Into the Fray: 1861

This past weekend was the second on a series of civilian centered events following the 150th of the Civil War. The scenario for this year's event was a recruiting and mustering event held in the town of Sprinkle, yes there really was a town called Sprinkle in the area of the event site. The event was held at Pioneer Farms in Austin, Texas.

We began arriving Friday afternoon. It was hot and humid, as was pretty much the whole weekend. It's events like this that make you appreciate modern technology. In the early evening we had a short how-to lesson on properly using the wood stove in the Bell house, since few of us in the house had used a wood stove before. This "contraption" proved to be the bane of Mrs. Betts' weekend, more on that later. The evening brought in a tremendous thunderstorm. What a light show! It was wonderful. The buildings held tight and all remained dry, except for those who arrived during the storm :). The storm cooled down the air a bit, but by bed time the humidity was back. I laid awake fanning until I finally went to sleep.

The event officially started at 7:00 Saturday morning. We were all up fairly early to take advantage of the cooler air. Breakfast was simple, bread and jam, and fruit.

Saturday was spent visiting, listening to Mr. Nix read the papers, and listening to Mrs. Betts in the kitchen cursing the new fangled stove.


The gentlemen of the town, or at least some, enlisted in the militia and spent most of the day drilling.

Other men, not so inclined to enlist found other ways to spend the day.


In the evening, a dinner was served for the militia. It was a pot luck and included pan fried squash, ham, apple sauce, pickled eggs, cole slaw, bread, peaches, melon, corn bread, pound cake, corn on the cob, and cheese. The gentlemen ate their fill and then some. Sorry, forgot to get pictures of the spread, but it was amazing, a full table.

One of the young men was missing his senior prom to attend this event so we gave him a period prom at the tavern on Saturday night complete with boutonniere and dancing.

Everyone seemed to have a great time enjoying the music throughout the night.

Sunday morning was very low key. We didn't have church as there was no preacher. So we sat on the porch until it was time for the presentation of the unit flag.

Sunday at 11:00 Miss Victoria delivered a moving speech upon the presentation of a flag to the militia. For the life of me I can't find a copy of it; I'll try to get one and post it. Captain Mobley gave a wonderful response. It was touching and the flag, made by Cody Mobley was very well done.After the flag presentation the militia retreated to their quarters to gather their equipment for their march to Austin. As they pasted the Bell House, Miss Victoria played Dixie on the organ.

It was a great event and received well by the participants, the visitors and the site. I just wish the weather had not been so draining. Taking a short break before considering the next one :).

Oh yes, the dress, managed to hook a nail and caused a small tear in the skirt but easy enough to patch.


More pictures here and others have posted several on Facebook.