I picked up Bob at his house in Waukesha about 12:30 PM, Thursday, April 29th with a full tank of gas. I had my little van packed pretty full but we somehow got Bob’s stuff in. We got on I-43 and missed our turnoff to I-39 in Beloit, and stopped at a gas station for directions. The lady thought we were Amish, but pointed out that the entrance to I-39 was right across the street.
It was bright and sunny and we made good time until mid-way through Illinois when it started to rain heavily with high winds. One of the wipers came loose and we couldn’t see so we pulled off at the next exit, and fortunately the gas station had one. People were stopping their cars to watch Bob and I trying to change the wiper blade in the pouring rain. They must of also thought we were Amish. It stopped raining just outside of Springfield but the high winds continued.
Just before Springfield, the grill to my van got sucked off of the car, and Bob and I watched it spiral up straight into the heavens until it faded out of sight, never coming down. We dubbed it the Holy Grill. We made it to Ft. Belafontaine at about 7:30PM so we made good time despite some minor mishaps.
We were able to check in and get a couple bags of rations. Col. Terry Crowder’s wife gave us a warm welcome and escorted us to our camp location. We were able to set up camp before it got dark. The Col. came to welcome us also, and I presented him with a bottle of fine French Cognac which I had brought along as a welcoming gift. Bob and I built a campfire, sat around it for awhile, then settled in for the night. It did rain some that night but stopped by morning.
Friday morning was bright and sunny. The birds were so loud that they actually woke us up. They had good hardwood there so we still had enough coals to get the fire started. I went into town to get milk, bacon and eggs and several others helped us eat breakfast. The good weather held till about noon, when it started to rain again. Other units started to show up and our cavalry camp area started to fill up. Tom, Paul and Ken from our mounted also showed up in the afternoon.
The units that comprised the Union Cavalry, mounted and dismounted are HDQTRS, Div. Cavalry Brigade, 1st US Cavalry, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, 2nd US Cavalry, 6th Illinois Cavalry, 8th Illinois Cavalry, and the 8th Missouri Cavalry. I believe the count was 36 mounted and 28 dismounted. I believe the count for the Confederate Cavalry was 9 mounted and 33 dismounted. There were also Artillery and Infantry Units there. There were almost 700 pre registered for the event. Terry Crowder confirmed that most came despite the weather forecast. There was to be a night battle on Friday evening but it was cancelled because of the weather. We did have a great time around the campfires though, as the rain let up towards evening. I started playing my guitar and harmonica for background music, when the bugler from the 1st Wisconsin came over with a few friends and sang tunes to the melodies. We enjoyed the singing and all enjoyed some beer we had brought along and some snacks until lights out at about 11:00PM. You could go from camp to camp and the hospitality was just great.
I rained hard through the night. I woke up at about midnight, and found that there was a river running through our tent, right over my belly. I set up a bed on top of my hardtack boxes, which were also under water, and went back to sleep. It started to clear up at about 9:00AM Saturday Morning. Fortunately we kept adding wood to the fire through the night and still had coals. We left a pot out that was filled to the brim with rainwater, added some potatoes, stew meat and vegtables and were able to cook some breakfast.
There was a pistol check at about 9:30. Bob and I already had ours loaded but they wanted to check the barrels for obstructions. Bob and I had bought new buffalo pistols with 3 extra cylinders each and they didn’t have sticks long enough, so they used a musket ramrod. Then they checked the extra pistols we were carrying. Took awhile, Bob had 5 and I had 6. We were under Sgt. Mike Voss of the 1st US. The tactical started at about 11:00AM. Since Bob and I were the most heavily armed, it was decided that we would go ahead and walk point. We stumbled into about 40 Rebs hiding behind a stone wall. We casually started to walk back to our unit to notify them when the Rebs came out from behind the wall and got into a stance to fire. I emptied the buffalo gun at them which sent them back behind the wall, only temporarily, but long enough for Bob and I to escape.
The Rebs started to come at our unit, which was split, so we had less than 15 for the skirmish line. They were firing and moving closer as we were holding our skirmish line. Looked like we were going to be overrun. The order came to pull pistols and rapid fire, which Bob and I did willingly. Stopped them dead in their tracks. We then got Infantry Support, which hit them in the flanks, and they ran right down the trail they came up, not stopping until they hit their fortifications by the Mississippi River.
