Robbing the Train

June 20, 2009


Once again, we rob the passengers of the Narrow Guage Railroad of their valuables and small children. You think they would catch on...


Miss Rose was there that day. She always has such lovely dresses.

It was a lovely day and we had a fair amount of people come. I stayed at the station most of the day with Meadow in order to lure people in. We set up a little table with our company scrapbook and photo album, along with some propaganda from both the 15th and the 3rd Maine. It drew a lot of attention. I have determined that I want to try to make this event a little more interesting for people just walking along the waterfront.

We actually got a local television station to come down and film a robbery down at the end of the track! The report only lasted like 5 seconds on the news that night (expected), but word is out!



Aaannnd, we brought the little dog out. He is such a wuss that we are hoping that being around so many people would help his confidence. It worked a little bit. And he had no problem with the train by the end of the day! He also cuddled right up to Meadow. They were best friends by the second run. Of course, he needed all the protection he could get, they guys wanted to eat him! I said he was too stringy.

Norlands

June 5-7, 2009

This was a fun event. It was at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore, Maine. The site was very nice, hilly, made the guys (& gal's) do a lot of work, but a little exercise never hurt but a few...



The purpose of this event was to raise money for the Norlands Center to rebuild their barn. It burned down to the ground (literally, I saw the hole) a year ago and they want to re-build in the most authentic way possible. Unfortunately, that takes a little more money then just slapping together a modern barn that looks old. From what I heard, they raised a decent amount to start the building which is great. I still cannot believe that the barn did not take the house with it. They were attached! Good job to everyone who saved the house! That would have been a true disaster and even more difficult to replace.

We pretty much did living history all weekend. Of course, that also means we got certain people just walking through the camp, staring at us, slowly walking by, snapping photos the whole way...That part still creeps me out. It kind of makes me feel like I am being stalked sometimes. But as long as everyone has fun, what does it matter!


It smells like a good day for battle gentlemen!


Come and get it you rebel scum! (Star Wars...hey, the rebels won in that movie.)

The nights were pretty cold, that was kind of a bummer, but the days were fairly temperate. It is always nice when you do not have to worry, too much, about heat exhaustion. The farm was large and if you wanted to go somewhere, it was a fair walk, I think I walked all over that farm! I barely saw Dave! Even at night when he crawled into his cot.

The notorious 1st Maryland guys were there (the usual suspects), they are always fun. And we also made friends with the 3rd Arkansas. They were nice, sort of campaigners, but I liked them. Cookies bring about friendship to all people.

In addition to the battles on both days, there was also a medical scenario on both days after the battles (I thought the one on Sunday was best, mainly because of the gentlemen who came up wounded), as well as numerous civilian activities which included a tea party and a fashion show.


Medicine knows no bounds...they all asked for laudanum...Chris' treatments aren't that bad! Are they? Hmmmm....


Mrs. Bergeron got herself in trouble by asking around about her brother. They accused her of being a spy. Geez Deb! Always making trouble you shifty lady you! >wink<

The amount of spectators was surprising, because of the remotness of the site (just about everything in Maine is remote, no offense, I would love to live there) I did not think that so many people would come, but they did!

Next year should be bigger and better so stay tuned to the Washburn-Norlands web site!

More Excuses...

...All moved in, stuff is (pretty much) where it belongs, I am having trouble typing, Norlands this weekend! I will post Camp Pratt & Memorial Day when I get back and hopefully Norlands on the same day! A three for one deal. See you there!

Train Robbery

June 21, 2008

Ah, once again, we take the train from Manasses Junction to Harper's Ferry, Virginia. On this event, I determined that we need a rough plan on what each ride is going to be like. Sometimes things get a little confusing because so many things are happening all at once, not always a good thing when dealing with black powder...

...On to some photos!

Why do we only get three Union soldiers at a time?!? We're not scary! The train robbery is fun and if you insist on someone being the "bad guy" both sides are! Geez, the Union commandeers the train & the Confederates steal Union money then sends the civilians on their merry way. Well, usually it is the 3rd Maine who helps us out, this time, we had two from the 20th Maine! Chelly (nickname spelling?) and Deb (Squared)'s husband. And our only gentleman from the 3rd Maine was Dick (Deb's "Uncle").

