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145th Gettysburg
July 3 through July 6, 2008
From the Diary of Sergeant Jim Murphy
7/1/08
Willie and I travelled together and arrived at Joey
Brownings house in Jacksonville around 10 pm. This was our rendezvous point as we had rented a 12 person van that we had all
plnned to travel in. We arrived and already there were Mike Evans, Al Perkins, Wayne Hartley Glen Barfoot and of course Joey.
They started the party early and were several beers into their evening. We all pulled up some floor space and settled in for
a good nights sleep as we were to arise at 6:00 am to pack the van quickly and get on the road.
7/2/08
In the morning we removed the back seat from the van
and began the packing process. It's a good thing that only 7 of us were going in the van because I beleive we wouldn't have
been able to take much more. As is typical this day turned into a long travel day. Our target destination was to arrive in
Gettysburg that evening. As we got to Fredrick, Maryland plans changed radically. As we were hungy and tired. At this point
Mike "Mr. Toad" Evans took over and was hell bent to find us a resturant. He succeeded spectacularly by getting us to a fabulous
barbque resturant named Daves. Not only was the food good but the establishment had an excellent selection of draft beers
including Guinness. We collectively decided that it would be best to share 2 motel rooms in Fredrick and we bedded down
for the night separating loud snorers from wheezers. This motel had no greasy lunps under the carpet. We fell asleep in the
knowledge and rationalization that this would be the best sleep we would get for the next 3 nights.
7/3/08
We arose before 6 am and ate a quick complementary
breakfast in the motel. We travelled up US 15 eventually making it to Gettysburg. We arrived at the site of the parade mashalling
area for our march through Gettysburg that morning at Gettysburg Middle School. For one reason or another the parade was delayed
until 11 am when we were told it would begin at 9 am. The parade was spectacular with all of the obligatory marshal music.
We stpped at the square and there was a ceremony surrendering the the twon to the Confederate command. After the parade we
loaded into our van and headed off to the event suite some 4 miles norht of town. Registration went very well and we were
complete in a few minutes (shades of Antietam registration). We completed registration and arrived at the confederate campaign
site in the early afternoon. We camped in a very well wooded location with pleny of shade. When we arrived ,the selction of
available sites in the woods was limited as it appeared that most came to the site forst, set up camp and then went to the
parade. We learned from the latest weather report that we were to expect rain for most of the weekend. We had all brought some
canvas and gum blankets and set about building shebangs. Willie, Perkins, Barfoot and I built a nice long shebang using
the branches and twigs available to us for the woods that we were in. The shebang had double layers of fabric in some
places. I was lucky to find a spot in a doubled up area. We had to dig roots and rocks out of the ground to make it close
to tolerable as we had no hay or straw. Joey decised to build his own shebang using canvas I gave him and some of his own pieces. I
must say that he biult a right repectable shebang with a modern curved roof to it. You can see it in the pictures of the event.
We met up with John Twitchell at the event and he camped under a fly that Mike Evans and Wayne had set up. We settled
down that night with someone saying ... "I think it would be nice if we had a nice soft rain" ... It rained softly
for while Thursday night until early in the morning on Friday when the heavans let loose. All of us in the shebangs got wet
including those under double protection.
7/4-6/08
The next day we arose to revelie and most of us went
down to the food vendor near the reenactor tram pickup point. This was a smart move as there was no fire that I could see
near by foir cooking or making coffee. We had a dress parade with the combined Florida and Georgia Battalions. We fell in
with Robert Simmons who played our captain. Willie was first sergeant for the combined company whose ranks were nearly 20.
