Oct 2008

Next Meeting

November 7^th at 7:30PM

At the Home of Bob Brown

Buffalo Grove, Ill

UP COMING EVENTS

Annual Membership meeting

The next meeting to be held is the annual membership meeting. This is the big meeting of the year. The Battery adjutant has asked for those who wish to run for an office and for those recruits who wish to become a Volunteer which allows them to vote and to hold an office to contact him. Those who are presently holding an office, it will be assumed that you wish to continue to hold that office. If you wish to no longer to hold your present office please contact the Commander.

Bring your check book for dues for 2009 will be collected. It is a total of $85 this year. ($65 for the national dues, $10 for the Western Region and $10 for the Battery)

Also at this meeting new rules pertaining to team registration fees, displays at gun and relic shows, reimbursement for transporting Battery property, and credits for participating in fund raising events will be discussed.

So if you are going to make at least one meeting this year, please attend this one.

Field Reports

118^th Nationals – Sanitation Crew

The Battery had been readying itself for this event. Commander John was picked as the Sanitation Officer and he talked to several past officers of the latrines to find out what to expect. Meanwhile Stan made several reconnaissance missions to map the locations and strength of the latrines. So with this information the week of the cleaning started.

Stan arrived on Monday to find out that a Peggy from the 7^th Wisc of the NWT had started to clean several of the bathrooms on the hill. Stan set up the camp site and waited for reinforcements. These were in place by Tuesday morning. Not only were Stan and Commander John there but John T, Dick and Matt Koch. Matt was actually played by Bob Koch, Dick’s brother who came from Phoenix to visit and was drafted into the battery for the week.

It was with these six brave souls that the first initial cleaning on Tuesday was completed. Stan’s portable gas power-washer was a big help. Peggy fit right in for she has been shooting for 27 years and is a professional cleaning lady. Yet she said some of the conditions we found the bathrooms in were a first for her. Everything went smoothly and by the weekend three others were added to the crew for Saturday and Sunday. They were Mary from the 19^th Michigan and Dennis and Lee Ann from the 7^th Wisc. Three crews were used for the weekend. Peggy headed one crew, John the other and Stan was the third. Stan and Bob were the cavalry of the Sanitation Crew for they hit the outer bathrooms while the others tackled the larger ones.

During the off times, the battery sat around the fire and watched Stan do most of the cooking. But before he could prepare his first meal Commander John stepped up to the fire and tried to match the famous “Marcyn Matuszek” beef stew. He was pleased to get the complement “Your mom would be proud.” Stan did get his chance at the fire. He made ginger chicken breasts with wild rice, split pea soup, corn bread, and a ham and pasta dish with an olive oil and garlic sauce. Of course there was the commander’s famous Hot Buttered Rum. (He did trade a cup of this to Mary for a piece of her homemade blueberry and peach pie.) Stan also provided breakfast for those early risers.

The whole “Sanitation Crew” work ended on Sunday with the last run done at 2:30 PM. By that time everyone was a seasoned veteran and smelled the part. The lid was finally closed by 4PM and the crew was dismissed. For those who were there should take a lot of pride in the job they did. All the crews received many complements from the people who visited the bathrooms. One lady walked all the way over from her camp just to say that these were the cleanest bathrooms that she could remember. Even the National Skirmish Director said he received a lot of complements about the great job crew was doing. It is doubtful that the Battery will be penalized for the lack of bodies.

Long Range Match Correction and Apologies

It has been confirmed that Jerry Janik registered as part of Battery H and took first. So in essence on the records Battery H took first and second. For those who do not know Jerry, he is well known for his mortar collection and his prowess for firing them. I over stepped the bounds when I said he learned to fire the mortar from us. He was skilled with them before we started competing with mortars ourself. And I am sure his crew was made up of quality people as well. If we were going to loose, we should loose to one of the best out there, which is what happened. Hats off to Jerry and his mortar crew. We will get you next year. (Just like the Cubs.)

Regional and National Elections

Friday night the membership meeting was held and elections for a new regional commander and several other offices were held. As stated in the last newsletter the battery was throwing their vote towards Phil Spaugy. This was turning out to be a closely contended election with all the rumors and misquotes that you can think of. It all seemed to boil down to the eastern teams Vs the western teams. Several of our members talked directly with Phil and he did not like that but it was what it was. The vote was close but Phil lost by only 7 votes. Phil said he will try again and again if needed and we wish him luck.

