The Tyrants' Foe      

Newsletter of the Texas Rifles

Volume XXII, Number 1 ****************************************** January 2006

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***Next Maximum Effort Event***

Winedale Muster & Business Meeting

January 21^st-22^nd, 2006  Round Top, TX

Editors Note:  I apologize for the delay in getting this issue distributed.  I’m afraid I let the holidays get away from me.  Hope to see you at Winedale, Don.

Captain's Dispatch                                 

Our next Texas Rifles event is my favorite one each year… Winedale.  Winedale 2006 will begin the 19^th year of the Texas Rifles as an organization.  Funny as it sounds in a hobby that has been around for more than 40 years, this is an extraordinary achievement.  Other organizations exist with longer histories, but many of them have become mere names with miniscule memberships and memories of past glories.  The Texas Rifles manage to carry-on as a functioning, forward looking organization.  It was perhaps best summed-up by Alan Huffines in a conversation he had with Jack King.  Jack, as he is want to do, was telling Alan how his organization was bigger, better organized, more practical and smarter than the Texas Rifles when Alan replied, “Don’t you think that you should listen to these people; they have been doing this for twenty years!”

 

At Winedale 2006 we will consider several important issues including events for 2006, uniform changes and the election of officers.  Yes, I plan to stand for re-election as the captain of the Texas Rifles.  The tradition for the past decade or so with the Captain’s office has been for each man to serve two years and step down.  While there have been occasions when I found this tradition to be counter-productive, over all I think it remains one of our strengths as an organization and has contributed to our longevity.  Many of the stale reenacting organizations became so because one person remained in charge.  New people bring new ideas and ways of doing things; in short a fresh beginning for the organization.  I certainly plan to honor this tradition if reelected and after 2006 to return to my natural vocation of an enlisted man constantly muttering about stupid officers (I have felt very constrained about that over the past several years and yearn for vocal freedom).  This two year tradition has never extended to our other offices.  NCOs other than the First Sergeant, committee chairpersons and the treasurer have always been appointed.  I believe Frank Marek served as First Sergeant for three years.  We have had Civilian Coordinators such as Vicki Betts who have served for five years.   Our Bylaws have been written to give our organization a great deal of flexibility in this and other matters and that also is one of our strengths as an organization.

 

I wish you all a memorable holiday season and afterward I ask you all to come to Winedale.  Be prepared to think, vote and participate in the life of the YOUR organization… The Texas Rifles!

 

Regards, Captain John Keahey

Because the Sergeant Says So!

 

 

As we approach the winter lull, I find myself reflecting on the past year with great pride.  We have, to a man (and woman), not only kept up the Texas Rifles tradition of excellence in the field, we have actually enhanced it.  Our relationship with the 9^th Texas has been both fruitful and a real pleasure.  For the first time in several years, we are serving alongside fellow living historians whose view of the hobby is very similar to our own.  As your First Sergeant, it has been my honor to serve at a time of such tremendous promise.  I have seen messes grow in size and, in the case of the Davis clan, in personality/intoxication as well.  Drill is improving, although it can always get better (Wink!  Wink!).  Moreover, I have seen leaders emerge this year as NCOs who may be called upon to guide the company during the years to come.  For these things, and the continuing efforts of our amazing membership, I am heartily thankful.  In this holiday season, it is particularly important to remember that we are not just reenacting enthusiasts—we are a family.  For your friendship and support, I am enormously grateful.  You’ve made my job very easy, indeed!

 

Good bless you and to the tyrants NEVER yield!

 

First Sergeant Phil Sozansky 

 

 

 

From the Home Front

 

It’s been great to see the growth of the civilian group over the last two years.  We’ve come a long way both in numbers and knowledge, but I think we all want something more out of our reenacting experience. Luckily, it is something we can change together.  Now is the time for us to have an open conversation about our vision for civilian reenacting in the Texas Rifles. All civilians need to be thinking about what we want out of an event weekend and do whatever we can do make that happen. 

 

It sounds so simple, right?  Well, of course it isn’t.  I think events like Ft. McK and the future event at Henkel Square are the most satisfying, but how do we capture that kind of experience at an event like Liendo?  In addition to what we want out of events, we also need to voice our opinions about the events we choose to attend.  There are some events further fields that have a great reputation for having excellent civilian activities.  Is it feasible to attempt to attend these events? 

 

See you at Winedale, Nancy

Winedale 2006

(taken from a Yahoo Group email on 1/3/06)

 

Members-  Winedale 2006 is fast approaching and several things remain to be done before it can take place.

