Civil War Hartys: April 2009

Well, this is our first event of 2009 and first in several months. All summer and fall I was off 'playing real Army' at Basic and OCS, so it was great to be able to get out there again as a family. I was invited by the fellas from the 8th Texas Cavalry, Co. I 'Terry's Texas Rangers' to join group should I ever make it near to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. And even though I'm not terribly close (it was a 12 hour, one-way ride to this event!) we have already accepted the fact that nothing is close to El Paso! So even though it was 2 days of travel for us one way, we were real excited to go to this first event with the 'Rangers' and get back to reenacting.

I was a bit disappointed with the size of the event, but I guess the economy slowed a lot of folks from coming. There was a great amount of artillery there, and they did a fantastic job of manuevering on the field. And regardless of the turnout, I probably had the most fun riding at this event as I've had at any event so far. Thanks to my comrades Barry Smithson (who let me ride his horse JT) and David Wilson for hauling JT!!

Here are a few of us in the 8th Texas Cavalry, Co. I & B of Terry's Texas Rangers standing in formation - for a very long time I might add. We are in 'open ranks' in this picture. Dave, Johnny, Brent, John & one of the fellas from Co. B.

Here is a nice pic of the ranks and the 1st Confederate National flag - the 'Stars and Bars'.

Here is a good example of the artillery officers planning to move guns across the field. The artillery did a great job and hand the best movement of pieces as and event that I've ever seen.

Moving the company along the edge of the battle. I'm in the center of the pic if you're looking for me.

Here we are lined up holding a flank from the distant Union forces.

I like this pic a lot. It just happened - I didn't conceive the pose. But to me it kinda symbolizes the downcast feeling the Confederate soldier must have felt after all his efforts to free his home for self-government went for naught after the War was lost.

This was some very yummy Dutch Oven chocolate cake with cherries in it that Bethany made. There was enough for pretty much all of us to enjoy!

Here Tom is helping out around camp and stirring the chilli that was made for dinner. It was very good as well!

Here is a nice set up. These folks bring some nice wagons to these events. Apparently, they receive a bounty for their efforts. But with those rooster roaming around, they looked straight out of history with their impression! Jimmy didn't like the roosters at all as they made quite a racket!

Here the kids pose by their mule team. It also looks like quite a host is camped in the background, but there weren't as many reenactors there as the pic may suggest. Most of those in the tents were artillery, as there was a great gathering of their forces.

Jacob and Bethany looking very pleased with themselves at the event.

This is a common spot for Jake - sitting around with my water bottle! Not sure how he figures he gets to use it so much...And here is Tom taking a break from his wanderings. Usually he finds some other boys to play pistols with, but there weren't a ton of reenacting kids at this event.

Here are Jim, Tom and Eme pretending to 'dress some wounds' that they received at some point on Sunday. I like this pic a a lot!

Jimmy loves to pick flowers for his Mom...and nibble on food, too, of course!

This is a common practice for myself...to be loading pistols whenever other duties are done.

Here is Jimmy riding JT, with Brent leading with Tom and Joe walking beside.

Joe up on JT ready to ride down some Yankees.

Eme looking awfully cute up on JT.

Tom, Brent & JT. Tom is ready to ride out right now if he could, but one must be 16 to be on the field.

Jake lost in thought - he didn't want to ride any horse for some reason. I'm always looking for a reason to mount up, myself.

Here is Joe being goofy, fixing to put his shoe back on. Earlier the shoe came off and stuck in the mud, thus making his sock wet. We dried it up in the sun and he is getting ready to put it back on. But it makes for a humorous shot.

Here I am getting the fire going again in the morning. "Remember, kids - small wood to start...and plenty of oxygen."

Naps are always a good thing. Jimmy was out running amock on Saturday afternoon, and I knew he was simply tired so I scooped him up, with a little protest from him, to take a nap. We were both quickly out and enjoyed a fine nap on a breezy afternoon. It is very relaxing to nap in such conditions!

The kids got out the checkerboard. Tom is planning his strategy, while Eme is preparing her defense and Joe looks on. We also have a nice chess set, but no one got it out this weekend.

Ah - a tale of two faces! Look how Joe has a very nice smile on. If you see this smile on his face, it means that he is silently torturing one of his siblings in some way. He is the 'Stealthy Adgitator"...and he is quite good at it. Now look at poor Jimmy's face. He is bemoaing his situation. It just doesn't seem fair, does it?! Often, eventually violence will break out, but Joe seems very adept at quickly and viciously defending himself. He is quite a bit smaller than everyone else in the family, but his size is often not a factor. Maybe that is why he smiles like this so often...But I'm glad to see we have a pic of this for future record!

This also is a typical face of honeriness. Here is Jimmy, running around from 3 year old boredom. He must have been squirming around his Mom while holding her hand or something. He is of course gotten loose and on the ground now amongst all her layers of skirts. Just look at those mishcievous eyes that Bethany caught on camera. This also is good scene to preserve for future reference of his ways!