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The Hunley Funeral Procession Report posted 5/6/04What a "Glorious Day" and what an Honor it was for Andrew Sevier and myself, David Loper, to march in participation of the "Last Civil War Combat Casualty Burial" since the War Between the States ended. The crew of the Hunley were laid to rest in Magnolia Cemetary in Charleston, South Carolina on the 17th of April about 3:00 in the afternoon. Andrew and I arrived a few days before the Funeral on Thursday
the 15th. The Funeral and Procession was not scheduled until the following
day but I must admit that the highlight of Friday, for me, was the
honor of The next day we woke early and about 6:00 we arrived at Magnolia
Thousands arrived after we did but our immediate concern was
who to The Citadel Bagpipes played and the 26th N.C.s' own fife and
drum band We saw nobody from our Battalion but we did meet with two
UDC ladies The Hunley Funeral was well organized and the weather could
not have I recently received the official number of participants from
one of the What a "Glorious Day" it was and what a Great Honor"
to represent the 3rd ARK Co. D
BATTLE OF CANE HILL at Bentonville The Missouri Battalion are a great bunch of guys. They took our challenge of "Rounders" to heart and pretty much "skunked" us.(if you know what I mean) Many, many people commented on how enjoyable the game was. Missouri was a good sport about their stinkin mascot Abe. Several times efforts were made to acquire that skunk. We tried just ripping it from its perch on Color Sgt. Sean Bell's shoulder. It was discovered that...it was tied there very securely. It was also discovered that they were willing to put up a pretty good scrap over that varmint! A special ops team was gotten together for a Saturday night raid. Young unmarried men were selected as there was a very good chance they weren't coming back. However our intelligence revealed that the skunk had been secreted away or was moved periodically...guess they took a page from Saddams play book. The raid had to be canceled. At Sunday's game their SgtMjr Gary Sutton had a death grip on the little black and white critter and efforts to "free" it were rewarded with some rather rough handling by it's guard. We were incensed and outraged when the varmit came on the field and "showed us his backside"! Our lovely oppossum-Miss Mary Todd was overwhelmed by the violence and the direction the game was taking and had a serious case of the "vapours"...as any lady would. For modestys sake she quickly had a "change of base" when it looked as if she would be required to kiss those detestable skunk lips of Abe's... she can hardly be blamed for that. The 1st Arkansas is looking forward
to the next time we can meet the MO. Battalion on the sporting
field...Cricket anyone?
posted 10/11/03 There is company that if we order as a group we can, of course, get a significant discount on a quality shirt. These shirts come with a CSA iron cross on the left sleeve as shown. As of now these shirts don't exist we are just testing the waters to see if there is enough interest.
Plus... listen to the old soldier recorded at one of the Gettysburg
reunions and his version of the Rebel Yell. CONFEDERATE MEMOIRS Here is a memoir of a Confederate soldier. It is a very interesting first-hand account of his war experience. He was in the 16th ARK. and in many Trans-Miss battles. "Before reaching my old company, a young man named Jones, some forty steps to the right and rear, called to me saying "Come here, here is General McCullough." He was lying full length on his back with a bullet wound in his right breast. A bit of white cotton patching, such as was used at that time in the makeup of cartridges for the Miss. or squirrel rifle, was sticking in the hole made by the bullet in his coat, which showed conclusively, that he had been killed by one of the Federal skirmishers from behind the fence, as some of their dead and wounded near the fence were armed with Miss. rifles" posted 9/9/03 IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK...TALKS LIKE A DUCK...ITS A DUCK We as reenactors, strive to do the best
impression we can. posted 9/18/03 posted1/14/4 Check this site out for authentic footwear and historical research. They also have knapsacks and leather wear.   posted1/9/4 The British Enfield rifle made history in the hands of the Confederate soldier between 1861 and 1865. Here is an article from American Rifleman from 1999 that goes into detail concerning the Enfields shipped to the Southern forces. READ THE ARTICLE-PDF FUEL TO THE FIRE"The men were good-sized, healthy, and well-clothed,
but without any attempt at uniformity in colour or cut; but nearly
all were dressed in either grey or brown coats and felt hats.