Just to clarify, we have two ladies in our group named "Deb" so since I knew Deb Bergeron (3rd Maine) first, she will be Deb. The other Deb (20th Maine) will be Deb Squared, as Mike called her. Like I need more confusion in my life!

Here is Deb (Mrs. Bergeron) our Union Lady from the 3rd Maine who camps with us when the 3rd Maine is not doing anything. She is definitely an asset to our company, we might have to have an ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN if our events ever conflict with the 3rd Maine. Tickets will be sold at the door...

One of our newest members is Amanda. She actually got involved because Mike talked her into it & she in turn talked her husband Martin into doing it. This was technically their first event. The train robbery seems to be a really good first timer event because you have little exposure to multiple people yelling commands you do not understand while you try to shoot the darn gun. It gives you that chance to learn the procedure and the showmanship.

Martin has a lot of promise, but he needs to work on it. He came on to the train on the first ride they were on and whispered to Amanda "Do you want to be kidnapped?" when her response was in the "um, sure" nature, he grabbed her and Marsha saw him 'dragging' her off the train & said "Where are you taking that woman?!" He stopped, looked at Marsha, then side to side and said "Nowhere..." then took off out the back. Amanda did pretty good, she struggled as he ran with her, but then we pose the problem of getting her back ON the train...

On one of our final runs, we civilians decided that one of us should take a hit and either die or become wounded. Well, I asked Kate or Meadow to do it, they both wanted to. It ended up being Kate taking a bullet and Meadow catching her, then fainting. Well, unfortunately for Meadow, she fainted, but was half under the bench. Kate meanwhile was causing quite the commotion due to her "wound." The both of them put on a magnificent show. Better than I had hoped for....thank goodness there were no little children present on that car, I am sure there would have been some life-long emotional scarring.

And our Captain was killed. He seems to enjoy taking injuries...as for this one, I will not divulge anymore information as to how he was killed except for the fact that Chelly pulled a pistol, took Mike hostage and well, let's just say friendly fire did him in & leave it at that.

Once again, we had another stellar performance by all. We have to continuously thank our friends from the 3rd and 20th Maine who come down to this event, we just wish we did not outnumber them so badly! I know, you are probably thinking, "Wait, isn't that what they want for once? They are always outnumbered!" No, we do not want to outnumber or be outnumbered, we want a fairly balanced group so that the show we put on is spectacular! Keep your eyes peeled for our next train robbery at the end of August!

Update

Okay, here it is. I will admit it, I am a wimp and opted out of Gettysburg this year even though the 15th is going, but, it's just so hot!!!! >Caution, whining in progress< I do not have a problem with the clothes, nor the camping, nor the fabulous stench of re-enactors on Sunday morning (authentic, no?). I just have no desire to wear a full length dress at Gettysburg. Have you people been there?!?! That place is gets really hot! I can handle by the water hot, but Gettysburg is a little too far away to catch an ocean breeze. So, best wishes to everyone who goes, I expect photos, and just so everyone is on the same page, any photos I post of Gettysburg will not be mine, but I give credit where credit is due. Deb's blog, Lady of the Blue & Gray will give you an idea of both sides of the re-enactment.

I love Gettysburg, I want to go, but there are only so many layers of clothes you can get away with taking off before you are called either a harlot or arrested (only one leads to jail, though). Let me know how it goes!

Robbin' a Train...again!

September 1, 2007

We just can't get enough! This event seems to be the only one where we have outnumbered the Union troops. We only had three this time, too, but we had some new civilians and one of the soldiers from the 3rd Maine was new! It was a fun affair! I actually missed the first couple of runs, but I made up for it!

Here's Ashley, a daughter of the 3rd Maine, Deb's child. She's sweet and the same age as Charlene...two ten year old girls on a train doing basically the same thing over and over again all day...they were talking about killer ninja rabbits stopping the train by the end of the day. The vivid imaginations on these girls!

