Franklin Update -- Mississippi Valley Brigade

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Date Posted: Friday, August 06, 07:50am
Author: Gen. Griffin
Subject: Franklin Update

Battle of Franklin 2004
Update August 4th

Gentlemen, we are roughly 2 months away from what I think will be the benchmark event for the 1st Confederate Division. You may rest assure that the leaders of this event are pouring their heart and soul into the scenarios and planning. For our Brigade I have set us on a path to replicate the actions, almost to the exact detail, of Granbury�s Brigade. Some of those details will be explained in the sections below.

The work of the Generals and sight coordinators is only half of the work. Each member of this brigade has a huge part in making the event a success. I feel that you get out of an event what you put into it. My job is to provide the proper environment for you men to �act� the part of soldiers. So as we move forward, I ask that you do the research and prepare yourselves to become men of Granbury�s brigade. These are the units that our brigade will represent:

5th Confederate Regiment (the Irish Regiment) � Elk River Battalion
6th and 15th Texas Consolidated Regiment � Red River Battalion
17th and 18th Texas Dismounted Cavalry Regiment � TMVI

In addition to our infantry the Brigade will have a section of horse drawn artillery, a squad of cavalry, 2-3 supply wagons and a wagon sutler.

Although I do not expect 1st person conversation the entire weekend, all unit commanders and staff are very strongly encourage to use their historic names during the event. For example, I shall be called Gen. Granbury; Major Tom Stuart (our AAG) will be Lt. Col. Young, ect., ect. The idea is to get close to that �you are there� experience in some way. Again I do not expect 1st person conversation 24/7, however, I do request that our men avoid blatant conversation regarding 21st century topics, such as sports, TV, movies ect.

Arrival Time and Camping:

Ideally the best time to arrive is Thursday evening or early Friday morning. The schedule has been amended a bit to allow our Brigade to move to the Spring Hill site at around 3pm. The reason for this is that we want to have some daylight left when we get there. If you arrive after 3pm and you are going to be camping campaign style you may march to the site on your own. However, the road will be closed to foot traffic after 9pm. Therefore, you must stay in the base camp if you arrive too late. I am looking into the possibility of a vehicle shuttle for after hours but for now do not plan on that being available.

Col. Toren Blanco will be in command of the base camp for those staying in tents at the Oak Lawn plantation. He will take the remaining Brigade members to Spring Hill early Saturday morning. Our camp will be located on the western most part of the plantation to the right of the dirt road that leads to the sutlers. Maps will be provided.

It is important that everyone plans to �campaign� all day for Saturday. If you are staying in the base camp, you will be allowed to return but not until very late Saturday. The Brigade will be in the field from 8am until Midnight.

I have been told of some concerns that those staying at base camp will miss the battle action at Spring Hill. This is false. Although you will miss the grand guard activities, I will not allow our men to miss the battle. I expect Col. Blanco to lead the Division on arriving to the site anyway.

It is important that every private know which battalion they belong to (i.e. RRB, ERB, TMVI) and that they are in the Mississippi Valley Brigade. This will help them to find where they are supposed to be. Know one will no where to send them if they only have their company affiliation unless they run into someone from their company which is highly unlikely. So, know with whom you belong and save a lot of hassle.

Marching:

As we have said all along, there will be plenty of marching but this will not be a forced march. There will be several resting points along the way. On Friday afternoon, the Brigade will march two miles to the Spring Hill site. On Saturday, we will march roughly four miles overall. Those going to Spring Hill on Friday have the advantage of breaking the marching up over two days.

It is highly suggested that everyone begin some sort of conditioning exercise now to prepare for the event. You certainly do not need to train as if you are going to the Olympics but it would be smart to prepare a little. Secondly, pack light! You need very little to survive for two days in the field.

Rations:

Rations will be provided for those who send in their $5.00. The ration list has been amended somewhat to include items that those soldiers were issued according to documentation. The items are: salt pork, potatoes, onions, corn (on the cob), parched corn, corn meal and molasses cookies. Note: you will need to have a polk sack for the corn meal. Originally, the Brigade was going to provide pre-made corn fritters but the expense and logistic proved to be too troublesome. So, you men will have to make your own. The plus side is that they are very easy to make. A simple receipt will be provide on the Brigade web site under the articles link www.MVBrigade.org

Send your checks made payable to the 9th Texas Infantry sent to this address:

Mark Griffin
3555 Woodleigh Court
Dallas, TX 75229
Deadline is August 25th

Registration:

Registration is now $15.00 and is open until the end of August. One report shows that Granbury had 650 men that went into the fight. We are very close to having this number 100% represented. If everyman comes we can do something that is very rarely done.

