Rich Mountain Event News

Updated Thursday, June 29, 2006 2:59 AM

WHEN TO ARRIVE? WHAT TO BRING?

June 13, 2006 - We are a month away, but it has come to our attention that we might need to put out a couple of details to make sure that things go smoothly:

WHEN TO ARRIVE? You need at registration on Friday, July 14th. Registration will be open from 11 AM until 12 Midnight on Friday. Everything goes live early on Saturday, so if you arrive on Saturday, you will not be able to get in. CJ Daley, Jersey Skilletlicker, Richmond Depot and LD Haning will be set up at registration. Bob Szabo will also be set up during this time to capture your wet plate image if you are interested. Wetplates will be done on a first-come, first served basis.

AMMUNITION? Everyone needs to bring 60 rounds and 80 caps to the event.

DIRECTIONS? The directions to get to registration are posted here:

http://www.richmountain.org/2006event/Directions.htm

RATIONS? Remember that you need to bring your own rations to the event. All food should be period-correct and in period containers. Medications, keys, etc, need to be placed in poke sacks in your haversack.

SCENARIO? If you want to get an idea about what we will be doing, you can pick up a copy of "Rebels at the Gate", "Yanks From the South", or the 10th Indiana or 25th Virginia Regimental histories. If you are madly curious, we have the brief synopsis of the history from the RM Battlefield site posted here:

http://www.richmountain.org/2006event/History.htm

CONTACTS? If you have not done so already, please contact your company commander to let them know your status. Their contact information can be found here:

http://www.richmountain.org/2006event/Contacts.htm

We simply ask that you be prepared to live the history.

Thanks! Getting closer... 32 days... and counting.

Sincerely,

The Mess #1 Core Planning Committee

Ken Cornett - kencornett@msn.com
Jacob Dinkelaker - General1862@aol.com
Joe Liechty - liechtys@netzero.net
Eric Tipton - etinohio@msn.com

April 24, 2006 - Updates

Greetings Everyone:

Our apologies for not posting more information here recently. We have been using our folder on the Authentic Campaigner to keep everyone informed. The AC has been our primary source for information about units and contacts and encourage anyone who wants to plan an authentic event to participate in the forums and watch and learn...

Samuel Beatty - 19th Ohio

FUND-RAISING - To date, we have already raised over $8,200 for the battlefield foundation. Thanks to everyone who has paid registrations in a timely manner. We hope to raise a lot more through our preservation efforts for the event. Our overall goal is $14,000. We could use your help. You can find out more information about our fund-raising by clicking here.

PRESERVATION - JUNE 2-4, 2006 - BATTLEFIELD CLEAN-UP - We are holding a hands-on preservation, Battlefield Clean-Up the weekend of June 2-4, 2006. It will be modern camping. We ask that you bring and any tools, chainsaws, pick-ups or other useful tools for cleaning up the battlefield. If you have any questions about the clean-up, please contact Eric Tipton at etinohio@msn.com.

EXERCISE - We cannot stress enough to everyone that we will be going UP a mountain in July. It will most likely be hot. Please do a lot of walking and get into the best shape that you can. This is a challenging event, in which everyone will be on the move for large portions of the event. The experience will be much more enjoyable if you are fit enough to enjoy it. Please come to the event HYDRATED. Drink plenty of water in the week leading up to the event.

COMPANY COMMANDER CONTACT LISTS - We only have a couple of companies left until every company commander has your e-mail address. If you do not receive any word from your commanders, please check our contact list by clicking here.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped with the planning of the event. Thanks to the comapny commanders for getting their men registered and paid three months before the event. Ken Cornett is doing a great job keeping registration organized. If you have a question about your registration, please contact Ken at kencornett@msn.com.

Sincerely,

The Mess #1 Core Planning Committee

Ken Cornett - kencornett@msn.com
Jacob Dinkelaker - General1862@aol.com
Joe Liechty - liechtys@netzero.net
Eric Tipton - etinohio@msn.com

January 10, 2006 - Updates:

Registration will open February 1st. Thanks for the inquiries. We are getting close.

1) The Event Rules are now listed on the registration page here.

2) We are announcing our Fund-Raising Efforts for preservation and maintenance of the Rich Mountain Battlefield here. If you are interested in donating an item for the event raffle. Please contact Dusty Chapman by clicking here. We could use a few more items. Any questions about fund-raising should be directed to Dusty.
3) We Are Aiming For Fifty-Man Companies. We have a list of organizations who have submitted for a company. At the time of the event, the organizers and command staff reserve the option to combine companies based on the actual numbers in attendance. This is early-war and they had large companies.

4) The Pre-Event Company Structure will be finalized on January 20th. If your group is mustering a company for Rich Mountain, please update our coordinators with a number estimate and company commander. Contact Jerry Stiles (Click Here) of the Stonewall Brigade for the Confederates and John Duffer (Click Here) of the WIG for the Federals. We need this information to be included in the registration form to keep the process organized.
5) Any General Registration Questions should go to Ken Cornett of Mess #1. Click here to e-mail Ken.

Please check around the web site for other updates. We have a really good list of groups who are interested in raising companies. Our command structure is finalized. Thanks for all of the interest and the inquiries. If you have any questions, please refer to the Contacts Page of the web site. The information will help direct you to the correct person for your question.

As a follow up to the news on the Western Independent Grays Meeting in Nashville, the WIG has elected to attend Rich Mountain as a full-battalion event. We are very excited to have them aboard and look forward to working with them as we near July 14th, 2006.

We would also like to thank Pat Craddock and his wife Carrie for their hospitality, and especially Carrie;'s chili. Big thanks to Matt Woodburn and the staff of the WIG for a memorable party on Friday night. We had a great time and saw many friends.