Our fight on Friday was great. We cooked a meal of smoked sausage sandwiches using our rammers to cook the sausage. And would
you beleiuve, Joey was totin a container of mustard which we gladly oput on our sausages. The fight that we attended on Saturday
was not so good, The interesting thing was that Joey stayed back on Saturday durnig the fight volunteering to do what he does
soo goood- cooking. We had some eggs, bacon, taters and such that we decided to cook up for supper as we had a break in the
rain and decided to take adavntage. What was really graet was that when we got back from the fight supper was on! Joey went
sutler shopping crazy durnig this event buying a hat, a masons pin, and a buch of other stuff that I can't recollect, but
we were all amazed. Thge final Battle of the event was the coupe de gras which was Pickett's charge. We all fell in and charge
valiently charging the enemy. Out travails took us through a creek on the battlefield which was a real treat as it eas only
3 feet deep. Most of us had the attitude of what the hell we have been wet most of the weekend any way. We left the
event site travelling to just south of Richmond where we spent the night with Al Perlins daughter, Lisa her husband and their
really cute daughter Alana. We were bale to was the grime and seat off from the three days we spent in the field. We all slept
soundly in more comfortable arrangments as compared to the previous night.
7/7/08
We arose early and took Mis Lisa and Alana to breakfast
with us at Cracker Barrel the girls favorite resurant. The rst of the day was a guelling travel day with us arriving back
at Joey's aroung 6pm.
Ft. Clinch Secession Garrison
March
15 and 16, 2008
From
the Diary of Sergeant Jim Murphy with literary input from 1st Sergeant Willie Evans
I arrived late to the event
making my appearance in the mid morning due to some unforeseen transportation problems. I arrived at the fort and was challenged
at the Sallie Port
by private Barfoot. Through some careful negotiation I was able to acquire the password to enter the fort. It has something
to do with a dick. Anyway I arrive at my post and was immediately placed into service working as the corporal of the morning
guard for the fort. The boys all looked really fine form the Fernandina Militia all spiffed up in their blue battle shirts
and their white buff leathers. We were also joined by the Baldwin Militia who appeared in their Mexican War uniforms. Were
they ever a sight to see! They were lead by “General Mitch”.
Dinner couldn’t have
come much too soon for me as I was famished due to my long ordeal with my transportation. It was ham sandwiches, pickles and
cookies and some cool lemonade. The afternoon caught some of the Fernandina Militia firing the 3 inch ordnance rifle with
some practice rounds. This was mighty thrilling for me as I was able to work my way to the number 4 position which is the
one who actually pulls the lanyard to fire the gun. My, that gun can sure bark. What a thrill to see the citizens take notice
when it goes off.
We had a good contingent
of cooks in the fort who did us mighty fine for the meals. Mr. Danforth cooked us some mighty fine bread in one of the fort
ovens. Many thanks to him. The cooks in the kitchen are to be thanked as well in keeping the food hot when it needed to be
and keeping the lemonade cool.
One event that got the
boys really excited was a target practice that we had around mid afternoon Saturday. It was a contest to see how many cans
each of the shooters could shoot off of the north bastion. What sport that was! We each took a turn in line moving up to the
shootin spot taking our best shot at three cans on a wall. Some of the boys were really good shots especially the ones who
had the rifled musket. I must say that my smooth bore ’42 was meant to shoot at cans from that distance as I only hit
2 out of 8 tries. I must say that some of the boys with flintlocks did pretty good. At least 2 times during this event, we
were mustered to the fort wall and ordered to fire out of the rifle ports to get the fell of fighting form those places would
be like. I must say those guns bark back pretty loud at the wall. On one occasion we the Fernandina Militia were firing our
volleys over the heads of the Baldwin Militia who were set up in the sand outside the fort. I don’t think they took
too kindly to this as they moved on quickly once they knew were serious about our firing practice.
We ate a fine supper on
Saturday night of stew, lemonade and bread topped off by more cookies. We then retired to the meeting area outside of the
fort for some sport drinkin and tall tale telling. We sure had a great time as the laundresses and cooks joined in on the
festivities.
Sunday we leaned by mid
morning that we were to evacuate the fort and move inland to be transported by train as we were now a part of the Confederate
army. Many of us didn’t know it but when we were signing for and drinking our whisky ration a few days earlier we were actually signing on to the CSA army. Many of the boys were not pleased as
we were becoming quite comfortable with our fort duty and provisions. We knew we had to leave but when the time came the only
ones of the militia to leave and board the train were Russ Crawford, Joey Browning, Wayne Hartley, our long lost brother Glenn
Barfoot, Willie Evans, Frank Billeter, Rich Schlegel, Al Perkins and myself Jim Murphy. We hold out hope that the rest of
the militia will catch up to us including Stump, Pa and brother Wes.
