American Civil War Reenactors

Wow.  It's been a busy spring and summer!  I've been behind not only in my painting but also in gaming and working on this blog.  But the great news is all the time I've spent with family and friends.

During the 2012 Memorial Day weekend (USA), I grabbed Honorable Sons number 3 and 5, along with Honorable Son number 3's girlfriend, and traveled to nearby Tannenhill State Park near Birmingham, AL for their annual American Civil War reenactment. 

The reenactment, though not large compared to the famous battle reenactments, is still an enjoyable opportunity to watch "living history" and talk to individuals that are very informative and passionate about their reenactment hobby.  Two fictional battles are fought each year:  on Saturday the Confederacy wins and on Sunday the boys in blue win.

This year, as I walked around in the 95+ degree farenheit heat (35 degrees celcius) with my ice cold root beer, I couldn't help but notice how the participants in wool uniforms were faring!  Many times that day I was thankful for the "modern" uniforms I wore during my military service.  During the battle, we sat comfortably in the shade under trees while the participants fought the battle.  Prior to the fight, I noticed more soldiers in full uniform:

Prior to the start of the battle, jackets were shed and gear reduced:

Fortunately there were no incidents with heat injuries.  Still, it reminded me how brutal weather can impact military operations.  I thought of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1st - July 3rd; it was hot and men needed water.  During my own military career, dehydration is always a concern.  My hats off to the participants fighting in the Alabama heat.

Three other thoughts from the battle:  Guns are noisy, they make a lot of smoke and it is hard to give orders when it's noisy and there's smoke!  I hadn't fired a weapon in years, and when I did (except when deployed) I always wore ear protection.  So you are leading your company, which is deployed in line and you want to point out the enemy that just appeared and  . . . BOOM! BOOM! BOOM AND ANOTHER BOOM!   "  . . . No, I said Company  . . . BOOM! BOOM! BOOM AND ANOTHER BOOM!  I think you get the idea.  Trying to control hundreds and thousands of men on a hot and smoky battlefield is not as easy as it looks.

Here are some pictures of the fight with forces advancing and firing.  The hazy pictures are not bad pictures, that's the smoke. 

 The Union had 3 cannons and the Confederacy had 2 cannons.  

 Note the smoke covering the battlefield when the 2 Union cannons fired.

 

 

 Makes command and control very interesting.  Fog of war anyone?

Great time.  Here are some other photos I snapped to use as painting guides for future American Civil War armies.

Fort Gaines

     I recently traveled with my family and friends to lovely Dauphin Island, Alabama for a relaxing vacation.  

      Dauphin Island is a beautiful beach community which is not overly commercialized; a few eating establishments, a bakery, great seafood, the Dauphin Island Sea lab and museum plus miles and miles of beach.  So let's recap: beach, great food, cool museum and the bonus of an American Civil War fort.  Sweet.

 

     Located in Mobile Bay, Dauphin Island had been home to the Native Americans and was first settled by the French in 1699.  Fort Gaines is on the eastern tip of the island and was built between 1821 and 1848. It was occupied by Confederate forces in 1861, and captured by Federal troops during the Battle of Mobile Bay.The phrase, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead," was spoken by U. S. Admiral David Farragut just a few hundred yards from Dauphin Island's shore.  Exhibits include the huge anchor from the USS Hartford Admiral Farragut's flagship during the battle.  

USS Hartford

The fort also has the original cannons used in the battle, five pre-Civil War brick buildings in the interior courtyard, operational blacksmith shop and kitchens, tunnel systems to the fortified corner bastions, and similar features.  A self-guided tour is available which took us approximately 1 hour to complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perry French Artillery in Overcoats

It's been a bit of a dry spell on the mustering (painting) front lately. The Emperor's forces in the Peninsular are sending dispatches as to when the artillery will arrive. Sat down last week and knocked out Perry Miniature's French Line artillery in overcoats.





As I started to paint, I was concerned that the blue overcoats would be too dark and the figures drab with the overalls also painted blue. I experimented by painting the overcoats with GW's Regal Blue and then using GW's Blue Wash over it. The effect made the overcoats shiny; but I wasn't concerned since I spray the figures with a flat overcoat when done. Just to play it safe, I did one figure completely first to make sure they weren't too glossy. As the photos demonstrate, they came out just right.




Now I just need to paint the guns and then mount them on two stands for Volley and Bayonet.

Perry French Imperial Guard Horse Artillery WIP #3

I finally finished the Perry Miniatures French Imperial Guard Horse Artillery for Volley and Bayonet. The conversion of the old Minifigs artillery turned out okay; the gun carriages look a little small but, hey, they'll work.


Next up will be the French Foot Artillery in overcoats with the actual 8lb guns provided by Perry Miniatures. In addition, I'm going to do 2 batteries of Front Rank Royal Horse Artillery at the same time.

Perry French Imperial Guard Horse Artillery WIP #2

As I mentioned last time, I mount 2 gunners per base for my Volley and Bayonet artillery in 28mm. Since I have 4 Guard Horse and 4 Line I was short 2 guns. I have 2 old French Guns that I have kept for along time with my "bits" and I believe they are Minifig 25mm. My plan is to utilize them as 6 lb guns. One of the guns has a broken axle so I sent it to the local depot for repairs.


Tools for repair will be the hand drill I bought from Games Workshop, a wire cutter, some small files (not shown) and super glue.

Brass rod is extremely handy an available in various diameters in most hobby shops. I have used brass rod for making standards and for strengthening the fit of some models.
I used the hand drill to drill out the old axle and make a deep enough hole for the brass rod. After a quick measurement and snip of the wire cutter, I put a few drops of super glue down the hole and inserted the brass.


I let the rod dry for five minutes and then glued on the wheel. I waited about 20 minutes to make sure the bond was set and then filed the end of the rod smooth.

I then gave the gun a quick (and I do mean quick!) paint job. For the wood I used GW's Goblin Greena and then a wash of Ork Flesh followed by a dry brushing of highlights with Camo Green. The metal fixtures are just black and the barrel was "wet" brushed with Shiny Gold.