I was told that even if a regiment was clothed in proper uniform
by the Government , it would be parti-coloured again in a week,
as the soldiers preferred wearing the coarse home-spun jackets
and trousers made by their mothers and sisters at home. The Generals
very wisely allow them to please themselves in this respect,
and insist only that their arms and accoutrements being kept
in proper order." (Fremantle 1864: 155): |
 Apprehended!!! Two fearless 1st Ark soldiers bravely prepare to swoop down on a "unauthentic", sky blue trouser wearin @#$!!%&*! found attempting to soil the ranks with his farby attire. posted1/20/4 There is evidence the Trans-Miss soldiers wore lots of Blue including the trousers! The following is an excerpt of an paper written by historian Witt Edwards of the Oklahoma Historical Society. "Our soldiers were poorly clad and most of the time presented a motley appearance. So when we caught a prisoner we generally stripped him clean of his wearing apparel as we desired, they always being better than our own and placed upon him instead such of our own duds." "After the surrender they tooke all our arms and ammunition and stripped us of the necessary clothing." For many soldiers however, the thought of wearing Federal blue was unsettling so for want of going cold, they would try to "boil the blue out" of the cloth. But as the war continued objections to wearing the blue became less and less and the Southern army of the Trans-Mississippi took on a decidedly blue tint. Read the Witt Edwards paper on CSA uniforms in the Trans-Miss Army. 1st ARK Battalion will have to This link loads pretty slow so be patient. OLD WASHINGTON- JOLLIFICATION GETS OUT OF HAND!  I will not keep the camp up after Taps... posted 11/5/03 Parts of the Battalion attended the fight at
Ol Washington ARK. Our Col. and Lt Col were the over-all Comndrs
for the Federals on Sat. and CSA on Sunday. The 3rd Ark represented
the Battalion with its ranks enlarged to 30 or so. Elements of
the 22nd, 2nd and 7th were with the 3rd. and LA. as well. Now this is where it gets interestin'. It seems that when the Tavern group (already 3 sheets to the wind) got back to camp, they recharged their buzz by standing in a circle and passing a "jar" of authentic Arkansas white lightning around. So it wasn't very long until loud songs from that group were heard throughout the camp. I remember hearing..sea chanteys, and Dandy Jim and at one time even the Hokey Pokey! When there was even a small "lull" in the songs or stories someone would yell--"HATS" and everyone in the circle would take the hat from the man on his right!!! WELL..this "jollification" went on even after a deputy sheriff of the town complained and only stopped when the "shine" ran out. A Captain of the TMVI had had enough and approached the group in the circle..which by now were hanging on each other and he used some rather strong language to request they stop singing and go to bed. The SgtMajor of the TMVI attempted to identify the culprits...but the night was dark and the only one he said he recognized was Pvt Tom Morphew of the 22nd ARK. It is rumored that there were many, many stripes, bars, stars and wreaths in that circle as well! On Sunday morning bright and early the
SgtMjr had Pvt Morphew arrested and put in irons. Colonel
Blanco of the TMVI was very lenient in his punishment and decreed
that Morphew should" circle the camp perimeter twice carrying
firewood, in shackles and under guard" and " he must
SING out...I WILL NOT KEEP THE CAMP UP AFTER TAPS, I WILL NOT
KEEP THE CAMP UP AFTER TAPS" After completion of the punishment
Morphew was released to his comrades. There was some mumblings
about "unfair" and "the Privates always git the
blame fer everthang" and everything went back to normal
and we got ready for the Sundays battle. Which was great. The last weekend in August the 16th ARK hosted a tactical at Fort Washita. There were some Federals there to shoot at...around 15 or so. The CSA had about 40. Saturday morning proved to be about the "muggyist" weather I have seen. The tactical started early but before 9:00 we had lost more than 10 due to physical problems! One fellow had to be carried out on LtCol. Sanders horse to recieve medical attention. The fight was pretty hot and with a surprising amount of resistance due to the CS forces could not bring all their troops to bear at once. This was because of dense undergrowth. The fight ended up with the Yanks being totally wiped out in front of a large crowd at the edge of the woods. The afternoon battle was a different story. The Feds holed up in the old barracks and we dashed ourselves to pieces in "piecemeal" charges on their strong position. Then it rained...to quote Pvt Morphew.."like what a cow does on a flat rock"!!! Here is a great site to use for reference on uniforms, flags...well everything. Go look SHILOH VIDEO Here is a civil war video for sale  posted 9/20/03 Honey Springs Battle Park in Oklahoma is considering having a "GHOST TOUR". This would be similar to the Gettysburg Ghost Tours but also include elements of "candlelight" type tours. If you are interested as a reenactor or as a "tourist" e-mail them. They need to know how much interest there is out there! Send 'em an e-mail. Honey Springs CONFEDERATE BATTLEFIELD
CASUALTIES-
posted 9/29/03 ARMY OF TENNESSEE IMPRESSION An interesting article on the clothing of the AOT. Submitted by LtCol Sanders |