 

1)       Food.  The meals that will be served are Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner and Sunday breakfast.  Breakfast and lunch are $6.00 each and dinner is $8.00, so an individual eating all for meals will need to pay a total of $26.00.  Dues remain at $12.00 per person and $18.00 per family.

 

2)       I need a head count of who plans to attend Winedale.  This headcount must be turned-in to the Winedale staff by January 11 for their planning purposes.  Please respond to YOUR REGION COORDINATOR

with your attendance and meal plans.  Region coordinators will please pass the attendance responses on to me by 1/11. You can certainly attend Winedale without paying for any meals, but there are no other eating places on the property.  It would be nice to have all our members at the Saturday dinner.  If you can only attend one day, then please do; better that then missing the experience all together.

 

3)       I need to know the location and contents of all ammo boxes.  We will need ammo for skirmishing and the Firing Competition.  I hear that "Smoking Mike" Lucas is itching for revenge and to return the honors of winning the Firing Competition to the Austin Region.

 

4)       Uniform will be Confederate Infantry with full accoutrements, canteen and haversack.  Saturday dinner can be more formal, so if you have a dress uniform or more formal clothing for the civilians please wear it.

 

5)       As usual we will be sleeping on the floor in the buildings, so cots, sleeping pads, air mattresses etc. are encouraged.  Pretend you are in a mainstreamer artillery outfit, but leave the wall tent, stove, heaters and chairs at home.

 

6)       Sponsors will need to contact our recruits and encourage them to attend.  Military recruits are Wes, Joe and Ramon.  Make equipment and clothing arrangements with the TR QM for kit for the military recruits.

 

7)       Winedale 2006 will have all the usual fun happenings: slide show, auction, drills, skirmishing, classes and demos, for sale stuff, business meeting and the Sunday competitions.  Don't miss it!

 

I look forward to seeing you all at Winedale.  

 

Regards, jmk

 

Directions to Winedale at:  http://www.cah.utexas.edu/divisions/Winedale/winedalemap.html

501(c)(3) Committee Report

 

I have been researching the steps and requirements for establishing a non-profit organization. I am putting

together a matrix showing the pros and cons for discussion at Winedale; it will be available prior to Winedale for your review to help keep the discussion to a reasonable time frame. 

 

Some things to keep in mind include why we want to establish non-profit status: is it concern about

taxation or liability or both? An organization with a yearly gross income under $5,000 does not have to file

non-profit status with the IRS unless it wants the assurance that contributions to the organization are tax deductible. If liability is the issue, simply filing with the Secretary of State as a non-profit organization will meet that need. There is a substantial fee to file non-profit status with the IRS. 

 

The only 501(c)(3) exemptions we would be eligible to file under would be educational. We will want to look

very carefully at our activities so ensure we meet the IRS' qualifications. 

 

Once the matrix is completed, I will post it to the Texas Rifles Yahoo page in the files folder for you to access.

 

Annette Bethke

Friend  Against  Friend

 

We have all heard the American Civil War (War of the Rebellion, War of Northern Aggression, and War Between the States) referred to as a struggle so personal in its loyalties that it literally pitted “brother against brother.”  There exist many sad examples of families with combatants on both sides, particularly in the border states such as Maryland, western Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri.  What is less discussed is how often opposing officers in the Civil War knew each other well, even down to command style and personality quirks.  General Robert E. Lee was quick to take advantage of his personal knowledge of Federal General George McClellan’s cautious approach to battle in the campaigns of 1862.  After McClellan, the Federal Army of the Potomac received General George G. Meade as its leader.  Lee also knew him and remarked, “Meade will make no mistakes on my front.”

 