To register go to the NSA web site www.NSAlliance.org

Uniform Suggestions:

The following was taken from the Red River Battalion message board. The Brigade will only be enforcing minimal uniform guidelines such as no moccasins, no animal skin clothing, no cowboy hats, Mexican sombreros, no sunglasses, no blue jeans, no Indian attire or other modern clothing. If you have new members who do not have the appropriate clothing please contact the Brigade staff and we will try to assist them in finding loaner gear. As always the Brigade desires to provide a positive atmosphere for our members to continue to improve their impressions without being barred from participation because of not meeting the guidelines 100%. Having said that, we must have some basic standards for our reputations sake as well as being somewhat accurate. Therefore we will indeed enforce the former minimal standards mentioned. Please do not show up in violation of the very basic standards. No one of us enjoys having to address a member who is not properly attired. Given the high caliber of reactors in this Brigade, I do not expect this to be an issue.

All units are encouraged to use these guidelines for Franklin as they have been put together based upon the latest available research:

FRANKLIN UNIFORM/KIT GUIDELINES

Note- A very large percentage of uniforms should exhibit evidence of hard campaigning. The look should be dirty and worn excepting those few items recently issued, confiscated, or captured. The list below is in order of perceived scarcity of types in the AoT at Franklin, with items further down the list being increasingly rare. Please select your items from as far up the list as possible.

It should go without saying that all uniforms and traps will be of correct manufacture and correct material and should display the level of detail accordant with higher quality of items.

Please err toward less rather than more. Remember these men had been without a true and constant base of supply for several months. In that space they had seen Atlanta fall and had marched back up the length of Northwest Georgia, through portions of Alabama and then northward into Central Tennessee, all without much in the way of re-supply. Clothing and particularly footwear was in a deplorable state. Accounts in great number give light to this. The look of the company should accordingly reflect the want of supply and the rigors of the recent campaign.

JACKET-

Department of Alabama (e.g. Demopolis jacket) � there is some evidence that Cleburne�s Division were issued clothing at Demopolis on there way up towards Nashville, so only these or the Mobile jackets listed below should look comparatively new)

Columbus Depot
1.Atlanta Depot
2.Homespun or Private Purchase Civilian Sack Coat
3.Mobile/Mystery Depot
4.CS Issue Four button jacket/sack coat
5.No jacket at all (shirt only- yes, scant as at seems, a very few men were so destitute as to lack jackets)

TROUSERS-

1.Military Issue (Georgia Relief or Other Issue preferred)
2.Civilian Homespun

Note- please avoid blue-grey kersey (British Army Cloth) and Federal Issue trousers

SHIRTS-

1.CS Issue Shirt of correct osnaburg or similar cotton fabric
2.Civilian shirt
3.Federal Issue shirts (limited numbers)

SOCKS-

1.Correct wool or cotton socks (tight weave, no rag wool, with correct fitted heel and ribbing w/o elastic)

DRAWERS-

Yes. Please! Correct material and construction.

SHOES-

1.CS Manufactured footwear
2.English import
3.Captured US booties

HEADGEAR-

1.Civilian style slouch hat (correct brim tape and hat ribbon)
2.Kepi
3.Cap of western CS manufacture (i.e. quitted cotton hat)

CARTRIDGE BOX (With leather or tarred canvas/cloth sling or no sling)

1.Unmarked CS issue
2.Atlanta Arsenal
3.English import
4.Federal repair/reissue (limited numbers w/o plate)
5.Painted Cloth

CAP POUCH-

1.Unmarked CS issue of leather or painted cloth
2.Atlanta Arsenal
3.English import
4.Federal repair/reissue (limited numbers)