Here's a photo of Deb and a new civillian, Brenda. It's always nice to meet new people. I did not get a real chance to sit down and talk with Brenda, but she seemed nice and all the 3rd Maine women I have met like to get into the act of accusing 'our boys' (the Confederates) of being traitors. Something me and Vicky take offense to! To think of those dashing men of the 15th Alabama as criminals is just horrible! And they're not robbing the train, they are "liberating" goods for the benefit of the country as a whole.

Here's a photo of Rick and Private Cylik. I had never met him before, he was our replacement for Matt. I hope he comes back next year, it is so great that more Union people come to protect the train! It makes the whole robbery more plausible in the defense of the train part (two Union soldiers shooting down six Confederates...I don't think that would have happened during the Civil War unless someone was REALLY lucky).

Here's another photo of Deb and the other new (to me) civillian, Marsha! Once again, I came late so I did not get to say hello to the two new ladies of the 3rd Maine, but I cannot wait to see them again! Hopefully sooner rather than later! I have to say, I loved all their hats! I need to get into hat making! As if I had free time! >rolls eyes, snorts<

Here's Ben's valiant charge at the Union troops!

Unfortunately, as brave as Ben is, he was brought to a halt by the musket fire of the 3rd Maine. Here, our surgeon, Chris administers something to assage his misery (no, not whisky).

Here's another elusive member of the 15th Alabama, Mr. Joe! I have actually only had the pleasure of meeting him once, at the Stranger's grave in Gray, ME on Memorial Day.

This was great. As mention above, I arrived late for this day's events. Well, on my way up to Maine, I stopped and picked up Dave and a few others, some provisions which did not fit in my basket! Kate was gracious enough to loan me hers. Well, once I got the food covered, I had to figure out a way to get it to the guys. So, I called Dave on his cell phone (I know...real authentic >eye roll<) and said that I was going to figure this out and ask the 3rd Maine to help me out. I was thinking, I'll just put it on the end of the last car and someone can sneak it off. Well, I went to Rick to ask for his assistance. Well, told me that it shouldn't be a problem passing off the basket to the Confederates because some of the ladies (Vicky) had been flirting and consorting with the men in some manner all day. Basically, it was Vicky flirting her heart out. >smacks forehead< That's what I did. Someone burst out laughing as I lowered my face into my hand and then looked back at Vicky sharply. Honestly, what are we going to do with that woman?! Well, she did pass off the food rather well, and Mike made it seem part of the plan when he asked if anyone had found provisions on the train with the dispatch case and coin box.


This was a good scene. Chris came over to his daughter, Kate and started calling her "Maggie." He asked her where her mother was (Peg, who was back at the station). Peg was there to pick Kate up and she wasn't supposed to be on this ride, which could be why Chris came up to her and asked (in a southern-like accent why she was on the train). Anyway, Kate, with her own southern-like accent, said that the Yankee's had captured Peg. Then the conversation went downhill and Chris said something about how Kate should know how much of a troublemaker her mother is. His parting words to Kate were something along the lines of, 'your mother should be out of prison, soon.' It was so hard not to spend the entire event laughing hysterically.

There were enough of us to seperate the Union sympathizers from the Confederates. Here's a good shot of the Union, Steve is wearing the straw hat. And you can see a young boy in suspenders peeking out from between the railings on your left...that's Deb's son, Benjamin. I actually did not get many photos of him.

Well, finally, the Union got to take the Confederates out in the last run. Fair enough seeing as how our boys took them out all day in June.

It was a good day. The weather was nice, there was a good breeze for those of us wearing layers, and we had a great turnout! The best part was the last run, we were sitting there for a while when all of the sudden, about fifteen asian tourists came around the boatyard. We thought, "okay! tourists! And foreigners, this'll be great for them!" well, next thing we know, a huge bus comes into the parking lot and we end up taking on about fifty asian tourists. My big question of the day was, why are they in New England? >shrug< but they seemed to enjoy themselves, and as always the 15th Alabama and the 3rd Maine do not disappoint when it comes to drama!

