Lessons Learned
A web page of the 2nd US Cavalry, Co. A/9th VA Cavalry Co. D Reenactors.
(Last update 10/01/04)
(Thanks to Private Mize for compiling these lists)
"History can make a man wiser than he has any right to be
on the basis of his own experience."
(Santayana)
LESSONS LEARNED - 2001, volume 2
1. Watch…and LEARN.
2. Reading and heeding Lessons Learned from one event may prevent adding a repeat entry after another.
3. There are easier--and less painful--means of cleaning a horse’s hoof than with your trousers. To reiterate a lesson from Lancaster: always be wary of a horse’s feet. Even a familiar animal will kick if it feels the need. And God Himself doesn’t know when that might be.
4. Always know where a horse's "strike zone" is. You never know what might spark their little pea brains with the urge to kick out.
5. Many reproduction pistols in .44 caliber have .36 caliber loading levers. When tamping down the Cream of Wheat, shift the cylinder back and forth slightly for a more even "wafer".
6. Not all #10 caps are created equal. Just because last year's supply didn't need crimping doesn't mean this years won't, either.
7. Exploded caps may jam a revolver’s action. One technique: tip the pistol back after cocking to let the previous spent cap fall free.
8. Spent caps remain painfully hot for a considerable time. When falling free, they invariably fall down your sleeve. The flared gauntlet does a great job of precluding this.
9. On revolvers equipped with cylinder safety pins: cocking the hammer should rotate the cylinder past the pin. If you must rotate the cylinder manually, something’s wrong with the mechanism.
10. It’s a good idea to know if the revolver cylinder rotates properly before making a pass at the heads.
11. Be sure your right foot is on solid ground before placing your left foot in the stirrup. Wet, muddy, and slippery patches of grass do not qualify as “solid ground”.
12. A carbine cartridge box will help break your fall. Also your rib/vertebrae/kidney (pick one). Some folks suggest replacing with a Styrofoam block covered with wood-grain contact paper. Others recommend doing away with it altogether. No clear winners here.
13. Even the best fitting saddle can develop hot spots. We are not trail-riders. Our tactics call for constant adjustments and movement in the saddle. Modern gel-pads and foam risers are thin, can be completely hidden, don’t change your seat, and provide your mount with welcome relief from rubbing.
14. A cavalry charge, done correctly, will encourage even a mounted and disciplined line to give way. The charge has nothing to do with speed, but about arriving on your adversary's doorstep all together, at the same time, as a formation...which requires both ranks move at the pace of the slowest horse.
15. Our opponents, mounted or on foot, respect and will break for a tight formation. A tight formation depends upon moving at the same rate of advance. The same rate of advance depends upon (Now Hear This!!) maintaining the speed of the slowest horse. Got it?
16. All the spur in the world won't turn a short-legged plow horse into a long-legged thoroughbred. A good tug on the reins works the other way, though.
17. There is no shame in printing out the unit event schedule. Sticking it on the refrigerator or nailing it to the barn door in no way detracts from ones’ stature. Even laminating a copy and placing it under your prescription pad (should you own one) could only be considered prudent.eats hands-down the chagrin of showing up ready to go the weekend after an event took place.
18. An excessive winter coat makes it difficult, if not impossible, to saddle your warm, if shaggy, mount. Make every attempt to work the problem before arriving at the event.
19. Having a ground cloth large enough to actually cover your tent floor is a good thing.
20. Unless you enjoy re-rolling your poncho every morning, bring something waterproof to toss over your saddle and harness at night.
21. If you own a black horse, picket it next to another one. With any luck, the other trooper will groom and pick-out your horse’s hooves before realizing the mistake.
22. As long as he’s doing a good job, don’t call attention to the fact it’s not his horse.
23. Sewing buttons on the inside of your trousers, opposite your suspender buttons, will help keep them from being pulled off.
24. If a piece of gear falls off while riding, don't stick it back on until you've found what caused it to drop off in the first place. Barrel-bands are lost in this manner.
25. Cheap gear performs cheaply. Failure of even simple items, such as lead straps and carbine thimbles, can cause embarrassment and pain.
26. If your linking procedure is non-standard, ensure everyone in the foursome knows what the correct procedure is before dismounting and attempting it on the field.
27. Remember to toss the carbine over your shoulder prior to mounting or dismounting. Landing on it is uncomfortable, the cantle makes a decent fulcrum, and the gun can lever you right out of the saddle. All in all, an instantaneously self-critiquing maneuver.
28. New horses can make even the most seasoned trooper feel and look like a tenderfoot. It's much harder critiquing the performance of others when you're having trouble keeping your own act together.
29. Leaving wet canvas water buckets in the dim recesses of your trailer causes mildew and rot, resulting in holes. Hang them to air and dry out at first opportunity.
30. Water, rest your horse, and check his feet regularly. Without him, you’re infantry.
31. Holes in the cartridge block should be snug. Too snug, and the paper rips.
32. Time and frustration spent rolling pistol cartridges at home are worth it in the field.
"Altoids" containers and other similar metal boxes, sprayed a flat color, make excellent period cartridge tins and storage devices.
33. Disguise it in a period container, but always carry 21st century remedies for timeless ailments (gastro-intestinal distress, headache, allergies, colds, etc.).
34. Shooting a carbine off your horse’s back works fine. Shooting it over his head...doesn’t. Turn off to one side before firing the carbine (or pistol, for that matter).
35. Horse sweat is corrosive, as is dew. Pack an oilcan or oily rag in a tight container.
36. Sitting on a poncho helps avoid poison ivy. Also, with the white side up, ticks are easier to spot.
37. Unlined sack coats aren’t particularly attractive, but they are cooler.
38. Sack coats make decent blankets / pillows, too.
39. Don’t unroll your shelter half too close to the picket line. The neighbors munch veggies all night, stomp around your lawn, and leave smelly deposits in your bedroom. One may even try using you as a mattress.