The reason these men knew each other goes back to the pre-Civil War United States Army.  The U.S. Army was intentionally kept small by the Federal government.  The English tradition of large standing (regular) armies were not only expensive, but politically oppressive.  The British Crown had often used its army to suppress riots and political opposition and the public memory was long.  In an age when France had been forced by the victors in the long Napoleonic Wars to reduce its standing army to only 100,000 men, the miniscule U.S. Army was only 4,000 men.  After the Mexican War of 1846-48 our army strength was authorized to be 16,000 officers and men, but enlistments were low and the actual pre-Civil War strength was only 12,000.  Total officer strength was around 4,000 and many of these officers were inactive or left the service to work in the civilian sector.  To put this in perspective, the pre-Civil War U.S. Army officer corps was the same size numerically as my high school!  With a tiny army and too many officers, promotion was glacially slow.  Officers would spend years in the same grade and on the same remote frontier outposts; their sole companions being their families, if present, and their fellow officers.  Every officer was personally acquainted with many other officers, sometimes deeply so.  This situation is beautifully summed-up in a paragraph from the book, “Battle Cry of Freedom”, by James McPherson.  McPherson writes, “Serving together on [General Winfield ]Scott’s staff [during the Mexican War] were two bright lieutenants, Pierre G. Beauregard and George B. McClellan.  Captain Robert E. Lee’s daring reconnaissance’s behind Mexican lines prepared the way for two crucial American victories.  In one of his reports Captain Lee commended Lieutenant Grant.  The latter received official thanks for his role in the attack on Mexico City; these thanks were conveyed to him by Lieutenant John Pemberton, who sixteen years later would surrender to Grant at Vicksburg.  Lieutenants James Longstreet and Winfield Scott Hancock fought side by side in the battle of Churubusco; sixteen years later Longstreet commanded the attack against Hancock’s corps at Cemetery Ridge, an attack led by George Pickett, who doubtless recalled the day that he picked up the colors of the 8^th Infantry in its assault on Chapultepec when Lieutenant Longstreet fell wounded while carrying these colors.  Albert Sidney Johnston and Joseph Hooker fought together at Monterrey; Colonel Jefferson Davis’s Mississippi volunteers broke a Mexican charge at Buena Vista while artillery officers George H. Thomas and Braxton Bragg fought alongside each other in this battle with the same spirit with which they would fight against each other as army commanders at a ridge a thousand miles away in Tennessee.  Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, and George Gordon Meade served as Scott’s engineer officers at the siege of Vera Cruz, while offshore in the American fleet Lieutenant Raphael Semmes shared a cabin with Lieutenant John Winslow, whose U. S. S. Kearsarge would sink Semmes C. S. S. Alabama seventeen years later and five thousand miles away.”

 

This tragic situation of friends against friends may have made post war peace possible.  It is easier to recognize greatness of effort and to forgive loss when you know and understand your enemies.

 

John M. Keahey, 12/1/05

Authenticity Committee

 

At Liendo the reasons for the revised CS guidelines were given. In summary, we have a number of documented uniform items in CS service, and we want to make the information useful to the membership in terms of items most commonly seen in each theater of the war. Those members who wish to obtain those optional items of kit, will have a framework in which  guide purchasing decisions based on events we attend and personal preference.

At Winedale, we should also have the vendor list completed, which will let the members purchase items approved for authenticity from known sources. By doing this we hope to save our members the trouble caused by having to replace items which do not meet the standards of the TR. This will also assist new members, by serving as a road map to obtaining quality items.
 
Tommy L. Attaway

Frontier Region 

While membership on the region has not increased, we do have an ammo box and are able to issue ammunition.

 

Tommy L. Attaway

Baseball Caps

 

The baseball caps are finally in!  Most of the caps have been distributed to members.  The cap price was set at $25 with any profits going directly to the Texas Rifles.  I’ll bring the 2-3 remaining caps to Winedale where they will be sold on a 1^st come, 1^st served basis.  If you’ve received a cap & not yet paid, please send a check to Treasurer Doug Davis or bring payment to Winedale.  Thanks, Don.

 

Singing Soldiers

 

One of the differences between our entertainment of today and that of the 19^th Century was the degree to which people created their own amusements. One of the most popular pastimes was playing and singing music. Stephen Foster was one of the most popular composers, and the sheet music industry took off in the 1850s, making popular songs available to much of the population. Family and friends gathered around a piano was a common entertainment for an evening.

 

When the mini-series The Blue and the Gray was filmed in the mid 80s, many living historians considered the camp scene of soldiers singing around a camp fire to be the best living history scene of the film…

 

Here are the lyrics of some popular songs which most people would have been able to sing…. Tommy Attaway.

 

Obviously one of the most popular songs among Secesh was

 

The Bonnie Blue Flag

Harry McCarthy

 

We are a band of brothers,
Native to the soil
Fighting for the property
We gained by honest toil.
And when our rights were threatened,
The cry rose near and far;
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star!

chorus:
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, Hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star!

As long as the Union
Was faithful to her trust,
Like friends and brethren,
kind were we, and just;
But now, when Northern treachery
Attempts our rights to mar,
We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue flag
That bears a single star.

First gallant South Carolina
Nobly made the stand,
Then came Alabama
And took her by the hand;
Next, quickly, Mississippi,
Georgia, and Florida,
All raised on high the Bonnie Blue flag
That bears a single star.

 

 

 

 

 

Ye men of valor gather round
The banner of the right,
Texas and fair Louisiana
Join us in the fight;
Davis, our loved President,
And Stephens statesmen are;
Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star.

And here's to brave Virginia,
The Old Dominion State.
With the young Confederacy
At length has linked her fate.
Impelled by her example,
Now other States prepare
To hoist on high the Bonnie Blue flag
That bears a single star.

