After Action Reports

Tonya and I got back to the home place after the Chickamauga event around 10 p.m. Sunday night, along with about half of the soil that used to reside in northern Georgia. I think I must have had about a county's worth in my lungs and on my clothes. But despite the ever-present clouds of dust, we really had a good time at this event.

At least in our part of the U.S. camp, most people had stuck to the campaign theme. Every member of the 91st either slept under the stars or in a dog tent, and among the whole Army of Ohio, I only noticed a few A's.

Did I mention it was dusty? I think the site could have used at least an inch or two of that deluge that Floyd dumped on the East Coast.

As for the 91st we had about 15 military and three civilians in attendance, plus one "pimp daddy". Just ask Claude to show you the hat he bought at sutler row next time you see him and it will make sense, trust me.

I can't remember the last time I burned so much powder (about 100 rounds and I was conservative in my firing and took hits in three of the four battles I participated in).

All the battles were fought on the same large field which lacked grass, hence all the dust. But, it was good rolling terrain and you could get a good view of the whole field from just about anywhere. The site was also very primitive and had virtually no modern buildings or things in sight, which helped with the atmosphere.

We didn't take part in the first battle Saturday morning, which I was happy about since Tonya and I didn't make it to the event until about 3 a.m., so at least that allowed a little more sleep.

The second battle on Saturday was nice, although we were on the far right of the federal line that was hit in the rear by rebs coming from a path through the spectator area and we either were entirely killed, wounded or captured. The Saturday evening battle at dusk was also entertaining. It was almost like a fireworks display seeing all the thousands of muzzle flashes going off around you. The Sunday battle was also a doozy and seemed to go well.

The ladies who went -- Tonya and Debbie and Jennifer Heidell -- seemed to enjoy themselves with no worries except when they wanted to go sutlering and for how long, versus having to cook for 300 people :-). Did I mention the dust?

Walking distance between U.S. camp and the civilian/main sutler area was reasonable I thought (I could make it between the two in about 15 minutes and our part of the fed camp was the farthest away). The distance from U.S. parking to the military camp was also not far. In fact, Tonya and I got extremely lucky and when we arrived in the middle of the night, it only took us about 15 minutes to walk from the parking lot and find the 91st campsite.

Some unfortunate excitement in the civilian area occurred when a young female reenactor got too close to a campfire on Saturday and her dress caught on fire. It caused a great deal of alarm, but from what I understand the fire was quickly put out and most of the damage was done to the outfit and not the girl. Also, Col. Dave Shackleford, one of the Federal upper level commanders went down with a heart attach during the early Saturday morning battle, but I understand is recovering well.

A bridge over the stream that divided the civilian/sutler area from the Federal camps would have been nice, so people wouldn't have had to walk through the water. There was one on the other side of the civilian/sutler area, but it added five minutes or so to the walk time to use it.

For the three battles we were involved in on Saturday, our company was placed next to a unit portraying the 32nd Indiana, which did all its commands in German. On Sunday we had a company of Brits next to us. They had been up rather late the night before singing and celebrating for what I understand was their last night in the U.S. before heading back across the pond. Amazingly, while it was loud and not far from where I was camped, I managed to fall asleep about two minutes after my body hit the ground. I would say the three hours (maximum) of sleep the night before and the three hard fought battles that day had a lot to do with that. By the way, there was a lot of dust at this event.

All in all, I would have to say I was very pleased with this event, despite the dust. We were in the thick of a lot of action, the combined commanders of the Army of Ohio and Army of Indiana did a very competent and practical job and we had plenty of laughs -- many thanks to Jim Rush and his equally witty brother, Mike, who was attending his first event. I can't say it was the best event I've gone to (I'd still probably put Mudfreesboro from a couple years back on top of my list. It's hard to compete with a flaming house for realistic impact), but for a large reenactment it was enjoyable. I hope everyone else who attended can say the same.

Regards,
Kyle Sharp
91st OVI

P.S. In case I didn't mention it earlier, there was a lot of dust at this event :-).

Cedar Creek
October, 1999

Not having seen any AARs from Cedar Creek in the digests yet, here are my impressions of the event.

