Excelsior Mess Reunion, Gettysburg- Sept. 19, 2025

    Around the late 1980s, during the 125th Anniversary of the Civil War, a number of small re-enacting groups in New York decided to pool their efforts.  None of them were very big on their own, but together, they could field a company sized unit, choose their own officers and NCOs, and not have to worry as much about who they were being thrown in with at events.  This umbrella group became known as the Excelsior Mess.  It was shortly after that organization was formed when Scott got involved in re-enacting.  Most of the biggest events that he attended, including both of the 125th anniversary events in Gettysburg, all of the Mumford events, the 125th anniversary of the Grand Review (when he and Julie got engaged) and many others, were when he was serving under the command structure of the Excelsior Mess.  They were a very important group of people to Scott in his formative college years-- up there with his friends from the dorms and the Undergraduate History Council.  There was one reunion that Excelsior Mess had back in 2004, when they brigaded together again at the 140th Anniversary of Cedar Creek in Virginia, and it already felt like we were Veterans Reserve Corps then.  Later, in 2012, there was a "Final" Excelsior Mess Reunion at the re-enactment in Mumford, and Scott was devastated to learn that he had planned for the wrong weekend and missed it entirely.   So many members have passed away since then.    

    Earlier in the summer on Facebook, one of the old members of the Excelsior Mess started organizing a reunion.  This event was being planned for Gettysburg, and Scott definitely wanted to be there for it.  In a previous post, back in 2018, Scott waxed philosophical about the meaning of Gettysburg in his life.  Being in Gettysburg again would just add to the importance of the event.  Julie decided to come with him, and Abby came along too.  She figured she could be his driver (his designated driver, as it were) and take Abby around to fun things while Scott was reminiscing with the guys.

    The plan for the weekend was that the people who had arrived in town would meet at the Reliance Mine Saloon on Friday evening, and then meet up on the battlefield on Saturday morning.  Scott and Julie both took part of the day off from school in order to leave Buffalo by 1:30.  Julie got Abby before picking up Scott and we were on the road, and made pretty good time.  We arrived in Gettysburg shortly before 8:00.  Julie dropped Scott off at the Reliance Mine Saloon-- a place that has a large number of stories in Scott's past-- and went to check into the hotel.  She swung back around at about 9:45, expecting Scott to come out around 10:00.  Scott, though, had been unable to locate any of the Excelsior members.  [We found out later that they had apparently moved to a different bar down the street- O'Rorke's.]  Scott was left alone, watching the bar clearing out from the many groups that were there when he first got there to just a few.  He ended up talking a local Gettysburger (who had quite a few of her own issues) and historian Bill Frassanito (whom he had previously met back in 2018).  Scott ended up leaving without ever making contact with any of his old friends.  He went back to the hotel with Julie and Abby and had some of their leftover pizza from Tommy's Pizza, so the night wasn't a total loss.

    We're hoping we'll find more people tomorrow.