Captain’s After Action Report
Of the
Campaigns of the 16th Louisiana Infantry,
Co. D
During the
“Sun Set In
the West”
October 5, 2004
The 16th Louisiana Infantry enjoyed the attendance of 14 members and recruits at the NSA’s most recent event held on the Saturn property in Spring Hill, TN. reenacting the battles of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville and given the event title “Sunset in the West”. The number of attendee’s is duly noted as one of the highest numbers to travel to an out of the area event. My compliments to all those who made the effort, and to those dedicated members who were unable to attend please know you were missed and thought of around the campfire.
The 16th was honored by the quality men who were consolidated with us from the 14th Ala., 1st Fla., and the 4th Fla. (hope I didn’t leave anybody out) and I can’t remember when I’ve been part of a consolidated unit that looked, acted, and functioned as one like this one did. My compliments to those men who were our guest, they helped make the 1st company of the Southern Cross Battalion a very good example of what attitude and drill can do for people who really wish to recreate and understand what happened 140 years ago. In total we had 24 men under arms with one captain.
The site was the same as the 1995 Tennessee campaign and 1997 Franklin events, and is by most standards a good one. The water was sometimes scarce, but we all made it okay. Efforts were made to keep us wet with a Saturday morning rain, but it ended soon after it started and we stayed dry, except for sweat, all weekend. And the temperature was overall great, I got cold Sunday morning early, but was warm most of the weekend.
The routes of march were not so great Saturday as we traversed modern blacktop for several miles and as a result several veterans, as well as recruits, suffered blisters. Not sure of why the route was chosen, but read that the route was one of the original routes used during the Spring Hill campaign. All in all, the route was about six miles more or less. The Sunday route was tolerable as it was from Camp to the Western works, and only about a mile or so in distance, however we retreated all of that, and some, during the battle.
The camping area was laid out by Brigade and then battalion and we set up shelter halves or just slept on ground cloths. Our campsite was a fine example of soldiers on campaign, and my compliments to all the men who strained to ignore the modern packages of food and snacks along with the traditional over stuffed camp sites. We focused on our site and enjoyed the time we spent there. The consolidated unit was paid several compliments on our ability and impression in camp.
The battles were enhanced by strong numbers on both sides. The total of participants has not been published to my knowledge, but I think it’s safe to say they exceeded seven thousand. There was much confusion, as there always is, during the battles and in fact one time 1st company found itself completely on the left of the battle line all alone, and it’s probably safe to say it was the fault of its very inexperienced captain. But we made the best of the situation and was going to press the extreme right of the Federals guns, but due to a medical emergency somewhere on the field the battle was stopped, so we regrouped and rejoined our battalion. This was during the battle Saturday morning.
After the long march around and behind the Federals we prepared to assault the works Saturday afternoon and it was here that the sheer numbers of the re-enactors present was made visible. It was an awesome site to see thousands approach the Federal works along with all the colors waving in the wind. Once we had fought our way to within spitting distance of the Federal works I thought it stupid to just stand there with a gaping whole inviting us to enter, so I moved the company in through the breech only to be struck down myself. It was here while lying on the ground among the Federals who’d now poured onto the hole that once was there that I saw the elephant...the Federal colors flowing in the wind and the smoke that was rising gave those colors a parched, almost yellow, look as the sun was reflected by the smoke. This coupled with the roar of battle still has my head ringing and my heart wrenching as the reality of losing the whole company became obvious.
After resurrection we reformed and moved towards camp, some stopping to enjoy the sutler village that was passed along the way. Saturday night in camp was enjoyed by cooking and resting, most were asleep early, all were tired. However I must mention that one among us was strong enough to attend a dance in town, he is known as the Cajun Love Machine.
Sunday morning turned cold, at least to me it was. We had ample time to cook, rest some more, clean weapons, and attend to roll call. We drilled late morning and it was attended by all but a couple who were on sick roll (with blisters). The drill went great and was made so by the attitude of every man in attendance which was manifest by the fact that some who drilled Sunday morning didn’t fight with us Sunday afternoon because they were leaving early. That is a compliment to each and every man in first company.
Sunday’s battle began in the works that the company occupied just South of the angle. The 1st Sgt. determined the yardage by his expert marksmanship and as a result the companies fire was made effective. I had the men fire as comrades in battle and when we weren’t firing as a company we kept a steady rate of fire on the approaching Federals. Eventually we left the safety of the trench and retreated in good order to the rear of the guns and about a half mile from the trenches. Once there we reformed our battle line and here we witnessed the route of our cannon as they were being moved to the rear. We fired on a Federal cavalry unit using a left oblique and then on some Federal infantry using the right oblique. We retreated to the extreme rear where we given orders to move out as quickly as possible. The campaign was over for first company at that point.
We marched out at the route step as a unit, some dropping off at different places, but never the less we left the field and event as a unit, including those men consolidated with us.
In closing, the event was a good one. We made some new friends, and rekindled some old friendships. We had good drill sessions, and functioned very well on the field of battle. There were too many cars in camp all weekend, but we worked hard to ignore that. We lacked water at times, but we made it through that as well. Some of us even endured “wiping” with very little paper, thank you very much Bill Engle. We are better as a unit for having made the effort to attend. I look forward to attending the next event at Chickasaw Bluffs the end of this month and building on my experiences gleaned from the Franklin event, hope you feel the same way.
My compliments to you all once again, and especially the men of the 1st Fla., 4th Fla., and 14th Ala., it was a pleasure to serve as your captain.
Your obedient servant,
Dennis Neal
Captain 16th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, Co. D