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Cavalry After Action Report Arriving
Friday night in pleasant weather, Messrs. Alexander and Eric Harrelson
and I set about running a picket line and starting a fire. Ron
Crawley came out earlier in the day to set up the tent in
daylight. We used the entrance behind Pleasant View (sic) church
which runs up to the picnic area. The park was having roads
resurfaced, so there was no traffic other than paving contractors
occasionally driving by playing loud mexican music.
Ron,
Hunter and Taylor arrived after dark and we got organized. Ron
and I cooked potato / rice / bacon soup while the kids pretended to be
jedi knights with flashlights in the smoke. Dinner was
surprisingly good. Later we made popcorn and roasted
marshmallows. We stayed up past everyone's bedtime and finally
crashed in a heap in the straw. The tent will sleep at least six,
though I think we could have squeezed one or two more in there.
Saturday
morning commenced with hand-ax exercises. Alex and Hunter worked
most of the day off and on splitting or trying to split wood with a
small hand ax. Don Lyons arrived with some coffee (but not one
biscuit!) and we got everyone suited up. We were on site far
earlier than the ranger (Jenny). Ron was eventually able to
contact the ranger office to determine where to set up the
demonstration. We had scheduled demo's at 10, 2 and 4. We
set up a heads course and a separate rings course at the dragoon marker
near the WLI monument on the battlefield. We were a little late
for the first demo as our camp was about a mile away. I stayed
with the kids while Don and Ron gave the first talk and demo.
We
coordinated with Petra to drive down and meet us, and bring
lunch. She then took charge of the kids while the three dragoons
suited up for the 2 pm demo. We dressed as a 3rd Dragoon, a
militia dragoon, and a British legion dragoon. I gave the 2 pm
talk to a sizable crowd. We then ran the heads and rings, more or
less simultaneously, as they were separated by fifteen yards or
so. We had a number of good questions, and the demo ran a little
long. Eventually, we put kids on horses and walked them back to
camp.
At
camp, we dropped everything so Ron could leave in daylight. (His
trailer lights failed on the way to the event Friday.) Don drove
the kids to the demo site while Ron and I ponied Talley. Don gave
the final demonstration talk, after which we broke everything down and
headed to the barn.
The
weather was outstanding, windy but dry. The crowd was small
overall, but not bad for a living history. Had the road been open
to traffic, we would have had more guests in camp. We could have
used the bathrooms being open on Friday evening. We also met a
rider, Darryl Henderson, who came by ponying a second Missouri
Foxtrotter. He seemed to be a nice guy, local to Cowpens, and he
paints for the park. We invited him to come out camping with us
sometime. We did not get his number, but told him how to get in
touch with us. Who knows, possible recruit.
Edward Harrelson |
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