The BUGLE CALL News from the NCWC

JULY 2017 House on the Metolius was a great event we had beautiful weather as well as

a great turnout of public cannot wait to go back next year. Everyone please

thank event coordinator David Banks for all his hard work on putting this

one together.

Events

Powerland Heritage Park/Antique Powerland

July 1,2,3 and 4 2017

Schedule

Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday:

9:00am Event opens

Battalion Parades

9:30am Sunday Only-Church Service

11:00am Morning Battle Medical demos after battle daily

1230pm Parlor Talk Maryland line camp daily

2:00pm Fashion Show at the grandstands

3:00pm Afternoon battle

4:00pm event closes for the day

Monday Schedule

9:00am event opens

Battalion parades

3:00 pm Battle

4:00pm Event closes to public Monday

Contact Event Coordinator Mark Stevens for modern camp reservations at

cobcorp@aol.com

Remember folks it is summer time and you need to be drinking lots of water. Keep your

canteen on you and filled. It doesn't take long to become dehydrated with the warmer

temps and high humidity.

Chehalis

The WCWA Chehalis event is back this year July 15th and 16th! We have had a lot of

WCWA members that attend our events on a regular basis so lets make sure to return the

favor by getting some good numbers of our people up to support them.

Battle for Chehalis River 2017 Reenactor Information

Location: 313 Tune Road, Chehalis WA 98532-9013 Registration: Registration will be at

an identified location in civilian camp, between C.S. and U.S. camps. Everyone (age 12

and older) must go to registration to sign their own name and to receive an event card.

Reenactor parking: Follow signs and please park close together! Modern camp is in the

reenactor parking area. Safety Rules: WCWA rules are in effect for the event. Dogs:

Must be leashed at all times. Off-Limits: All farm buildings, farm equipment, and

stacked hay bales are off-limits. Chehalis River: The Chehalis River banks are steep and

drop quickly to the water; approach cautiously. Water: Potable water is available near the

barn and at a water tank trailer on the edge of camps. Wood: Wood should be plentiful

and dry; please do not hoard wood. Fire: Campfires must be smaller than three feet

square, in dug fire pits. Do not allow grass to be burned and replace all sod in fire pits.

Do not bury any wood or charcoal. Per WCWA Bylaws, open fires must be at least six

feet from any tent or awning. A bucket of water or fire extinguisher must be accessible

at every campfire. Candles and campfires must be attended at all times. Cleanup: Please

leave your camp area clean; this is active farm ground. Volunteers to pick up hay bales

&c. will be most appreciated on Sunday evening.

Schedule: Thursday, July 13, after 8:00 a.m., sutlers and command staff are welcome to

arrive Thursday after 2:00 p.m., all other reenactors are welcome to arrive Friday, July

14, reenactors are welcome to arrive all day.

Saturday, July 15: Summer of 1862 8:00 a.m., vehicles out of camps 9:00 a.m., camps

open to public 10:00 a.m., historic battle presentation at tent in civilian area 11:00-12:00

noon, morning battle 3:00-4:00 p.m., afternoon battle 5:00 p.m., camps closed to public

7:00-9:00 p.m., dance in civilian area

Sunday, July 16: Summer of 1862 9:00 a.m., camps open to public 9:00-10:00 a.m. Con-

federate chapel service 9:00-10:00 a.m. Union chapel service 10:00 a.m., historic battle

presentation at tent in civilian area 11:00-12:00 noon, morning battle 2:00-3:00 p.m., af-

ternoon battle 3:00 p.m., camps closed to public 3:30 p.m., vehicles permitted in camps.

No vehicles permitted early unless emergency with staff escort. Reenactors may stay on-

site Sunday night.

Monday, July 17 Reenactors vacate venue by 11:00 a.m.

Reenactor Event Coordinator: Kevin Saville, 360-292-0966, kevin@saville.net Veteran’s

Memorial Museum Event Coordinators: Chip Duncan, 360-304-0285 Rob Sande, 360-508-

9724; and Kelly Sande, 360-827-1178

Keizer Volcanos

With an extra light showing of people we did manage to put 1 cannon 1 mortar and 5

muskets 1 carbine and one saber on the field for the skirmish. Thank you to the folks

that showed up to help out. 4th Texas with 1. 7th Michigan with 3. 1st Minnesota with 1.

2nd US with 5. 116th Pennsylvania with 2. 69th NY with 1. Rockbridge with 5.

Confederate civilians with 3. Thanks again everyone who came out to be a part.

69th NY Post Office is open to all NCWC

“All the appliances of home life which are possible are being introduced into our encampment. A weekly newspaper, a photo-graphic establishment, a Temperance League, and a Christian Association, we have a Post Office, letter box, postmaster, and mail carrier. Our boys write vastly more letters than they receive. You can hardly imagine the eagerness with which the mailman is looked for, the delight on the reception of a letter, the sadness – sometimes even to tears – with which those that are disappoint-ed turn away.”

~ Reverend A.M. Stewart quoted in the Ken Burns series The Civil War, episode 2.

