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| June 2011 www.nwcwc.org | ||
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UNION FORCES DRIVEN OUT OF EUGENE |
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This reporter spoke with the disheartened Lt. Colonel Scott Eakman after being routed from the battlefield on Sunday, May 15th, 1863. It was his opinion that tide turned against him after additional reenforcement came in the form of expertly placed artillery. “You could see the men fall in a hail of dirt and rock that shot up 20 feet in the air,” exclaimed Eakman. His staff seemed to agree. The bombardment allowed the Confederate forces to move in a highly agressive manner. As he regroups his forces it appears that the Army of the Willamette was hit with a blow that would have taken down a stout man, but it was only a stunning blow and not a knock out. Eakman appears to lead his men northward and to set up a defensive line protecting the capitol at Oregon City. Where he does this, this reporter is unsure. |
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MEMBERS OF THE NCWC UNITE FOR THE STARLIGHT PARADE 2011Here is the finalized info regarding the 2011 Starlight Parade on June 4th 2011 in Portland. The NCWC is entry number - 40 - this year and we
will be stepping off fairly early in the lineup, so it's very important
to be ON TIME to the lineup area. The parade begins at 8:30 pm exactly,
please be there no later than 7pm. VIEW
MAP |
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NCWC TACTICAL REMINDER
JUNE 11th & 12th, 2011 The definition of the word “tactical” is as follows; Done or made for the purpose of trying to achieve an immediate or short-term goal; Military used to support limited military operations; showing skillful planning in order to accomplish something. Well folks, that really sums it up and we are going to have a chance
to go out and live like a Civil War soldier from 0800 Saturday until
noon on Sunday. If you have only done reenactments with the NCWC
then get ready for a totally different experience. This is where
officers and NCO’s are challenged to think on their own, challenge
their units and be challenged by unexpected events. There will be
referees with every unit involved and they will draw situational
cards every ¼ hr. Where: The Horning Seed Orchard/BLM 27004 S. Sheckly Rd., Colton, OR 97017 From Estacada head south on OR 211 Woodburn Estacada Hwy. At 8.1 miles take slight right onto Unger Rd. At 0.9 miles take a right onto S. Sheckly Rd. Stay on road approx 0.5 miles to the Horning Seed Orchard parking area. Signs posted. How Much Does it Cost? $15.00 prepaid – I must have your check made out to the NCWC no later than June 1st, 2011 and you must have a 2011 NCWC membership card upon arrival or a written authorization (email works) from your unit CO stating you have completed the most recent safety questionnaire and are a member in good standing of the NCWC or WCWA Who Can Come: Infantry, Artillery (light guns only) cavalry (mounted and dismounted) I will need min of two mounts for courier service. Civilians: Can come and set up a town at either
end of the tactical site and walk the road between the armies but
cannot enter the tactical site for safety purposes. Photography
of all type allowed and if we can get someone to film can get it
uploaded on the NCWC site and U-Tube. Registering /Paying for the Event: Mail check made out to NCWC to:
I will confirm receipt by email so include your contact info along
with the check! What to bring: Ammo and powder, 5 gals drinking water min. per man (water for horses available) marching rations (cook fires allowed but concealment lost if you have fires going all the time.) Bring a shelter half (half a dog or a whole dog and share with buddy, ground blanket, wool blanket and great coat, extra pair dry socks, small axe, small spade, waterproof matches, etc but remember, the less you carry the faster you can move. If you secure an objective a mile from where you slept on Fri or Saturday night ,you do not want to go back to get gear and get captured right? What to Expect: I guarantee you that if you are hardcore, when this event is over you will be putting it on your calendar for 2012. It will be bigger and even better! There is no morning parade, drill etc. There is just constant awareness that you can be captured, wounded or killed at any time and must be alert, communicate as a soldier, move as a combat soldier, think like a warrior! Now if you can man up for this, come get your pound of flesh !!!! If you have questions about the event, contact me at: MunsonHighlander@frontier.com or cell: (503) 314-9998 SPECIAL NOTE: If you want to be a referee contact
me asap. No fee and may even be a stipend in it for you! I need
a min of 4-6 referees. Can be civilian if able to move with the
troops and knowledgeable of safety rules and military tactics. |
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WILLAMETTE MISSION CAMPAIGN EVENT
