Battle of the Chehalis River, 2015

     Another exciting event for the 2015 season.  For one battle, 13 sharpshooters took the field including our very own Berdan bugler!  We also welcomed new recruit Pvt. Tyler Severson to our ever growing company.  With this enthusiasm and attention, he quickly showed himself to be an excellent new recruit who performed well during his first reenactment.  He also helped to film one of our increasing number of Company D YouTube videos.  To check them out visit our YouTube channel Company D 2nd USSS. You can also click on the YouTube icon on the homepage! We noticed that filming YouTube videos at events, while farby, draw our largest audiences for demonstrations.  I posted a detailed series on cleaning the Sharps rifle.  Expect to see more videos on uniforms, gear, and impression tips.
     In addition to our largest military presence in many years we were also very happy to see our biggest civilian camp this season!  So many thanks to everyone who could make it! 
     With so many Berdans, our squads really put the heat on the Confederates who often had a difficult time dealing with so much fire from so many positions.  On Saturday we also had a squad of Oregon dismounted cavalry fall in under Captain Whitehall's command.  Our effectiveness was increased by the battlefield scouting of privates Reaper and Coffee.  Helping our squad work was our very own runner who performed very well delivering messages from the Captain to the different squads all while under Confederate fire.  There were so many exciting moments but some that stick out for me was when one of our privates, got tangled up during a retreat from a company of secesh.  With a man down, Corporal Spiekerman and myself drew pistols, ran out, grabbed him and laid down a wall of pistol fire covering our retreat!  The secesh were so stunned they didn't fire a single shot!  We also really upset the Confederates when we charged a visiting Idaho group and took half of them prisoner, marching them off the field in front of the spectators!  We were so fast the nearby companies didn't even have a chance to respond.  On Saturday, we charged the South Carolina unit and made them scatter and run.  Both were great units to play with and we told them to let us know when we can repay the favor.
     We really hope to get some time during the battle of Snoqualmie to learn skirmish drill by bugle! Ethan, from the 20th Maine, has been so kind in his willingness to work with us.  He hopes to post some skirmish bugle calls for us to start learning before Snoqualmie.  Ethan is also a direct descendent of someone who served in Co E, 2nd USSS and already had a complete Berdan uniform including Sharps!  If we have the chance to learn bugle calls during Snoqualmie all sharpshooters should expect lots more drill time.  Private Edwards brought up the important point that with so many sharpshooters now, we need to expand our drill routine to include more of the school of the company including such things as deploying in fours.  We all agreed that was an excellent idea.
     This has been such a special year for the company and we couldn't have done it without so many wonderful people.  We continue to spend time meeting and hanging out with battalion staff, building positive relationships with other soldiers and commanders, and building our reputation.  A good example of putting a smile on battalion's face was how each morning, Pvt. Coffee provided a unique Berdan reveille that who camp could hear.  It was great!  Thanks again to all our amazing civilians and soldiers.  We'll see you in Snoqualimie!

     This weekend we had a fantastic turnout with 9 sharpshooters and 1,300 park visitors on Saturday!  Drill, demos, leadership, and team building were the main goals this weeked.  Saturday included cleaning and repairing gear in preparation for the grand review at Chehalis, 4 hours of drill a day including our first squad drills and skirmishes.  Guide sheets were given to squad leaders Cpl. Spiekerman and private Soderling who drilled in small groups for an hour after an hour of company drill.  Cpt. Whitehall and I observed the squad leaders as we encouraged leadership, teamwork, and cross training.  After squad drill, we pitted the squads against each other in a skirmish capture the flag.  Squads and leaders were graded based on number of shots fired, number of correct commands given, and deducted points for improper command or execution.  The winner was Cpl. Spiekerman's squad who won with a last minute flanking maneuver and dash to the finish line.  Everyone did a great job and we look forward to putting everyone in the squad leader position for these drills and exercises.
     The greatest attention to detail went into drilling with accuracy.  Several times we pulled out the manuals to double check commands or a procedure. Most of us now have collected quite a few manuals leading to several "well, actually..." moments. A perfect example of our commitment to military accuracy was spending nearly three hours this weekend learning the manual of arms by the numbers.  We are starting to look and sound like a drill team.  Also part of our drill this weekend was company PT as you can see in the pictures.
     The public presence was huge and often required us to break from exercises to work the crowds gathering around the company fly.  Everyone stepped up and led discussions with the public.  Some groups visited for over twenty minutes. Visitors asked some great questions but two thought Melissa was a mannequin.
     Saturday night being Independence Day, we asked permission for night firing and had the rare and exciting chance to drill and fire at night.   Did I mention we drilled?  We drilled a lot! After that,  we lit the lanterns and played Cards Against Humanity while listening to fireworks.  
     Sunday started with rifle cleaning and repairs,  PT, drill, manual of arms, and a two hour long tactical training exercise.  Cpt. Whitehall and I were referees.  The Cpt. took out Cpl. Spiekerman in command of our newest recruits to set up an ambush.  His crew consisted of privates Cook and Amuchastegui from Struve's Marines.  Pvt. Soderling commanded privates Hardway and Ternan.  Observing Soderling's command was impressive as they meticulously paroled sectors of the battlefield and trails for Cpl. Spiekerman and his team.   Most impressive was watching everyone's commitment to following period manuvers, commands, and patrol formations.   The Captain and I were so happy to see everyone avoid the desire to get all "Call of Duty" during the exercise. Even though pvt. Soderling's group engaged first,  there was no clear winner on our first tactical but everyone performed great.  The real victory was watching everyone learning to follow orders from each other,  problem solve,  and support each other. 
     After the park was closed,  we started filming instructional videos that are now posted on YouTube and on our media page.  We hope to continue making these short videos to encourage recruits,  grow as a resource to other reenactors, and provide training to new and old recruits. 
     We really look forward to making this a yearly team building training weekend.   We also got $200 closer to our fundraising goal of buying company colors!  So many thanks to all who could make it.   We can't wait to see you at Chehalis.  

     A note from Captain Whitehall:  Thank you to all the sharpshooters who came this weekend and made the biggest turnout yet for our living history.  So much was accomplished this weekend and I am proud of each and every one of you.  Keep up the good work and we will be the stars at the Grand Review in a couple of weeks.