Ready
for the seventh annual
WCWA Winterquarters?
Before you know it, the first opportunity of the season to huddle by a smoky fire, spoon with your pards, consume bacon grease, imbibe rotgut, and shiver from the cold will be upon you. Are you ready for the fun?
Join your pards on 3-4 February 2001 at the Tacoma Sportsmen's Club. The battles will be different than in years past as the former bushwacking in the woods tactics are over. The forest has been thinned. The side with numbers and alacrity will win the day.
At this nonpublic event, reenactors are encouraged to recreate winter shanties and hovels, like those shown in these period photographs. (Graybacks not included.)
"If you could ride around & see how this great army of N.Va. is housing itself in its various departments for winter. Here you may see a hut - such as nobody but a soldier ever conceived of - and there a tent of smallest dimensions with a chimney & door - and there a fellow - absolutely burrowing under the ground - and such contrivances for cooking and keeping dry & warm!"
- an ANV surgeon's account from October, 1864.
Bring that wall tent and wear that great coat with confidence. You will need them both.
"Winter quarters meant a wall or 'dog' tent, with perhaps two or three logs for the sides, and if we were in camp any length of time a fire place was made out of the Virginia clay, with barrels or hard tack boxes for chimneys. Some of the fire places were artistically made, [and] were large enough, some of them, to roll a log in."
- reminiscence from a Wisconsin soldier in the Army of the Potomac
Bring plenty of rounds. At least one back county tactical will occur each day regardless of the weather. Unlike most public battles, these back country tacticals typically last an hour or more. (Sunday morning snowball fight optional.)
Mounted
Cavalry are allowed and encouraged to participate!
What do I receive for showing up?
Sorry, no free medals provided here. As this is a nonpublic event, reenactors must shoulder the nominal costs to participate.
Cost of primative camping is $3.00 per tent per night. (Example: if five people crowd into one tent each of the two nights, the total cost is $6.00. If one person shivers by himself in a dog tent both nights, the cost is $6.00. However, if an entire company sleeps under the liquid stars for two nights, there is no fee.)
Cost to campers using the club's electricity and water outlets will be $8.00 per night.
Bring your own wood. Any downed branches are fair game, and the Muzzleloaders are likely to provide some wood. To be certain your company stays toasty warm, bring your own.
If you don't eat from your haversack, don't worry. Food will be available for purchase at the event.
The Union Soldiers Aid Society will have a bake sale both days. This includes lunch on Saturday and while supplies last on Sunday. All proceeds go towards funding after-battle refreshments for Union soldiers during the upcoming reenactment season. All Union Ladies are invited to contribute items and/or participate in the bake sale. For more information contact Rose Pugh.
Also, the Muzzleloaders will be cooking stew,chicken & noodles, biscuits & gravy, and hamburgers/hotdogs both days.
For additional information contact Mark (Silas) Tackitt by leaving a message at 206/682-7566. Emailed questions are preferred over phoned questions.
Map to the Tacoma Sportsmen's Club (not to scale)
The location of the Tacoma Sportsmans Club is 16409 Canyon Rd E, Puyallup. Phone is 253/537-6151. The entrance to the TSC is easily missed. Landmarks to watch for are: the Texico Station and Safeway Grocery on the southeast corner of Canyon Road and 160th which is at the bottom of the solitary hill on Canyon Road East. When travelling south, the TSC entrance is a three hundred yard beyond these landmarks.
2001
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