1. The weather for the weekend was tremendous, except for things getting a little chilly Friday night.

2. The battle on Saturday, at least from my yankee view was quite the cluster, with our company getting run all over the place just to get run somewhere else, then charging into some Confederates that had overrun some Federal guns, only to find out the guns were still loaded so everyone quickly backed off. This was, unfortunately, right in front of the spectators, so probably looked a little silly.

3. The Sunday battle more than made up for what was a disappointing Saturday engagement (for me anyway). The action was hot and seemed to flow smoothly. I know I felt the hair on my neck stand up when we Feds were routed out of our camps and made a short but heated stand in the valley by the Heeter House before being pushed on up the hill. The sounds of the action, enhanced in the valley and echoing off the house walls, certainly were a thrill for me. We'd also had a little fun creating a Mr. Potato Head totem before the battle in our camp while waiting for the Rebs to come run us out. It's amazing how quickly mature men can degenerate back to a childlike state at the drop of a hat :-). We left some other potatoheads on sticks around our fire for the incoming rebs to enjoy.

4. I can't comment on the Friday battle because I didn't get there in time. Tonya and I spent that day driving around and touring Winchester, the Third Winchester Battlefield and the Fisher's Hill Battlefield. Fisher's Hill had a nice little self-guided walking tour path along the top of the hill where Ramseur was hit in the front by Ricketts and the left flank by Crook. Third Winchester basically just had a parking lot and a sign. My understanding is this was purchased not too long ago by the APCWS and will be made more available to CW enthusiasts in the future. Touring these fields were especially of interest to me since the original 91st OVI was with Crook's Army of West Virginia at Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek.

5. I also can't comment on the Saturday nigh/Sunday morning battle at Cedar Creek because I was camped with Tonya in the civilian area this weekend and didn't get up for it. From what I understand it started around 4 a.m., a couple hours earlier than intended, and lasted about an hour or so, with much confusion among who to fire upon in the dark. The guys from the 91st who participated said it was fun, but confusing, as you would expect.

6. As for misc. items, females in the ranks were abundant and in many cases obvious, as tends to be the case the further east an event occurs (before flaming realize I don't have a problem with it as long as an honest effort is made to hide gender, but pony tails are a little obvious, don't you think). There were a lot of vehicles driving through camps and parked around throughout most of the weekend which seemed unnecessary since the parking lots were not far away. Water ran out at the water tank near the Federal infantry camp several times but was eventually always replenished. The porto johns seemed to be well maintained. Camping and fighting with the other pards in the Army of Ohio was, as always, an honor and a pleasure. Our "Oh s*#@!" command which signaled when it was time for the company to break and rout away on Sunday was amusing to say the least. The distances between camps were not far at all, and the tour of the Belle Grove Plantation was nice, although we had to wait a bit to get in and move around to the back entrance because of a wedding that took place at 7 p.m. Saturday night in the middle of the time reenactors were supposed to be allowed to tour the house. So, as usual, there were some things that could have been better, but overall I enjoyed the weekend, especially Sunday's battle, and the weather and setting were spectacular. If only the friendly neighborhood Maryland trooper hadn't pulled me over and given me a $70 ticket on the way back to Ohio, I would have arrived home happy. For future reference, watch your speed on I-68 coming west out of Cumberland, Md. The twit...um.... oops.... I mean trooper was set up with a radar gun and busting people for speeding in a 55 mph zone only about 200 yards before the speed limit returned to 65.

Needless to say I wasn't pleased.

Regards,
Kyle Sharp
91st OVI

Cedar Creek, a.k.a. the Great Potato Races of '99

Itís amazing how quickly adult men can revert to hilarious childlike behavior at the drop of a hat, and for those veteran members of the 91st OVI, youíve seen it happen again and again. The "Pratt Stone" at 135th Gettysburg or "fishing" on the rain-soaked grounds of 135th Shiloh are a couple examples that quickly come to mind.

The Sunday action at 135th Cedar Creek once again saw members of the 91st lead the charge of goofiness, as what began as Dave Heidell harmlessly carving a face into a discarded potato rapidly degenerated into the Army of Ohio's Mr. Potato Head War Totem for the day.

Members of four regiments of the Army of Ohio combined into one company for the event with about 10 members of the 91st alternating between infantry and helping the State House Artillery which was short on gun crew.

