Post by Tom Klas on Oct 5, 2004 23:17:45 GMT -5
The Army of the Pacific experience at Franklin was highly enjoyable but unfortunatley was diminished by many mainstream event shortcomings overall. Dom Dal Bello, Steve Dunfee, and Chad Greene were superb and should be commended for making our time in the AoP very rewarding. Jason Bentley, Justin Runyon, and Joe Blunt were busy in their battalion roles all weekend and were much appreciated. Captain Gerow and Orderly Sgt. Argue did a top rail job leading Company “D” for the event. I was honored to serve as Captain Gerow’s Lieutenant for our Wisconsin Company once again. Thanks for putting up with me for the weekend.
The highlights of the event included:
1. Being part of a fine battalion and company who were dedicated to putting forth their best impression possible.
2. Lots of camaraderie within our company. Many thanks to all the men who made up the combined Wisconsin Company “D” such as the Hard Heads, 33d Wisconsin, Citizens Guard - Company "A" 2d Wisconsin, Hogg Mess, 3d Wisconsin, and our Utah chums. We had many good first person moments when possible and lots of laughs. I hope that the various trench aliments going around have been kept in check.
3. Great rations and the period sutler. The AoP Commissary and Sutler were again first rate.
4. Being officer of the guard on Friday night and having a group of gents under me whom understood the task at hand and carried themselves like soldiers from 1864. A thank you to all who were part of Friday night’s guard. You did a bully job!
5. Staying away for the most part from the circus atmosphere of the event. Dom and his staff really did a nice job moving our camp around to give us a chance to feel like we were on campaign and not at a large reenactment. Since my last large event was the dubious Antietam 140th in which I was very disappointed, I was pleased by this. It really made a difference for me.
6. Catching up with some great gents in the AoP such as Dom, Jason Bentley, Father Bryan Brooks, Matt Woodburn, and my close name look alike Ted Klos.
Above all we tried to honor the brave men we attempted to portray such as the 104th Ohio and the 23rd Michigan in the engagements of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. That is what this trip was all about and hopefully it will rub off on some of those thinking about improving their impression. As a pard told me years ago, the door is always open so please come and join us!
As far as the negatives, since it was a mainstream event overall, there is really no benefit to list all of the negative aspects of the event. Most of us knew what to expect at this event and kept our expectations outside of the AoP in check. Still there is much to improve in the great scheme of things and many lessons can be learned from the errors in the battle scenarios, as they did not look similar to the documented facts of 1864. In my opinion, these large anniversary events should strive for improvement if they would like to see more support from detailed orientated living historians.
Thanks again to Dom and all his staff for their efforts! The AoP effort at Franklin was fantastic and I am looking forward to the next AoP offering.
Until the next campaign,
Tom Klas
Hard Heads
The highlights of the event included:
1. Being part of a fine battalion and company who were dedicated to putting forth their best impression possible.
2. Lots of camaraderie within our company. Many thanks to all the men who made up the combined Wisconsin Company “D” such as the Hard Heads, 33d Wisconsin, Citizens Guard - Company "A" 2d Wisconsin, Hogg Mess, 3d Wisconsin, and our Utah chums. We had many good first person moments when possible and lots of laughs. I hope that the various trench aliments going around have been kept in check.
3. Great rations and the period sutler. The AoP Commissary and Sutler were again first rate.
4. Being officer of the guard on Friday night and having a group of gents under me whom understood the task at hand and carried themselves like soldiers from 1864. A thank you to all who were part of Friday night’s guard. You did a bully job!
5. Staying away for the most part from the circus atmosphere of the event. Dom and his staff really did a nice job moving our camp around to give us a chance to feel like we were on campaign and not at a large reenactment. Since my last large event was the dubious Antietam 140th in which I was very disappointed, I was pleased by this. It really made a difference for me.
6. Catching up with some great gents in the AoP such as Dom, Jason Bentley, Father Bryan Brooks, Matt Woodburn, and my close name look alike Ted Klos.
Above all we tried to honor the brave men we attempted to portray such as the 104th Ohio and the 23rd Michigan in the engagements of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. That is what this trip was all about and hopefully it will rub off on some of those thinking about improving their impression. As a pard told me years ago, the door is always open so please come and join us!
As far as the negatives, since it was a mainstream event overall, there is really no benefit to list all of the negative aspects of the event. Most of us knew what to expect at this event and kept our expectations outside of the AoP in check. Still there is much to improve in the great scheme of things and many lessons can be learned from the errors in the battle scenarios, as they did not look similar to the documented facts of 1864. In my opinion, these large anniversary events should strive for improvement if they would like to see more support from detailed orientated living historians.
Thanks again to Dom and all his staff for their efforts! The AoP effort at Franklin was fantastic and I am looking forward to the next AoP offering.
Until the next campaign,
Tom Klas
Hard Heads