Letters From Home

In 2014 the 69th New York began the “Letters From Home” project with the purpose of both expanding our knowledge of the personal experience of the War between the soldiers and their families left behind, as well as to enhance our reenacting ex-perience by entertaining ourselves in camp. I suggested the following rules which were simple, those wanting to participate drew names at our St. Patrick’s Day party and they became your “secret Pen Pal” for the year. You were obligated to send that person a letter at each reenactment, and that personal obligation is what initially drove the process. Someone was expecting something of you. It was no longer just a case of “oh, I might write a letter if I have time...or not”.

Now, here is the fun part, you the writer, have full control over the scenario. Since the Pen Pals were secret you were NOT to be your current persona, create a new person, you don’t even have to be your own age or gender. Be a young sibling left at home, a provost marshal seeking a deserter, a port authority with grievances, a jilted or jilting lover – anything your imagina-tion creates. We even had a chain letter for hardtack. The basic facts of life and human relationships existed then as they do now. You don’t even have to be the same person for each letter. You simply owe them a letter! Then, at some point during the event either after dinner or at campfire, we gather for the letter reading. You are not obligated to read your received letter, but those who want to share have the forum to do so.

We couldn’t have anticipated the success that we’ve enjoyed from this project. The letters have ranged from purely his-toric content to those penned purely for entertainment of those listening during the reading circle, ripe with inside jokes and modern references, yet written in a period style and all are entertaining. The first letter I received was from my Great-great grandfather who was in the 10th KY, the writer knew that, researched the facts of the regiment and wrote in that context. It near-ly brought me to tears. Many letters have us rolling with laughter, the literature of Black Crown Publishing, or the poetry of Rob-ert I. Burnside – Ambrose’s little-known cousin. People have received packages with quilts, shirts, and gifts as well. The Letters From Home have become one of the most anticipated parts of our weekends in the 69th New York, just as mail call was for the soldiers of 1863.

But you do not have to follow the route of drawing names. It does help to get the ball rolling when people feel an obli-

gation to write, but many members just jump into the letter writing when inspired. As Doug Odell says, “Soon people weren’t

satisfied just receiving letters, they responded back to all the

newfound relatives, businessmen, lawmen, lovers, soldiers and scoundrels that showed up in their correspondence.” We created a “new world” with characters that began to intertwine into each other’s letters. The process is now driven by enthusiasm, not obligation.

After 3 full years of letter writing within our unit, Doug, offered to salvage our past correspondence from the forgotten bin of time and collect them into a book which he published this spring. We were astounded to find that our group had penned nearly 400 pages of letters and stories and Volume 2 is already in the works. The book is a professionally printed paperback that you might find in any battlefield gift shop. It also includes John Hartman’s short stories from the Chattanooga Gazette. Our initial printing has sold out to our club, but we are finding that the interest has grown in it beyond our regiment. A second printing will be ordered after the Antique Powerland event, and anyone is welcome to place an order. This printing will be by order only, the cost is $10 and merely covers publishing costs. Please email Doug Odell at lorrainecpa@hotmail.com to place your order or come by our camp. If you would like to see the book for inspiration, stop by the Post Office in the 69th NY Civilian camp and ask to see our camp copy.

The Post Office

The first 2 years, Howie Loewen was our Postmaster and he designed a custom built “Post Office” for us to use to ex-change our letters. This Post Office does not have overt signage other than his “Wanted” poster, because it is strictly for use within our reenacting community. We are not interpreting a military post office for the public. We designed cancellation stamps for each event as well as major US cities during the War, and reproduced period postage stamps. Letters are dropped through the mail slot on the rear of the box shown below, and then I add postage if it is not already affixed and a cancellation stamp. Earl Bishop is our mail carrier who distributes the letters within our camp, and delivers the letters to military through the Unit com-mander for a mail call in military camp. He will also pick up your letters if you have them ready, or you can post them yourself in the 69th NY Civilian camp. Everyone in the NCWC is invited to send letters. You are not restricted to whom you write. You can send letters from Union to Confederate, military to civilian or within your own camp. We will cancel and return them. Surprise someone at the next event.

The post office is open for every NCWC member, both Union and Confederate. All you need to do, is write your letter and address it with name and unit, drop it in the Mail slot you see on the back of the box located in the 69th NY Civilian camp or give it to Earl Bishop, and we will get it to the recipient. If you don’t have period stationary, envelopes, or stamps, that is ok, just use what you have or purchase materials at the sutlers. Parents, please supervise your children who may want to par-ticipate. We do not open or screen letters, and cannot be re-sponsible for content.

Some folks write their letters at home, print them on the computer with a script font, and bring them to the event, others write with a dip pen, still others use a pencil on the back of paper scraps as a soldier in the field might.

The Post Office still retains the “Wanted Poster” placed there during the 2015 Lebanon event which makes the box easier to find. Please join us in the fun.

~ Debra Martin

69th New York

NORTHWEST CIVIL WAR COUNCIL, 1250 Ellis Street, Dallas Oregon 97338