Then here's to our Confederacy,
Strong we are and brave,
Like patriots of old we'll fight,
Our heritage to save.
And rather than submit to shame,
To die we would prefer
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue flag
That bears a single star.

Then cheer, boys, cheer,
Raise a joyous shout
For Arkansas and North Carolina
Now have both gone out;
And let another rousing cheer
For Tennessee be given
The single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag
Has grown to be eleven!

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This song was written before the war, but by 1864 had grown enormously in popularity for obvious reasons.

 

Tenting Tonight

           Walter Kittredge

 

We're tenting tonight on the old camp-ground
Give us a song to cheer
Our weary hearts, a song of home
And friends we love so dear.

Chorus
Many are the hearts that are weary tonight
Wishing for the war to cease,
Many are the hearts looking for the right
To see the dawn of peace.
Tenting tonight, tenting tonight
Tenting on the old camp-ground.

We've been tenting tonight on the old camp-ground,
Thinking of days gone by
Of the loved ones at home that gave us the hand,
And the tear that said, "Good-by !"

Chorus

We are tired of war on the old camp-ground;
Many are the dead and gone
Of the brave and true who've left their homes;
Others been wounded long.

Chorus

We've been fighting today on the old camp-ground,
Many are lying near;
Some are dead, and some are dying,
Many are in tears.

Last Chorus
Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,
Wishing for the war to cease;
Many are the hearts looking for the light,
To see the dawn of peace.
Dying tonight, dying tonight,
Dying on the old camp-ground.

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Other songs came from the background of the immigrants, and then became well known among the general population of the US.

 

Garry Owen

 

Let Bacchus' sons be not dismayed
But join with me, each jovial blade
Come, drink and sing and lend your aid
To help me with the chorus:

Chorus
Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.

We'll beat the bailiffs out of fun,
We'll make the mayor and sheriffs run
We are the boys no man dares dun
If he regards a whole skin.

Chorus

Our hearts so stout have got no fame
For soon 'tis known from whence we came
Where'er we go they fear the name
Of Garryowen in glory.
Chorus

 

 

 

Soldier's Pay During the Civil War

 

Union privates were paid $13 per month until after the final raise of 20 June '64, when they got $16. In the infantry and artillery, officer was as follows at the start of the war: colonels, $212; lieutenant colonels, $181; majors, $169; captains, $115.50; first lieutenants, $105.50; and second lieutenants, $105.50. Other line and staff officers drew an average of about $15 per month more. Pay for one, two, and three star generals was $315, $457, and $758, respectively.

The Confederate pay structure was modeled after that of the US Army. Privates continued to be paid at the prewar rate of $11 per month until June '64, when the pay of all enlisted men was raised $7 per month. Confederate officer's pay was a few dollars lower than that of their Union counterparts. A Southern B.G for example, drew $301 instead of $315 per month; Confederate colonels of the infantry received $195, and those of artillery, engineers, and cavalry go $210. While the inflation of Confederate Money reduced the actual value of a Southerner's military pay, this was somewhat counterbalanced by the fact that promotion policies in the South were more liberal.

As for the pay of noncommissioned officers, when Southern privates were making $11 per month, corporals were making $13, "buck" sergeants $17, 1^st sergeants $20, and engineer sergeants were drawing $34. About the same ratio existed in the Northern army between the pay of privates and noncommissioned officers.

Soldiers were supposed to be paid every two months in the field, but they were fortunate if they got their pay at four-month intervals (in the Union Army) and authentic instances are recorded where they went six and eight months. Payment in the Confederate Army was even slower and less regular.

Source: "The Civil War Dictionary" by Mark M. Boatner           http://www.civilwarhome.com/

 

  

Newsletter Deadlines

The next newsletter deadline will be after Winedale. Thanks, Don

Survey

		Texas Rifles   2005 Membership ID   Name	Emergency Contact: Name Phone # (XXX) XXX-XXXX	Medical Information: Allergies: none Other: none
			If lost, please mail to : Texas Rifles 2810 W. Pebble Beach Dr. Missouri City, TX 77459 This ID is to be presented at the first company formation at each Texas Rifles event, and should be carried on you throughout the event.  Please keep a copy of your medical insurance information with this card.  ID card replacement fee is $5.00.
Company Recruiting Hotline: 281-261-0665	Company Website: http://www.texasrifles.org/

                                    Front                                                                            Back

IMPORTANT: All members (military and civilian) who haven’t passed along the ID info., please send me the following information so we can get the TR ID cards made!  Thanks, Don.

Name:

Emergency Contacts:

Contact Numbers:

Medical Info:

            Allergies: (especially to medications)

            Other: (i.e. heart, asthma, etc.)