Little Fork Church

The ancient church, which was vandalized by Yankee cavalry during the war, is depicted in this photo from the book, showing the monument to the rangers dedicated May 25, 1904, which stands today.

I probably should have posted this earlier, to go with the Wiki reference, but I got distracted (not unusual for your correspondent).

Current Reading: The Little Fork Rangers

Hackley, Woodford B. The Little Fork Rangers; A Sketch of Company "D", Fourth Virginia Cavalry. Richmond, Va.: Press of the Dietz printing co, 1927.

This interesting source differs from some others I’ve discussed here in that it includes not only original materials and reminiscences but also latter-day musings on the history of the unit. The author-compiler, grandson of a member of the unit, was acutely aware of the deficiencies under which he labored but made an attempt to gather as much useful material as he could at a late date when few of the survivors were alive. The result is something of a hodge-podge, but still it’s quite useful for the historian, since there’s much here that can’t be found elsewhere.

The Little Fork Rangers were organized in Culpeper County, Va., in April, 1861, before the state’s secession. They took their name from the area between the fork of the Hazel and Rappahannock rivers, north of Culpeper.

One of the places where the rangers drilled was Little Fork Church. Wiki here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Fork_Church

Current Reading: Recollections of an Old Dominion Dragoon

Hudgins, Robert S., Garland C. Hudgins, Richard B. Kleese, and Gary Casteel. Recollections of an Old Dominion Dragoon: The Civil War Experiences of Sgt. Robert S. Hudgins II, Company B, 3rd Virginia Cavalry. Orange, Va.: Publisher's Press, Inc, 1993.

Sgt. Robert S. Hudgins II, was a member of the Old Dominion Dragoons (later Co. B, 3d Va. Cav.). He served throughout the war, from Big Bethel (practically his backyard) to Appomattox, and his recollections, despite lacunae, are compelling and shed light on many events but little described from the standpoint of a ranker. For example, he witnessed the duel between the Monitor and the CSS Virginia. He was present during the Seven Days, at Kelly’s Ford, during the Chancellorsville campaign, at Brandy Station, Gettysburg, and Yellow Tavern – where he witnessed Stuart’s mortal wounding – at the burning of Richmond, and at Appomattox.

An interesting part of the book, to my mind, is his relation of the war’s aftermath and Reconstruction. Utterly destitute, he made his way home and reestablished his family’s plantation under the most remarkably adverse (and in one instance, sinister) circumstances.

This is yet another slim volume of wartime reminiscences that the average reader will probably finish relatively quickly. Since it was published years ago by a small press, your best bet of obtaining it may be through interlibrary loan.

Blakely Field Gun Update

According to Gettysburg National Military Park, the Blakely gun that used to be in the old Cyclorama building is on loan to the Dakota Sunset Museum in Gettysburg, South Dakota. Thanks to Katie Lawhon of GNMP for the information.

Blakely Field Guns in the Army of Northern Virginia

Above: Another view of the Blakely MLR that used to be on display at the Cyclorama Center at Gettysburg NMP.

The Blakely gun could be found in two batteries of the Stuart Horse Artillery, Army of Northern Virginia:

(1) Chew’s (Va.) Battery, known as the Ashby Artillery because of its early association with Turner Ashby’s famed “Laurel Brigade” of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley District. This unit was the first horse artillery battery in the ANV. It was organized on Nov. 11, 1861, with Roger Preston Chew of Charles Town, Va. (today, W. Va.) as captain. Chew had one Blakely among his guns through the great cavalry battle of Brandy Station, where it “ended its life.”

(2) Hart’s Washington (S.C.) Battery, commanded by Capt. James F. Hart, which was generally associated with Hampton’s Brigade. Hart had four Blakelys in the Maryland campaign (1862) and three at Gettysburg, having lost one to Union counterbattery fire in the Loudoun Valley fighting following Brandy Station.

Blakely Field Gun

The 3.60-in. Blakely muzzle-loading rifle was practically an ideal gun for the horse artillery. Its light weight (the 58-in.-long iron tube weighed just 700 lbs.), handiness, accuracy, and reliability marked it as a superior piece. And, it had remarkable range — reaching 1,760 yds. with a 1.5-lb. powder charge at 7º30’ elevation. Blakelys could be found with Hart’s and Chew’s horse artillery batteries in the Army of Northern Virginia. The fine example shown was on display in the Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg National Military Park. It was cast by Fawcett, Preston & Co., Liverpool, England, in 1861.©

La Florida: Indian Traits and Leaders

Indians in general were crafty, devious, unpredictable, and employed deception, guile, ambush and stratagem. They were also relatively well organized locally and organizationally coherent in tribal areas, which were sometimes quite extensive.

They were an important source of operational-tactical information for Europeans, whose knowledge of events in LF was limited generally to the areas they control.

In terms of SF Actions! Indian traits are:
canny
slippery
undisciplined, but betters (Indians were undisciplined but saw themselves as betters, so this is different.)
expert shooters

No Indian can possess any of the following characteristics:
disciplined
swordsman
coward
bookish

When not detected, Indians can perform any two actions per turn (except, obviously, no. 7 “mount...”). (I’m going to see how this works in practice, so it’s provisional for now.)

They are allowed only one turn of HTH, unless successful. If unsuccessful, they will immediately withdraw from contact, facing the enemy. (Again, I want to see how this works in practice.)

Officer traits are:
tough
terrible
fanatical
Hero
Mars

For SF Actions! LF Indian equivalents are:

cacique = colonel
war chief = captain

Caciques were Indian chiefs in the La Florida-Caribbean region.

war party = squadron
warband = company