WAISTBELT/BUCKLES-

1.Roller Buckle
2.Atlanta Arsenal with correct belt plate
3.Plain brass (rectangular)
4.CS �sardine� plate (see http://www.hanoverbrass.com/more2.htm plate number T49, 6th from bottom)
5.Texas Star Buckle
6.Georgia Frame
7.CS copper egg plate (see http://hometown.aol.com/mwdeweese/myhomepage/business.html)
8.English import (e.g. snake buckle)

CANTEENS-

1.CS Tin Drum
2.Captured US Smoothside or Bulls-eye
3.Correct Gardner or Nuckolls pattern wood canteen

HAVERSACK-

1.Plain linen/duck/cotton haversack
2.CS Tarred body with un-tarred strap
3.Correct Homespun Ticking bag
4.Repair/reissued Federal Haversack

KNAPSACKS-

1.US Double-bag (a fair number would be appropriate as Granbury�s Texans had several opportunities to procure these prior to and during the campaign, see Note 1)
2.CS Single bag/Mex War style
3.Blanket roll
4.Isaac and Campbell
5.French Import

BLANKET-

1.Civilian coverlet
2.Federal (see Note 1)
3.CS Issue Carpet (Wiley Sword�s work on the campaign lists several references to houses being stripped of carpets to supply blankets for the army, particularly by the time of the Nashville Campaign)
4.English Import
5.Quilts (limited number and MUST be of period design and manufacture)

Note- Blankets may be �stretched� as shelter halves are NOT recommended for this event (see below)

OVERCOAT-

1.Civilian pattern
2.CS Issue (see CS Echoes for examples)
3.Captured Federal (very limited numbers)

GROUNDCLOTH-

1.Correct CS Issue painted cloth
2.Captured Federal Issue (see Note 1)

TENTAGE-

Not recommended. The army was traveling lean and light. We will have one fly for the company, as per CS regulations/common field practice in the war�s latter stages.

WEAPON-

1.Enfield Rifle Musket
2.Springfield Rifle Musket
3.Enfield Rifle

Note- all weapons should have functioning/fitting bayonets if at all possible, and should be �de-farbed�.

Casualties:

We will be trying something very different and unique for the Franklin scenario. Each battalion will hold a casualty lottery at the event, which will be based upon the historical percentage of killed, wounded and captured for each regiment represented. Those men who draw a casualty are to remain as a casualty until after midnight in order to give the survivors the unique experience of being with out their comrades who were lost. We will not have a mass �resurrection� during the lull of fighting between the end of the Battle and the evening skirmishing. There will be period medical personnel to tend to the wounded during this time. Those who are captured will remain with their captors. Those who are killed will either be removed from the field or asked to slip away after dark BUT NOT BACK TO THE LINES. The wounded will be removed or wander back to the lines or, being disoriented, move toward the Federals. This includes command and staff of the Brigade and Regiments.

Provisions will be made for those who plan to attend the dance or wish to do other activities. All others will return to the ranks after midnight.

As an added experience you are asked not to disclose your fate to your fellow soldiers. Remember, we are trying to have a very unique perspective here.

Yes, there will be confusion, concern, and chaos�just like there was then. The difference is this is planned.

Event Pyro:

The event plans to have ground charges as well as some 450 overhead burst to use during each scenario.

Hand-to-Hand Combat:

The Red River Battalion has made specific arrangements with the Army of the Pacific to engage in hand-to-hand combat during the Franklin scenario. As a Brigade we will reach the Union breastworks, some men from each battalion will actually cross the work BUT only the RRB will engage in hand to hand. Gentlemen, this is critical. Those who cross the works and are not members of the RRB will either be killed or captured immediately upon approach of the Army of Pacific. These men will have drawn those casualty lotteries of course. Colonels, it is advised that you indicate that on certain lottery tickets for those men by random. Please seek details on this from your Battalion commanders.

Other Activities:

We will hold Grand Guard detail, fatigue details (making paths for artillery ect.) and other unique activities too lengthy to list here.

Event Car Traffic:

You will not be allowed to drive to the camp area between 2:30pm and 4pm on Friday due to the battle. All cars not out of camp by the scheduled times will be towed � no questions asked. Refer to the event schedule for the times at the NSA web site.

Gentlemen, as you can see there is quite a bit planned for the event. Make every effort to attend. You do not want to hear about Franklin you want to experience it!

Gen. Griffin
Mississippi Valley Brigade
www.MVBrigade.org

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