 Our weekend began with the heat and humidity for which eastern North
Carolina is so famous. The weather, however, did not daunt or otherwise adversely affect
the attendance of our intrepid artillerists as our numbers nearly matched those of the
infantry present. The weather would have an impact on our weekend on the following
evening.On Saturday morning harnessing was accomplished with little incident and we
were ready to greet an adoring public. The horses pulled the two pieces present around the
large open lawn in front of the Visitors center and the Harper House.  In addition to
demonstrating for the public the way artillery was moved and employed on the battlefield,
we were able to show, at least to some degree…with the help of some of our ladies,
how important horses were in 19th century America. Joyce Stanley and Danielle Moose have,
at various times, demonstrated riding sidesaddle, are expanding our impression.
Mr. Hardy Mills, the great grandson of Cpl. Wiley Mills of the 26th NCT,
arrived on
site with a large group of WWII veterans…heroes all.  Mr. Mills and his WWII buddies
were the highlight of our audience. Their interest in what we do coupled with their
knowledge of the differences and similarities of artillery in "their war" and
"ours" proved to be educational for them and us.
Our ladies were treated to lessons in basket weaving by our own Mrs. Sandy Horvath.
 No
less than seven baskets were fashioned during the day. To say that those who participated
enjoyed this activity is something of an understatement.
That evening the temperature dropped some 20 degrees in the span of 30 minutes, giving
us relief from the heat. This respite was, however, accompanied by severe thunderstorms,
which came through the area. This threat prompted our host, State Historic Site Manager
John Goode, to herd us over to the safety and shelter of the Visitor's Center.
 His
prudence in doing so proved to be very fortuitous as when the rains came…they came in
copious quantity. Most of the infantry camp was flooded out…forcing our brethren
soldiers into the wooden slave quarters that Mr. Goode opened for all who were in need of
drier sleeping quarters. Commissary Sgt. Nelson was undaunted by all of the meteorological
pyrotechnics and, with the help of his lovely wife, Kathy, and erstwhile assistant
Emmanuel Maye, served a delicious and hot meal to grateful troops.
 It was a busy weekend for all, and even gave one of our overly curious quadrupeds an
opportunity to try being a hood ornament on a late model Lexus he found to be close enough
to the picket line. I won't mention the horse's name but his initials are Rebel. If he
continues to have this interest in automobiles (David says he's tried to climb into the
cab of his truck) perhaps we should consider some future involvement in some related
field…NASCAR comes to mind as a possibility…he could be the official PACE HORSE.
See y'all around the campfire!
Sgt. Joe Slifer |
Our weekend began with the heat and humidity for which eastern North
Carolina is so famous. The weather, however, did not daunt or otherwise adversely affect
the attendance of our intrepid artillerists as our numbers nearly matched those of the
infantry present. The weather would have an impact on our weekend on the following
evening.