The
144th Anniversary Battle of Olustee
February
16 and 17, 2008
From
the Diary of Sergeant Jim Murphy with literary input from 1st Sergeant Willie Evans
I arrived early to this event on Thursday February 15. The camps were sparse
with participants but they were beginning to fill up as the day went on. I met with Colonel Bowman and discussed the location
where the company would camp. He suggested a great spot just south of the first street next to the civilian camping area.
This was an area that had recently been cleared of bush. I went ahead and claimed
this spot for company F as a campaign spot. I set my shebang up in a prime spot under a tree. I gathered some firewood in
anticipation of needing it for the next day. I turned in early that night and got myself a really good nights rest in anticipation
of the weekend’s events. The temperature found its way down to the low 30’s that night.
Friday around mid-morning the school children began to arrive at the site
for their school tours. I did not receive any visits form the kids. By early afternoon our new recruit, Wes Donnelly made
his appearance with his daughter Belle in tow. I introduced myself and helped him set up his tent right next to my shebang.
Wes is a really nice guy and will make an excellent recruit I pondered. During the day I was able to get the first sergeant’s
rifle fixed at James County Sutler. During my foray to the sutlers I was able to find me a really good deal on a pair of trousers
from the Brigade Sutler. I also picked up a fine used haversack. As the day progresses more veterans began to show by mid
afternoon Pa and Al Perkins arrived. They tented together in our campaign area. Also appearing for the first time in years
was Stump who related that he was back for good after spending some time doing Rev war. Dan Hackney and Wayne arrived later
in the afternoon. Hackney set up a fine little lean too and Wayne
just threw down on the ground. Joey Browning appeared that afternoon as well an made his bed next to the fire. We waited in
anticipation for our long lost recruit, Glenn Barfoot to make his return appearance as promised that afternoon but to no avail.
We hope nothing seriously happened to prevent him from mustering with us.
That evening, most of us had agreed that we would not attempt to cook and
went to forage at the food vendors. Wayne ate something called
chili out of a can at camp. We returned to the camp and built a fire to begin the frivolity that normally follows in the light
of “caveman television”. We had a cameo appearance by the long lost Max Shelley and a pard of his. They were staying
with Jorge Jaeger and the artillery to mostly feast upon the delicacies presented in their camp. Max looked like a Hells Angel
biker with a double spike goatee. A sight to behold! He alluded to the fact that he and his pard would return and fall in
with us the next day to fight with company F. In typical Max fashion, he disappeared for the rest of the weekend without coming
back. He did put on one hell of a show Friday night as he visited our campfire and swapped old tales about our pards present
and away. The frivolity was fueled by a pass the bottle experience around the fire. I can honestly say that the last time
we saw Max that night he was in no pain.
Saturday morning brought reveille at 6 AM on a moderately cool morning
with temperatures in the high 40’s. The weather was clear and beautiful. Most of us beat feet to the food vendors to
grab a quick cup of coffee and return back to camp for the 7:15 AM fall in preparation for the battalion march to colors at
the monument. We had decided the night before that we would not participate in the parade as Wes and Joey needed to do some
sutlering and some training as well in anticipation of the tactical that would be fought that afternoon. Wes bought a uniform
and a rifle with accoutrements Joey bought a rifle and accoutrements. Some of the veterans threw in to provide them some cartridges.
Saturday night we had a fine stew made from the beef and vegetables provided
by the Blue Gray army. After cleaning up we had a few libations around the camp fire and headed to the dance to view the spectacle.
We returned to the camp fire and the pass the bottle was initiated by Wes. Wes found himself sleeping outside his tent as
a result until sometime in the early morning where he stumbled his way back into his tent.
Sunday morning we marched to and from colors and returned to camp to cook
a fine breakfast of sausage and eggs and potatoes and onions. This was a fine breakfast that fortified us for the battle to
come on Sunday afternoon. As a pick me up we had some meat sandwiches just prior to the battle. Come battle time we fell in
a paraded smartly with the battalion to the battle location. In typical fashion we fell out after stacking arms and held our
traditional apple, cheese and goober party. The battle went according to script and we were in the square facing the enemy
repelling cavalry. A shell went off in our square and we skedaddled to the woods leaving our wounded and dead. We regrouped
in the woods and after our artillery pounded the yanks for several minutes we marched back out in front of the guns and pushed
the yanks back to Jacksonville. Several brave boys of the
company were wounded or killed including Joey, Al Perkins, Wayne and others.
