Gettysburg 150th, Day 3- July 3rd, 2013

 

    The first formation was supposed to be at 8:00, so we all got up very early to make our way in.  Julie waited to find out when the group was going to meet at the 154th monument for pictures (she was told 5:00), and then took the girls for a day away from the reenactment.

      Julie and the girls part:

      After leaving Scott, we headed to the Outlets in Gettysburg where we shopped for clothes for our trip and a baby shower gift for my friend Laura, whose shower is Saturday.  We ate lunch at the food court while it was pouring rain.  Then we proceeded to the movie theater and saw "Despicable Me 2".  We all loved the movie.  After the movie we headed into the town of Gettysburg and parked on York Street and shopped in the shops on that road.  We went into the gourd store-- lots, and lots of gourds.  Pretty cool.  We went to the Codori store which has German and Russian things in it.  After that we went to the malt shop and had ice cream.  Then we went to Stratton Street to wait at the monument.  We were yelled at by a little old lady across the street who didn't want us to park there, but the signs said 2 hour parking was allowed.  Then we met Scott and took pictures.

      Scott's Part:

     Our first formation was spent with guys learning how to put their different uniform parts on, and introducing ourselves.

      I knew we'd be drilling some fresh fish, but our officers and NCOs seem pretty green too. Often times, things are done completely mirror image from the way I was expecting.  I'm not sure, for example, why the tall guys keep being put on the left of the line.   I don't think any of them have given the order for "By files, right" the same way.  Part of it seems to come from their bringing in things from cavalry experience.  I've tried told hold my tongue, because yet one more voice isn't really needed, but at least twice I've spoken up to try to clarify things.  I can't say I'm surprised by any of this, but it does seem a bit frustrating at times.  (If the officers read this blog, I say these things, "with respect."  Please see it as part of the age old tradition of soldiers grumbling.)

      There was lot of drill today, such as it was.  Like most of yesterday, the morning was overcast which is a heck of a lot better then having the sun beating down.  When rain started, we drilled in ponchos (though, I just drilled in my sack coat and slouch hat) to practice things like wheels and other marching formations.  Part of the problem facing the officers and other NCOs is that there is a lot of material to cover that I take for granted.  Once the basic principles are known, changing from time period to time period is relatively easy, but as I wrote, most of these fish are completely fresh.  Throughout this time, I was hoping that arriving re-enactors would be looking at us and saying, "Wow! Those guys are drilling already, and in the rain too!  They must be hardcore!'  I just hoped they weren't watching us too closely.

      We broke for lunch, when I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts cut off, just like the soldiers' mothers used to make.   Then I sat and played the mandolin for a while.  We drilled again with some help from a neighboring company, which gave the guys a better view of how things should look, but also gave us instructions that contradicted what had come before (and what would come later).  

    After another break, we started the drill that would give us some experience firing rounds.  It was at 4:00.  Many of the new guys were anxious to do this. 

    We then went to the 154th monument for pictures.  It was clear early on that we would not be there at 5:00, like Julie was originally told,  but luckily she's experienced enough to not really expect that this time would be when we'd really get there.  We got there about 6:00.

     A wreath was laid at the front of the monument, though without much ceremony.  The soldiers all gathered in front for pictures.  The flag for the new organization was there, but I also brought the flag that we used before (the one that was dedicated on the day Julie and I met, and which we've taken all over).  The Hotchkiss family had their picture, and other smaller groups took their turns.  Then we walked (or drove) up Stratton Street to the Humiston monument to continue the pictures there.  

      We took our leave of the company at that point and went to McDonald's.  We stopped back at the re-enactment site to pick up some things and then returned to the hotel.  Scott had a tick on the back of his leg, but he hadn't used Deep Woods off like he did yesterday.  He's a little more freaked out by the ginormous spider that was crawling on his tent today.

      Post script:  Wow.  Looking back at the picture that accompanies this post, I am struck by the size of this group.  We never had anything like these numbers in the 154th NY from the 1980s and early 90s.