Our group reformed and followed them down the hill, after sending out scouts and flankers, moving cautiously as we were expecting an ambush. We made it down to within about 30 yards of their fortifications and took cover. They did have a 6" Mountain Howitzer pointed at the end of the trail, but we had all fanned out before that and there was nothing to shoot at. Most of the Rebs that had attacked us before were now in small groups behind old bombed out stone buildings and stone walls from Price’s Raid during the Civil War. The Mountain Howitzer kept firing at us, along with the Rebs behind walls and in building’s but we were pretty heavily entrenched.
I don’t like sitting down in a big mud hole so I found a big tree that was almost 6’ across to stay behind, within 20 yards of a wall the Confederate Infantry was firing from. I checked my watch and they would only get up and fire every 45 seconds, then go behind the wall. Figured I’d make my move. The next time they fired and tucked down behind the wall I walked down the hill with a pistol in each hand, unseen, and surprised them while they were loading. Two went for their pistols and I had to shoot them, and the rest surrendered, about 10. One tried to come up from the woods behind me and I had to shoot him too. They put up a white flag for a parlay, and one of the sergeants from the 8th Illinois came down. Guess they didn’t like being captured by one guy as they thought others were behind me. They took back their surrender and we went back to our positions unmolested during the truce.
Sgt. Mike Voss, Bob, and some of the Beourdan Sharpshooters were on a secret mission to capture the Field House that was supplying the Mountain Howitzer. They were trying to sneak up on the Rebs, but Bob lost his footing on the hill and took a Missouri Mud Ride down the hill. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt, but this alerted the Cannon Crew and they started firing on the hill, and everyone scattered, except for Sgt. Mike Voss who was by the building they tried to capture. A Lady came at him with a spatula in her hand, yelling, "You’re my prisoner, you’re my prisoner!" Said he didn’t have the heart to shoot her so he put away his pistol and went inside the building with her guarding the entry holding her spatula. Mike went to the window and cried, "Help, Help" but everyone walked away laughing.
During all this time the Union Cavalry was riding through the Confederate camp at will, shooting up the place. I guess that they didn’t know that a trap was being set. A part of the Union Cavalry, including Tom, Ken and Paul from the 2nd US, were going down a narrow lane in the woods behind the Confederate Camp. The Rebs had the Mountain Howitzer set up at the end of the run. Right behind them came the Confederate Cavalry. They were trapped! They got out of it but took heavy casualties and got shot up pretty badly.
Since it was getting to be late afternoon, and neither side having won outright, a truce was called. Just about the time we got back to camp, it started to rain very heavily, which continued on through the night. I was beat with carrying all that Iron for so many hours so I got something to eat and hit the sack early. I got up for a little while later and mingled for awhile, but shortly went back to sleep, worn out but content.
Sunday Morning it was still raining and all the campfires were extinguished, except the 8th Illinois, which had a woodpile nearby, and they kept a big fire going all night by watching it in shifts. They had volunteered to cook breakfast for those that would contribute. Bob and I had 2 dozen eggs left and a pound of bacon, which we donated and we ate a great breakfast there. The rain didn’t let up until about 10:00AM. Everyone was carrying things to their vehicles as all the vehicles that tried to drive on the field got stuck. I was able to get my van out of the lot and found a place to load off the gravel road about 200 yards away. Took us about an hour and a half to carry everything and load the van. Brought a lot more stuff than most folks do. As we were all worn out, and the van was loaded, we decided to forego the battle in the afternoon and head home.
Bob and I were caked with mud, so we stopped at the first public rest stop on the way back to change our clothes. My stuff was all wet but Bob had a fairly watertight box and was able to loan me some damp clothes. We left a thick trail of mud from the van to the men's restroom. Bet folks must of thought that we brought the horses in there. We got a little hungry on the way back and stopped at a Dairy Queen. The place quickly cleared out when we walked in. We ordered some ice cream, and the clerk handed us our cones and backed off. We didn't know if it was our appearance, if we had gotten a little ripe, or if they though we were Amish. We ate our cones outside. The rest of the trip home was uneventful.
Col. Terry Crowder was kind enough to send us photos of the Sunday Afternoon Battle. These are in the St. Lewis '03-04 Photo Album. I understand that there was TV coverage and a good turnout by the public. I also understand that it became warm and sunny after we left.
Despite the rain, we had a great time and got some great photos we are happy to share. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. The country was beautiful and the view from above of the Mississippi was outstanding. We hope to go back again next year.
Wally
(Click)PHOTOS '03-04
