew these challenges when I took this on.

Despite all of this, we still fielded 20 men in a company! Very respectable. The 13th NJ under Art Stone, Mr. Fabus, Mr. Eggleston, and Mr. Meisenbach did a wonderful job of being NCOs at the event. I haven't seen such competent NCOs since I was in the real military. I didn't have to ask for anything twice and everyone made sure to do leader checks on their men constantly.

That being said, being a leader in the field is not just a pretty uniform, but a state of mind and positive attitude amid adverse conditions of any sort. I tried to have all of this despite the physical challenges and so did everyone else- it was greatly evident that my men did so.

We didn't know each other from the start as priorly-constituted messmates, but we sure do now! I regret we didn't have the time to say a formal goodbye to everyone in Co H., but the movement out of the event was due to what has been priorly mentioned on this thread. I would have been fine with staying the night, but I obeyed my leadership's direction as did Co H. I also had my girlfriend, Joni, and the welfare of others in our company that I travelled with on the way up to the event to look after. I had to consider their opinions as well.

Thanks to Skip Owen and all of the staff that organized and led the charge. This wasn't easy, but you all made the magic happen again. Great Job!

To Co H: Thanks for allowing me the privledge of being your leader and trusting me with your well-being. We were safe, fun, and I think we all learned a little something along the way.

Huzzah!!!

[ktulu983]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

On a lighter note...

"I'm a bear!!"

my personal highlight of the weekend, that play made it all worth it! hats off to the boys of the LR for the fine performance!

[coastaltrash]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I am by no means sticking up for the organizers of this effort, but when you make a choice bases on the welfare of the men you take some level of responsibility for over the coarse of the weekend, you assume a job no one understands unless they fill those shoes. Might not make you the most popular SOB at division but who cares. Get passed this petty crap and focus on the 6th Ms or 15th Ia effort at Shiloh. All this crying sound like a sewing circle.

[IowaYank]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

The weather didn't factor into the 2nd Mississippi and us mounted escorts leaving early, it was the anticipated delay from leaving the event the next day.

[ajroscoe]

Re: Thoughts on Manassas

I saw the lads from the 2nd Miss on Saturday while commanding one of the company's in Craig DeCrane's Blackhat Battalion in the Cumberland Guard Brigade. Our battalion and Will Eichler's Cumberland Guard Battalion (1st Minn) traded some fierce volleys at close - but not unrealistic - ranges during the battle. I was very impressed by the style with which they all advanced - it was evident that everyone had spent a great deal of time and effort to make a superior impression. Well done to all involved. As to leaving early, I was there and stayed until the end, but I was told the heat on Friday was 115 degrees with a heat index of 133 and that on Saturday it was 106 degrees with a heat index of 120, and I can respect and understand the decision to leave. Thank you all for showing up and giving the impression you did. I just hope that the Iowans at Shiloh look even better, even if a little more orthodox.