Borderland

June 16-17, 2007

"Borderland" is a state park in the Easton, MA area (I believe the park is actually in three towns, Sharon, North Easton and Mansfield, MA). Well, it was a very nice place to have an encampment and the parking was great! You don't think about parking too much until you have to carry things that weigh you down. I don't need to go to the gym to "pump up" I just need to carry Dave's musket around. Well, the parking was great for us, this was our first encampment with Union soldiers sharing the field. They were actually down behind some trees, we were closer to the road and the House that is sort of the icon of the park. When we got there that night to set up it was probably the first time we got there to actually help the group set up >eye roll<

As we were setting up Friday night, someone came over to us and said "In about ten minutes there's going to be a big wind!" We all just kind of looked at each other. Well, it was the Mass. Life flight helicopter creating the wind. We know it was not a re-enactor who was hurt, otherwise we would have heard the gossip at some point of the weekend, so we're thinking the ambulance (with an escort of fire trucks) carted someone in there because it's an open place for the helicopter to land. Well, the big wind came all right! It's a good thing we got the tent stakes down so well, even then we had to hold them, just in case.

So after that, we settled down around the campfire for our traditional evening of laughter and drink. I found out that a group of guys from Connecticut (mostly) calling themselves the 1st Maryland had fallen in with our company because, from what I understood, none of their officers had been able to make it. They were a fun group of guys. I cannot wait to see them again.

Well, here are some photos...
These guys are crazy, they get up at like 5:30 in the morning after a night of carousing and drinking! No wonder they need coffee! I think one of the gentlemen from the 1st Maryland said something about that. It's really Mike and Tom who are the early birds, and a few other people in camp & everyone else just wakes up shortly thereafter.


Here are "our boys" as Miss Vicky likes to call them (she's a delicate Georgia girl >wink<) on the battlefield.
As you can see, the Confederate forces were slightly outnumbered (you cannot see the two or three cannons with support crew or the cavalry in this photo). But those Rebel soldiers died with all the drama they could muster.

When we went over for this battle, this skirmish, me, Vicky and Charlene went over. It was so funny because we were watching them for a minute then all of the sudden Charlene asks Vicky "Is Daddy dead?" The spectators around us (we were dressed in our Civil War garb) had to laugh. It was a great question, especially when Vicky seriously looked over the bodies and made sure Mike wasn't on the ground before saying, "No, he's not dead, sweetie." It was just one of those "Priceless" moments.

Later that evening, the soldiers went off for a tactical battle where the spectators are STRONGLY discouraged from attending because basically everyone ends up running through the woods as though they were actually being pursued. Tom and Mike (from the 1st Maryland, they call him "geezer" and even though I don't want to, I'm going to call him that because we already have a Mike) had apparently broken away from the Confederate forces when all hell broke loose and escaped into the woods, they showed up for dinner at least a half hour after everyone else. But the important thing was, they didn't get caught or surrender!

One scary thing that happened was, we were preparing dinner and all of the sudden we heard hoof beats and a man calling out "whoa, whoa". Everyone in the Confederate camp looked and saw one of the cavalry horses come cantering across the field right back to it's hitching post with it's saddle twisted to the side. The first thing everyone thought was, "I hope the rider's okay!" She was, I guess she just bruised her ego, better an ego than being trampled. Luckily, no one else got hurt in the horses' path of fury. From what I heard from the soldiers who witnessed it, she somehow fell off and the next thing they knew the horse was charging for the camp. Smart animal, the tactical wasn't that close, but he remembered where he felt safe.


After the soldiers had left, we women didn't have a whole lot left to do. It was a good thing that there was a wedding! It was pretty neat, a couple, who are technically sutlers and when they go to the encampments they stay in "Unity" the civilian camp. Unity is like an entity itself, there's the Federal Camp, the Confederate Camp and Unity (otherwise called the town). Well, congratulations to Heather and Dave! They actually researched and made their outfits and Dave's daughter, Samantha was so adorable in her flower girl dress! They had a wonderful idea and I really appreciate the fact that they did it at a re-enactment so they could show off their outfits to the rest of us!

Well, things wound down and we actually left early on Sunday. Apparently that tactical on Saturday night took a toll on just about our entire company. I think half of us were down with injuries (it seemed like it took us an extra hour to pack the company stuff). But once again, we made it through another encampment! I love the experience more and more!

Borderland State Park