I'm not sure if anyone made it in time to participate in the Friday battle, but I didn't hear any reports. Tonya and I spent the day touring the nearby Third Winchester Battlefield, Winchester itself and the Fisher's Hill Battlefield. The original 91st OVI fought at both the fore mentioned battles, so that was particularly enjoyable for me.

Jason Anderson of the 5th Ohio led the company during Saturday's battle which was a bit of a disappointment as we were run all over the field and given no guidance as to what was going on. This wasn't Anderson's fault, but the higher level commanders who I don't think had a clue what was happening. So, the battle quickly turned into a cluster. Our company eventually was charged into some Confederates that had overrun some Federal guns, only to find out the guns were still loaded so everyone quickly backed off. This was, unfortunately, right in front of the spectators, so probably looked a little silly. The battle ended for the Ohio company as all still standing decided to take a mass artillery hit.

Capt. Heidell led the mixed company during the Saturday night/Sunday morning engagement which occurred around 4 a.m., about two hours earlier than expected. After an hour of stumbling through the darkness, getting surrounded and mauled by rebs, firing on fellow Yankees, saving several exposed flanks and eventually helping surround and capture a Confederate battalion, the battle ended. It wasn't quite 6 a.m., the intended time for the battle to begin.

For the Sunday battle, Capt. Jim Ruley of the 30th OVI was in command of the Ohio company. He quietly witnessed the creation of the potato totem, its placement upon a ramrod and subsequent bowing and offerings made toward it in return for protection during the upcoming fight. Then, calling the followers of the great potato an immoral band of heathens, he drew his saber and with a vicious stab and fatal slash, struck the potato down.

The natives were not pleased.

Duane Anderson, commander of the Army of the Ohio, witnessed the affair and informed Capt. Ruley that upsetting the great potato was a mistake and could have drastic, unforeseen effects in the coming engagement. In other words, the group had, without Ruley knowing, already decided that when Anderson shouted the command "OH SHUCKS (edited for children)!" during the battle, the company was to break and run for the rear frantically screaming and yelling.

But, the assault upon the great potato did not discourage the 91st. Instead, the resulting saber scar left between the potato's makeshift eyes only made it appear more menacing. So, 1st Sgt. Scott Sharp proudly recovered the fallen idle, fixed bayonet and perched the spud stud upon the end of his rifle for all the Federal troops to see while forming for the battle. For safety reasons, he removed his bayonet and placed Mr. Potato Head on the end of his ramrod when the action began.

As happened in the original battle of Cedar Creek, we were caught by surprise in our camps by the Rebs to start the engagement. Ruley formed us up and moved the company to the edge of camp to offer some resistance to the oncoming gray hordes. After a few volleys he ordered an about face and orderly withdraw. At that moment, Anderson shouted "OH SHUCKS (edited for children)!" and the great potato race of Cedar Creek had begun, with Dave Heidell leading the flight, screaming in terror as he ran. After fleeing through the camp and out the other side, Ruley was finally able to reform the company. We fired a few volleys, then Ruley ran with the joke and ordered the company to rout once more as the enemy drew near. The "OH SHUCKS!" command would be issued at least one other time before the day was done.

In addition to having some fun with it, the action during Sunday's battle more than made up for the disappointing Saturday engagement. The action was hot and seemed to flow smoothly. I know I felt the hair on my neck stand up when we Feds were routed out of our camps and made a short but heated stand in the valley by the Heeter House before being pushed on up the hill. The sounds of the action, enhanced in the valley and echoing off the house walls, certainly were a thrill for me.

Outside of the battles, the weather for the weekend was picture perfect, although the temperatures did get a little low on Friday night. Distances between camps were short, we got to tour the Belle Grove Plantation which was standing during the original battle (they had quilt fabric in the gift shop, so take a guess at what Tonya bought) and the porto johns were well maintained. Tonya and Sally Gloeckner did a fine job selling quilt and gun raffle tickets on Saturday (much more luck than I had anyway). And, we even found time for a little period baseball with some of the State House artillerymen and families on Sunday.

On the downside, there were many cars driving through and parked near the camps throughout the weekend, and many women in the ranks who made little attempt to hide their gender. But, overall, I would say once again the 91st had another enjoyable weekend at Cedar Creek. I've been to the event three or four times myself and have never been disappointed. I'm sure I'll be back in the future.

So endeth my sag

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