Lake Villa, IL

After Action Report 

Lake Villa, September 13-14, 2008 

Attendees: Antina, Tori, Lisa, Mike 

Over this past weekend, the sharpshooters of Company C, 1st USSS, assembled to take the field once again in our ongoing endeavor to educate the public about the fascinating era of history that we know as the American Civil War. The locale for the event was The Lehmann Mansion in Lake Villa, Illinois. 

Our numbers for the weekend were going to be small, but we were determined that the event would be worth the trip. In order to get our tentage up before nightfall, Antina and Tori left Rockford early in the afternoon, arriving on site around 3:30. Lisa and I would be following them after we got off work. The problems started soon after arrival, for, although the tents went up without a hitch, the Pennock dining fly proved troublesome since one of the mounting holes had not been drilled in the ridge pole. Antina made a quick phone call home and I made sure to pack a drill and drill bits so we could fix the ridge when we arrived. Lisa and I got to the site around 8:30, bringing dinner to our hungry set-up crew, and found both tents and Lisa’s fly set up and waiting for us. Little did we know that we had what was probably the best camping site on the mansion’s lawn! 

It had begun raining while Antina and Tori were setting up the tents, and by the time we got the second fly up and the rest of our gear stowed, the event organizers were suggesting that we might not want to drive back to reenactor parking in the dark. I parked Lisa’s van in the gravel lot, to be moved in the morning, and we went out to shop and socialize. Our first stop was Castle Keep, and we quickly spent all of the money that had been sent with us for clothing and equipment. We spent some time greeting our neighbors and the Carondelet landing party (Antina had already spoken to General Thomas, who had directed us to our camping spot on General’s row) and at least one officer was heard to comment “Thank God, more infantry” upon our arrival. We turned in late to the sound of rain pattering on the tents. 

The morning proved to be overcast and rainy. It had, in fact, rained all night. Lisa moved her van into reenactor parking and we started to get set for breakfast and our normal morning routines. Noting that I had around 45 minutes before officer’s call, I headed over to Castle Keep and the Carondelet camp to coordinate with Bob about forming a composite skirmish company for the weekend. It soon became apparent that Castle Keep had had a rough night, since the back portion of their tent collapsed under the weight of the water, drenching part of their stock and Josh, who was in the tent at the time. As things turned out, the Landing Party was planning on crewing their rocket launcher for the battle, so they were going to be on the artillery line rather than skirmishing, which would leave Antina and I to play sniper on the skirmish line without our units tripping over each other. About that time word came around that officer’s call was happening right away, and I headed over to General Thomas’ tent. A large crowd of officers and site staff was assembled, including Lake Villa’s mayor, and the first order of concern was the weather. If the rain continued, there would be no battle and all other outdoor activities would be cancelled. General Thomas put it to a vote and the unit commanders unanimously agreed to stay on site and see what the day brought us. Now in a holding pattern, we started to head back to our units to inform them of developments, but before we left his tent the General announced that the Navy would be providing boat rides for anybody who was interested. The Carondelet boys agreed that we could ride for free, but anyone showing up with pairs of animals would have to clean up after them… 

The rest of the morning was spent socializing and shopping, watching the rain and taking a tour of the Lehmann mansion. There was a display of vintage Civil War era dresses in the house which brought many admiring comments from the ladies, who eventually settled in for the Ladies Tea while I headed back to camp to watch the rain. Early afternoon came and went, and the rain continued. We had a light lunch, and the rain continued. Units and individuals started to break camp and get out, and the rain continued. A huge pool of water formed in front of General Thomas’ tent, which was quickly dubbed “Little Lake Villa”. We helped the medical corps build a berm of straw bales between their tents and the stream that was threatening to flow into the back of their camp. Streams ran through many other tents in the camp – but not ours. We seemed to have the highest, firmest camping spot on the lawn. While we were surrounded by marshy ground, our shelter remained high and relatively dry. 

Finally, around 3:30, General Thomas came over the PA and announced that the reenactor’s dinner would be served at 4:00. The dance would still be held at 8:00, but the event was cancelled and nothing would be happening on Sunday. We were welcome to stay for dinner and the dance. We were welcome to stay overnight, but the forecast was not good and if we thought we could pack up and get out that evening we were encouraged to do so. We held a quick poll of the unit and decided to start packing up, break for dinner, then head home that evening. Lisa and I went for our vehicles, and luckily our first obstacle proved to be no problem at all. We got them both out of reenactor parking without getting stuck. It was going to be interesting getting out of camp, though. When I drove the Suburban into camp to load up there was a bow wave of water shooting out in front of me. We found relatively stable ground and got the truck and Lisa’s van parked without much trouble, and started loading up. All around us vehicles were getting stuck in the mud. Bruce’s RV got mired in the parking area and had to be dragged free by another vehicle. Once it was on the hardtop, he didn’t take the risk of getting stuck again and started hand carrying his store stock over a hundred yards from their campsite to the RV. Antina left Lisa, Tori and I to finish packing our camp so that she could help Bruce carry stuff out. Fortunately, others started chipping in as well and the stock got moved. 

By the time we got our vehicles loaded, the lawn was more swamp than sod. I got the Suburban moving first, and almost made it out but ended up sliding into someone else’s ruts and getting stuck. Antina and the Navy and a few others chipped in and tried to push us out, but the truck was too heavy and stuck too deep, so I shut her off and headed back into the muddy field to help the others get out. We had to unhitch Lisa’s trailer, but we got her van going and kept it going until she got to the hardtop. Gary, from the Timekeepers, had taken it upon himself to haul trailers with his 4x4 pickup, and by the time we got back to the trailer he had already hooked it up and was taking it out. All told about eight vehicles had to be pushed out of the muck, Antina and I were covered in mud, and we finally hit the point where the only vehicle still mired was our poor Suburban. We enquired of the event staff and they said they could call us a tow truck, but first they suggested to a couple Boy Scout leaders that perhaps they could help us out. They headed back to the truck with us to take a look, and thought that they could do the job. They returned shortly with a stout rope and a bunch of enthusiastic scouts, tied the rope to the front bumper and off we went. The truck came out without much trouble and I got it to the hardtop in short order. We made our goodbyes around camp and headed for home, wet, tired, giggling like maniacs and very pleased with ourselves. It had been one hell of a fun non-event! 

Mike Pennock 
Sergeant, Co. C 1st USSS 

P.S. I mentioned Gary above, but I should also add special thanks to Troop 188 for hauling us out of the muck and to the Carondelet Landing Party for sticking around until we had gotten all of our vehicles were out of the mud – their support was greatly appreciated! 

P.P.S. Antina, Lisa and I would like to welcome Tori to the ranks of Hardcore Reenactors. She Lived Through It. She Enjoyed Herself. She’s Looking Forward to the Next Event. What more needs to be said? 

Photos courtesy of the Menkhaus Family