We will again have parking assistance from the North Salem JROTC on Friday. PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE DRIVEWAYS. Vehicles that do so may be towed at owner’s expense. Our contract with the park allows us to have 75 people in modern camp. We will have a camp host who will make sure that people in this area are registered with the Parking Pass clearly displayed. The host will also check for membership cards. I WOULD LIKE ALL MODERN CAMPERS TO NOTIFY ME BY EMAIL OR PHONE (503-623-2102) or Yankeebugler@hotmail.com. Please indicate the type of vehicle or tent and the number of people in your group so we know what to expect. There will be selective pre-setup on Thursday (June 30th) by mounted cavalry units and sutlers who need additional time. You must clear this with me first using the contact information above. Sutlers will be allowed to bring vehicles back into the park between 6:30 - 7:00 pm to clear valuables from their tents … then return in the morning from 6:30 - 7:00 am to return the merchandise. NO VEHICLES IN THE PARK OR CAMPS FROM 7:00 AM SATURDAY (JULY 2ND) - 4:15 PM ON MONDAY (JULY 4TH). Handicap parking areas (especially in the circular drive) will be enforced. HORSES WILL NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE REGISTRATION OR SUTLER AREAS, NEAR THE PERMANENT RESTROOMS OR IN THE CIVILIAN CAMPS. As an additional incentive this year we will be issuing vouchers to all infantry and cavalry combatants redeemable for two cans of black powder. COME AND GET YOUR POWDER !! MAKE SURE THAT YOU BRING YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD AND PARKING PASS. The event schedule and other details will be posted on the web site and in the next newsletter. Steve Betschart |
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GRAVE AFFAIR - PART 2By Tammara Hodge, 2nd. Company Washington Artillery of New Orleans The 1830’s and 1840’s the Mourning became an art form. Many books were written on this subject of how to mourn, what to wear, when to wear your clothing. When Prince Albert died in 1861 and the Queen of England went into mourning, societies on both sides of the ocean took on mourning with a vengeance. Of Course this same year the American Civil War had began and the death tolls started, death had became prevalent for every small town and every big city for both North and the South. No one was immune to this. Mourning became a national fact of daily life. Wearing clothing of black is a custom that has been used for centuries. The wearing of black was thought to make mourners draw less attention to themselves so that death would not claim them as its next victim. Mourning rituals were aimed at women, especially if you had became a widow. Mourning pertaining to women came in three stages-stage one was heavy/deep mourning. Heavy/Deep Mourning lasted the minimum of 1 year and 1 day and could last as long as 2 ½ years. Dress, collar, sleeves, jewelry, gloves, bonnet, veil, fans, parasols and outerwear characterized this. Use of crape to cover the outerwear on ones dress, bonnet and cloak could be removed after 1 year and 1 day. Crape if caught in the rain would droop and the color would run, ruining anything it came in contact with. This of course limited the widow’s ability to venture far from home. Fabric that was used was wool but in the south, cotton was widely used. Ingredients used to keep the black from fading were a concoction of ingredients such as Fullers Earth (absorbs the oils and other greasy impurities from the fabric), Ox Gall (secreted by the liver of the ox – prevents the colors from mixing together in the water bath), Egg Yolks (for staining the fabric black) and of course boiling water bath. The combination of all these together caused a pungent smell so the dying or staining would have to be done outside the home. A diary of a woman from Virginia in 1864 mentions the ‘our entire town smells of dye pots’. NOTE: I have often been asked were the lady’s petticoats black and as far as I can tell from my research they were indeed black. It would not be proper at those times for a lady to have her dress blown up by the wind and for someone to see a white petticoat. By the 2nd. Year the woman would go from Heavy/deep mourning to Full Mourning and she would remove her black collar and sleeves, and then be replaced with white collar and sleeves. The veil would be taken off and the crape would be discarded or made into approved trimmings and her jewelry would grow to wider variety. At this time she could remarry if she chose. Half Mourning included the addition of lilac, lavender, violet, mauve and gray. The Lady was no longer limited to just black. She would wear white bonnets or lavender bonnets of silk or straw. After this respectable time she would send out narrow black edged cards advising her friends and family that her time of Heavy Mourning had passed and now she could receive visitors. Parties, weddings and other social activities were hands off to those in mourning. A widow would often put her mourning clothes away rather than throwing it to better use as death was prevalent and it would be hard to replace while the war was continuing. Southern women had this time a lot harder than the northern woman. There have been many journal entries stating that it was heartbreaking for us woman to not be able to properly mourn the death of a loved one as the war was coming so close to their towns and they had to leave. Gentlemen who were in mourning wore a black arm band around his upper mid arm on his suits. Men would mourn up to 6 months and then they could remarry if they chose too. Gentlemen could still attend parties and do business even the next day of death, but most likely would choose to wait a bit longer out of respect for the deceased. Children over 10 years of age would mourn from anywhere to 6 months to a year, children under 10 years of age would mourn for 3 to 6 months and infants would mourn for 6 weeks and up. Children would not wear all black clothing; they would where either white in the summer or gray in the winter. The girls would usually have a display of black bows on each shoulder of their dress and boys would have the black arm band unless they were under the age of 3 years and they would also have black trim on their shoulders of their dress. Mourning Portraits - Many families had portraits done with the deceased. If a child was deceased the father usually held the infant in the family portrait. If the deceased was an adult, the body was often propped up in the family group the photo with the photographer painting in (open eyes) on the deceased. I hope you enjoyed learning a new chapter of life and death of