40. Some fool always thinks he knows more about warfare than you do. If the role he’s playing outranks yours, tough luck. Salute Smartly and Carry On.
41. Infantry officers may not grasp the proper use of cavalry. The middle of a firefight isn’t the place to educate one. Once the man’s made his decision, Salute Smartly and Carry On. Nobody’s going to get permanently dead.
42. Everyone plays a crucial role, whether standing a rotating 2-hour watch and fighting all day or guarding the "back door" from the enemy all afternoon and night. Done together, the duties create a team of the unit. Done properly, they make the unit a success.
43. Use every opportunity to scout the enemy position...even if done while escorting a referee to the "other" side and back. Use everything available and see what’s around you to help gather information on the enemy. Your job is recon and the commander needs the data. It’s not cheating--we’re simulating war.
44. If you’re in charge, rotate pickets and advanced guards regularly. At least check on them often. Rotate front line troops with rear area troops every few hours.
45. Don't engage enemy recon parties unnecessarily. If they go away by themselves without accomplishing anything, your work is done. Leaving your assignment to chase ineffective groups wastes resources. Let the other guy do that.
46. Commanders should advise couriers as to the urgency of their messages. Avoid wearing out your horse until the priority demands it.
47. If you’re in charge, never act on a message or order to change company position unless the command has been verified to be authentic. Especially critical during the night.
48. If forced to communicate by shouting, avoid using unit members names when calling to concealed positions. It gives the enemy a unit’s identity.
49. Avoid separating barn buddies. It’s tough being stealthy while scouting an enemy position with two horses constantly bellowing for each other.
50. A weighted musket tin might work for passing messages across creeks. If found by the other side, they’ll probably just assume it was discarded.
51. Insect repellent wears off. Replenish as instructed. If the boys back then had DEET, they’d have bathed in the stuff!
52. DEET, DEET and more DEET for you. Permethin is meant for clothes and they should be dry before dressing in them.
53. For tactical or other events requiring extended maneuver, plan for missing the food ration. Bring something to sustain you and your horse. Dress it as well in period attire--cloth, brown paper bags, etc.
54. Frying fatback and hardtack with onions in the hot sun is nasty, but it gets you fed.
55. Beef jerky & parched corn is a high protein, low residue, and correct-for-the-period diet. Tastes better and packs easier than salt pork & rice. Doesn’t require cooking
56. If necessary, your horse gets priority on the corn.
57. Walking a picket line in the dark is highly conducive to bashing one’s shin against an iron peg. Use a light.
58. Horses turn rump into the wind. If your horse’s cover can’t be secured around his tail or legs, it will wind up bunched around his withers during a stiff breeze.
59. Pull on it enough and the retaining pin & chain will work loose from your canteen cork. Grasping the cork itself and/or packing an extra one might be good ideas.
60. "Riggleman’s School of the Lightly Lubed Firearm" calls for a minimum of oil on working parts. That doesn’t mean zero oil. Without some protection/lubricant cylinders can (and do) rust in place.
61. There’s a reason the channels on the cylinder axle are called "grease grooves". Use sparingly--but use!
62. When camped in the open, hay bales stacked across your tent’s back opening make a decent wind brake.
63. Avoid working with fine pieces of machinery (like pistol parts) over areas of tall grass and debris (Sorry, C.J.).
64. Always read up on and grasp the theory of what you’re doing: it makes your job easier and provides a better understanding and appreciation for the era. Makes it easier answering questions from spectators, too.
65. Bring an extra canteen (if you can) and use it. Brush and wash only if you can afford the water. Hygiene takes a back seat to hydration.
66. When one canteen runs dry, start hunting water. Dismounted on deployment, keep one canteen with you.
67. Three priorities in the field: your horse, your weapons and you. In that order. Without the first you’re infantry. Without the second, a civilian. Without the last you just aren’t.
68. Covering your weapons with a poncho or ground cloth helps keep them in proper working order and protects from rusting with morning dew.
69. A thin coat of car wax will help keep your scabbard from rusting.
70. Use an oily rag to wipe your weapons down before putting them to bed for the night.
71. Don't forget the grain, and the bag to carry it in, for your faithful companion. 72. If you’ve remembered the grain and a sack to put it in: don't forget the feedbag!
73. Pack your saddle so you can unpack/repack in the dark easily and quietly. Know what’s on it and how it got there. Practice packing and unpacking until you can sort it out by feel. Doing it for the first time in the dark and with the unit in a hurry to move out, is a bad idea.
74. Double check your girth strap and surcingle one last time before riding off in the pre-dawn darkness.
75. Check your carbine before mounting / dismounting. Just because you haven't fired the damn thing for 36 hours doesn't mean it's not loaded.
76. Wear gauntlets when stumbling around in rough country or the dark. That unexpected trip to terra firma tends to drive sharp things into your hands.
77. Keep it light for your horse’s sake. Creature comforts are nice, but aren't required.
78. When you're tired, a gum blanket under you and a poncho over you sleeps just fine.
79. Always pack a small sewing kit including a heavy upholstery / carpet needle and carpet thread. Haversack straps can be repaired.
80. War is mainly spent sitting around in uncomfortable places, doing next to nothing, with no place to go, and only your own resources to depend on.
81. Never ride in crotchless underwear!
Well...OK. Can’t say the thought ever crossed my mind. Hope it hasn’t crossed anyone else’s, either.
82. (The more detailed input): Never ride astride in period women’s undergarments!
Certainly makes sense to me. Again, can’t say it’s ever been a desire. If any member not of the female contingent actually has entertained such thoughts: please--keep it to hell to yourself!