The only other national office of some interest was for the Inspector General. Our regional IG put his support for Wade Huffman. He has been involved in the Small Arm Committee for over 10 years. Of all the other offices being contested, he won by the most votes.

The By-law change to allow the Board of directors to disband a region did receive a majority of the votes but failed to get the 2/3 votes needed to change a By-law. This whole thing was interesting for it was reported that the Board has the power to disband a region and that this by-law change would give some parameters for what the board would need to follow or reasons for a disbandment. Yet our commander could not find it in the by-laws on the N-SSA web page. Maybe with a little more explanation this change might have passed.

During the ballot counting the nine teams of the Western Region got together to vote in a new commander and paymaster. The only person who was willing to run for WR commander was our own Battery commander John. Guy Brandes was again the only one willing to be the WR paymaster. So there was no counting of ballots needed. Officially starting Dec 1^st, 2008 John Matuszek is the WR commander. Congratulations and good luck in this new office.

Gettysburg Review

As some of you know, the National Park at Gettysburg opened up a new multi-million dollar museum. After cleaning bathrooms all week John M. and John T made the 90 minute trip to see if it was worth it. Well it might be worth it to someone but not to them. The Museum is no longer next to the cemetery but off to the side between the Angle and Culp’s hill. It is large and well landscaped. Parking is still tight but free. For $7.50 you get to see the new museum, a 15min show and the Cyclorama. There are a few displays out side the museum, but none that explains the battle. They cover some of the basic facts of ballistics and weapon information. The large gun collection is basically there but spread over a larger area and into the museum area itself.

The Museum area is divided into several sections. Some of the sections are good but the first section hits you over the head that slavery was the only cause of the Civil War. The next section takes you into the election of 1860 and again focuses on Slavery. You finally get into an area that takes you through the battles before July 1, 1863. Then each day has its own section. Yet there seems to be a lot of information lost. Just the basic facts are given and very little explanation of the who’s and whys are present. As you get towards the end they cover the battles that took place after the Battle of Gettysburg up to the end of the war. They do show how soldiers lived and the medical situation. They display soldier’s wares and equipment. All that you would expect in a museum pertaining to the Civil War is there. They should have ended the museum there but they then take you on the now freed slave’s plight through the KKK, the Jim Crow laws and civil right marches to modern day.

The movie included in the cost of admission was a mirror of the museum. Nothing new was shown or said that was not in print in the museum. I guess being narrated by Morgan Freedman was suppose to make it special. You then were allowed to go up and look at the Cyclorama of Picket’s Charge. The large painting was restored and very nice. They lowered the lights and talked you through Picket’s charge. Special lights highlighted key areas and events. One problem was if you were standing in the wrong area, you did not get to see what was being shown. After the house lights come on and the narration ends they say thanks for visiting. If you plan on staying and looking at the painting’s details you better do it fast for after several minutes they turn off the lights basically forcing you to leave.

If you do go and check this museum out, watch the informational monitors outside the museum. Then when you do go into the museum, skip the first two sections and go straight to the battle and spend the bulk of your time there. Then skip the last section and head out to the battlefield or the gift shop. They do have a nice gift shop but they didn’t have any t-shirts with cannons on them. For the Cyclorama head towards the back opposite of the stairs. It might be best if you miss your time slot to see the movie and spent that time on the battlefield.

Book Review

Advance and Retreat by John Bell Hood is about his personal experiences in the United States and Confederate States Armies. It was hoped that this book would give a little more insight to the Battle of Atlanta and Sherman’s March to the Sea. It did neither. If it did anything it made the courageous man sound like a complainer. You get the feeling that he wanted to be known as great of a Southern general as Lee and Jackson. In his eyes he was constantly dealt a bad hand that prevent him from that one glorious victory. The South would have won at Gettysburg had he not been shot and removed from duty. He took over the Army of Tennessee after it had been demoralized by Johnston’s refusal to attack Sherman’s army, and instead hid behind defensive trenches. The Battle of Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville all failed because his subordinates failed to carry out his plans. The main body of the book has him explaining why he should have succeed using letters from past soldiers and generals as proof. He even goes as far in stating how Sherman could have taken Atlanta quicker and points out the mistakes that Sherman made that he would not have made.

No real new insight was obtained about the war from this book. The only insight was about how unstable and disillusionial of a general he was and the steps that one might take to make himself look better almost ten years after the war. He died in 1879, bankrupt and leaving eleven children. General P.G.T. Beauregard arranged for the publication of Hood’s memoirs to benefit his children. One can only hope it did for it did not for this reader.

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