the Civil war. |
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WHAT IS CONSIDERED A COMBATANT?The main subject of discussion was a proposed revision in Unit Recognition rules sent to the Board from the Rules Committee. Records from 2010 indicated that several of our existing units were not in compliance with the 8 combatant average rule to retain recognition and Board voting status. In the end the Board decided to send this back to the Rules Committee for more work. However, what is interesting is that several rule changes passed in 2003 came out that never made it into the Rule book. These deal with the definition of "who is a combatant" and could make a difference on unit averages over the course of a season. "A combatant shall be defined as one that is engaged in, or preparing to engage in combat." "Such combatants must be any and all military personnel that would have been in service during the American Civil War." This means that people such as musicians, medical staff, ordinance / engineers and others who are on the field should be signed in as "combatants." If you are not sure then ask your company or battalion commander. |
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JUSTIN LITTLE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
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NEW LIVING HISTORY EVENTThe Board authorized further talks with Portland Community College (Rock Creek Campus) to conduct a large scale Living History event on August 20-21. This would involve all branches of service and our civilians. There will be no battles so we can concentrate on education and recruitment. Please mark this on your calendar. Contact coordinator Steve Betschart at 503-623-2102 / Yankeebugler@hotmail.com if you have questions. Another opportunity to show folks what we can do will happen on
June 19th in Lake Oswego. This will be a giant USO |
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SCHOOL PRESENTATION REIMBURSEMENT POLICYHave you done a school presentation for the NCWC and been given
payment made out to the organization. If that is true |
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SPECIAL THANK YOULast event at Mt. Pitsgah, I had lost my wedding ring set. I went to every camp on the Union and the Confederate sides and spoke to just about everyone that I could find and explained that I thought I had lost my wedding ring set up at the bleachers. As many of you all know I was really very upset for this loss. I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for trying to help with this very meaningful search. I would also like to thank the young men in the Union that were crawling under the bleachers and the women that were also looking around the bleachers for my ring set. As I had prayed very hard as I sure others of you did also for me, The great one up above had heard my cries in my prayer and led my husband to find my wedding ring set. Thank the Lord. I really appreciate all of your efforts especially the young women and men that searched out in rain and cold for my rings. You will never know how much that meant to me and I apologize to all of you for not thanking you in person but, I went back to my tent and collapsed, I could not go on. I would also like to send a personal thank you to some special
people; Lois Warrick for giving me a big hug and trying to calm
me down, also Linda Steffen, Tanya Little for sending out some young
members in Maryland Line and Jill Richards for also giving me a
big hug, Jill Ingalls for telling Lieutenant Colonel Scott Ingalls
and for Scott Ingalls to relay this information to others. I would
like to personally thank Colonel Jim Stonovich for taking the time
to see if I was alright and to care. Tammara Hodge |
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"If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would
not have believed it," said a Corporal from the 20th Maine.
His statement was echoed by many of those who had observed from
the hilltops over looking the battlefield at Mt. Pisgah as Confederate
forces, under the command of Colonel Jim Stanovich, drove back the
larger forces of the Union army.
The Board decided to extend the provisions of the Justin Little
Memorial Scholarship to provide for 8th grade students at
schools where the NCWC conducts presentations. We will continue
to honor several graduating high school seniors but it was granted
to provide 10 NCWC memberships to 8th grade students and their families
who are nominated by their teachers as "Outstanding History
Students." This is a critical age for many of our young people
and we want to encourage them all that we can.