We appreciate the confidence and support from our friends in the WIG and the Critters. We will continue to work closely with them to produce what we hope will be a memorable and successful event.

The weekend of December 2-4, 2005, Ken Cornett and Eric Tipton of the Mess #1 Core Planning Committee are traveling to Nashville, Tennessee for the Nashville Civil War Show and to attend the annual meeting of the Western Independent Grays (WIG). At the meeting, the WIG will be voting on their 2006 schedule. We plan to make a short presentation and answer questions about Rich Mountain.

We look forward to the show and the opportunity to get together with many friends. We appreciate the invitation.

There will be some garrison on the Confederate side at Camp Garnett, but you will be on the move. Federals - bring only what you can carry on your backs. We will be on the move for the entire event.

We will be releasing people with long drives at 9:00 AM on Sunday. At that point, the main portion of the event will be completed. We are doing a living history to meet people from the town of Beverly from 9 AM - 12 Noon, but it is voluntary. We will request that only those who are more local to the site stick around until 12:00 noon.

Thanks for all of the interest in the event. The response has been extremely positive. We hope to live up to your expectations for a successful and historically-accurate living history experience.

Since the inception of this event, we have been planning an East vs. West match-up. The original battle featured Eastern Confederates - predominantly from Virginia (and Western Virginia) against boys from the West - mostly Ohio and Indiana. With that in mind...

In the last few days, the Stonewall Brigade has officially committed to provide the overall command for the Confederate side of the event. The main contact person , or Coordinator will be Jerry Stiles - 2nd in command of the SWB. The overall commander for the Confederates will be Kim Stidley - 1st in command of the SWB. We are extremely excited about their acceptance of our offer and look forward to working with this well-known and respected organization.

On the Federal side, John Duffer of the MOOCOWS and Western Independent Grays (WIG) is the overall coordinator for the Federals. Originally, the WIG was providing coordinators for both sides of the event. Understandably, they made the decision not to split their group for the event. This gave us the opportunity to discuss the possibility of an eastern organization to join us.

We have been contacting units individually regarding their attendance for next year's event for the last several months and have more personal meetings scheduled. Generally, we are looking for eastern Confederates (150 total) and Western Federals (250 total). This is not a requirement, but a general goal. As the two sides begin organizing, please contact the individuals listed above for information. All contact information for the event is listed here:

Thanks for the interest in the event. We have more work to do, but a lot has already been accomplished including scenario, uniform guidelines, insurance, camp locations and the route for the Federal Flank March.

A small band of event volunteers including Mess #1 members Ken Cornett, Joe Liechty and Jacob Dinkelaker as well as Charles Heath, Todd Morris, Court Micker and RMBF member Terry Jones did a dry run of the five-mile Federal Flank March during the weekend of June 24-26. They were able to map out the route and select stopping points and water locations.

One aspect of our event is that there will be substantial movement on both sides. We cannot stress enough that it will be July and chances are, it will be hot. We ask all participants to make sure that you are in "fighting shape" for the event. Please drink water during the week leading up to the event. We will be duplicating what they did in 1861 in real time and we don't want any real casualties.

We will be publishing uniform standards this week. Generally, we are looking for early war impressions. There will be options available for each uniform item. It goes without saying that we are seeking top-notch impressions. Chris Daley will be holding a few Bully Buys, which will also be announced shortly.

Thanks to everyone for the interest in the event. We hope to bring together both easterners and westerners to the mountains of West Virginia!

May 10, 2005

Greetings:

On the weekend of June 24-26, a small group of living historians will be traveling to visit Beverly and Rich Mountain.

The goals of this meeting are to discuss uniform standards, camp locations, and study logistics. We will be camped at the foot of Rich Mountain near Camp Garnett.

On Saturday morning, we will follow the path of the 10th Indiana with the assistance of Terry Jones, who is a member of the Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation and a resident on the mountain. We will attempt, with detailed maps and GPS to plot water locations, potential route choices, land ownership, etc.

Matt Caldwell of the Civil War Historian magazine will be publishing a behind the scenes article in an upcoming issue. Matt will be portraying well-known Civil War era map-maker Jed Hotchkiss at the event.

At our Mess #1 meeting last night, we discussed the potential for Rich Mountain as the "National Hardcore" event for 2006. The event is being held July 14-16, 2006. After seeing some of the support an the Authentic Campaigner, as well as some phone conversations today, we officially submit it here as such.

The event is on original ground and will follow - as closely as possible - the original action, in real time of the battle. This will include a five-mile flank march and culminate with a battle on the summit, on the site of the old Hart Farm. There will be substantial movement on the Federal and Confederate sides of the event. The original battle was fought by Eastern Confederates and Western Federals.

I want to make it clear that we have a core committee planning this event. Some are referring to it as my event, but this is not the case. Our committee will make all final decisions, although we have have asked for, and received input from many people - east and west as things have come together.

We are in the process of contacting people directly to discuss what we are putting together, and we thank everyone who has mentioned us during some of the current discussions. More details will be provided as we move forward.

On the weekend of March 18-20, a small group of living historians and members of the Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation will be doing a dry run of the five-mile flank march on the battlefield site. We want to determine timing, water locations and other logistics associated with the march as it is the centerpiece of the event.

After the march, we will meet together in Beverly to meet with the Foundation and gather "market research" from the living historian participants. More details will be released later in the year. It is important to note that the scenario will attempt to portray the exact history of what happened on Rich Mountain in July, 1861.

We have a long way to go until 2006, but we are making the effort to plan well-ahead of time to provide you with a rewarding experience.

Check back often. We will be adding more photos, historical information, preservation fundraising effort info, sutler info and other event details as we approach 2005. Thanks for checking in. More to come.