The
143rd Anniversary Battle of Natural Bridge March 1-2, 2008
From
the Diary of Sergeant Jim Murphy with literary input from 1st Sergeant Willie Evans
1st Sergeant Willie and I arrived at the site just after 1:30
PM on Friday February 29. We used the Old Plank road to approach the site from the south off of US 98. This road cuts several
minutes off the trip. Last year we attempted to approach from that direction, but the road was so wet that we had to turn
around. We were more fortunate this year as it was an easy cruise. There were few participants when we arrived but the small
space dedicated to the reenactors authentic camping began to fill quickly. We ended up camping near the Georgians and across
from Mr. Fletcher, Mitch and the rest of the militia. We built a shebang lean-to similar to the one that I had built at Olustee
2 weeks earlier. Wayne Hartley was expected to arrive but make his arrival much after supper so Willie and I ventured into
Woodville to find something to eat. For all of you who participated last year, Willie and I ate in the “El Tippo”
restaurant once again. We ate there as there was little else to choose from in Woodville. Upon our return we built a signal
fire in front of our shebang so that Wayne could find it.
Within an hour or so Wayne made his appearance and elected
to throw down with us inside of the shebang. The shebang was so good that I believe it would make Bill McGowan proud. We spent
the weekend camped between the usual collection of A frames and a huge Sibley tent. It is amazing that for such a small engagement,
that there can be so much canvas, hardware, furniture and other such comforts of life.
Saturday morning brought us preparing for colors. As Willie
and I decided to bring our Fernandina Blue militia impression we went as militia the entire weekend. Wayne elected to go to colors on Saturday Morning as militia but had brought his Yankee gear
for whatever he needed to do. We fell in with “General Mitch” of the Gadsden Grays along with the other 8th Florida boys. Captain Fletcher of the 7th Florida Company
K also served as a private in the militia. The general was a sight to see with his own personal valet carrying a parasol to
keep the sun from his delicate complexion. As usual, colors included the typical merriment that occurs on Saturday. Boudreau
of course, was a large part of the insanity as well. Our breakfast meal consisted of ham steak, scrambled eggs and the usual
collection of vegetables fried up and good old camp coffee. In the battle on Saturday Willie and I fought as militia making
our arrival into battle at the last moment. Wayne chose the
dark side to fight with. I saw him die on the other side of the field from my position. It was truly a sad sight. Our evening
meal was a repeat of the morning meal less the scrambled eggs. The dance was small but friendly and the CSO had provided some
nice cakes and cookies for us to snack on.
Sunday we actually made coffee and cooked breakfast and cleaned
it up before colors. Breakfast was a repeat of the fare we had on Saturday morning. The colors ceremony was short and proper.
We returned to our camps to prepare for the days fight that afternoon. We had the opportunity to interface with the public
as they wandered through the camps. Many were interested inn our impression and our representation of camp life. The asked
many questions about the weapons and the life of the soldier. Some were impressed with our shebang and took photographs. Willie
and I approached Major Rominger about setting aside a campaign area at the event site for folks like the 7th who
would want to camp that way and portray a more authentic impression. We pointed out a spot near the ranger’s house on
an abandoned piece of road behind the camps. The major said he would see what he could do.
The fight on Sunday was pretty intense and we as militia stood
our ground on the left side of the line near the far left guns. We saw the Yankees push at us a total of three times bringing
their color with them on the last charge. We held steady and poured fire into them eventually turning their valiant charge
into a hasty retreat. We were glad to find out that Wayne
survived his Yankee assignment to fight with us again another day.
This is a damn good event where you are treated right and
the park service is really glad that you are there to help bring attention to the site. The fire wood is abundant and the
hay is free. There are few places in Florida and the south,
which I have been to, where you can fight on an actual battlefield. This event deserves the support of the Battalion.
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