7, October 1876 (+32)
To: General U. S. Scout
Headquarters Grand Army of the Frontier
Near Washington City
Copies to: (Bvt.) Col. Major Matt Lewis Chief of Staff,
(acting) MAA Sgt. Drydock,
Marshall Halloway, and
The ladies and gentlemen of the GAF at large
Sir:
I have the honor to submit my report following the 2008 Grand Muster of the Grand Army of the Frontier.
Preparations for the Muster being mostly complete by Tuesday, 30 September I returned to my home barracks and occupied my time with other projects on Wednesday and finished preparations on Thursday 2 October. I moved into my temporary quarters at Fort Hartsuff Thursday afternoon only to have my presence required at my permanent quarters on Thursday evening. I returned to Fort Hartsuff Thursday evening at approximately 20:30. The Texas contingent arrived Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning. The most of rest of the men arrived late Thursday afternoon and evening.
Friday morning the men breakfasted on a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy that Delmonico had prepared. At 08:00 (Bvt.) Col. Major Matt Lewis commanded the color guard and hoisted the garrison flag at Fort Hartsuff. Following morning colors a report of hostiles near Scratch Town (Ord City) the men departed for the scout by buggy, buckboard or whatever other means available. Upon arrival at the sight of the most recent encounter with the hostiles the command was briefed and operations commenced with the long range rifle match. The match was found to be quite challenging as the top shooter only managed to hit 54% of the time. The men faired better on the long range pistol course and the top shooter, Ned Neiderlander had only 1 miss. Over the course of the campaign Ned proved himself to be a very proficient marksman. Following a break for lunch (provided by the land owner) action continued with the Wild Bunch match. By middle afternoon the command returned to the post to prepare for a hop thrown in our honor by the Valley County Historical Society at Calamity Jane’s in Ord City.
Saturday Morning the men again found themselves again on the trail of the hostiles following morning colors. This was to be the case all weekend. At the site of the previous days hostilities we found everyone to be present or accounted for. While the weather was beautiful, the Signal Corp informed me that a storm was probable for Sunday. So after the second stage I deemed it necessary to divide the command into two nearly equal squads in the hopes that we might more expediently punish the hostiles. The gamble worked and by evening we had completed 7 stages instead of the planned six. (Bvt.) Col.Major Matt Lewis commanded one squad while (Bvt.) Lt. Col. Dusty Tagalon commanded the other. This left me free to perform an advisory role should either commander require guidance or assistance. Both commanders proved equal to the task and I was able to take my turn on the line in Col. Lewis’ squad. That evening the command dined on an outstanding meal prepared by Commissary Commander Delmonico and his assistant Doneyet.
I should mention here that as is the case with any army, the Grand Army of the Frontier marches on its belly. And that being the case, it is no wonder the men (and women) preformed so admirably, as the commissary department provided the command with healthful and tasty sustenance all weekend.
Following the banquet a short meeting was held during which the men deemed it best to follow the precedence of the Grand Muster being held at the same facility 2 years in a row. Therefore; Fort Hartsuff and the Baker Ranch will be the site of the 2009 Grand Muster. After the meeting, some very nice door prizes were awarded.
Sunday morning we awakened to threatening sky’s so we pushed ahead in an attempt to complete our task before the storm arrived. So intense had the firing been, that some of the men found that they had expended all their ammunition before completion of the match. I had planned for that contingency and had extra. We were able to finish our campaign before noon at which time we dined with the baker family once again before returning to Fort Hartsuff. While the men policed up the barracks and surrounding area Lt. Col. Tagalon and I totaled the scores, which are as follow:
Brigade Champion:
(Bvt.) Col. Rattlesnake Jack Robson (1st place Mil-Spec. Single Shot, 1st place fatigue Uniform)
Milspec Repeating Rifle
1 Ned Niederlander
2 Curly La Grande
3 Scooter
Milspec Single Shot
1 Rattlesnake Jack Robson
2 Major Matthew Lewis
3 Texas Sarge
Scout
1 Col Diamond
2 Cherry Lake Jake
3 Capt Montgomery Little
Lady Scout,
1 Cherry Lake Kate
Forager Scout
1 Dusty Tagalon
Militia
1 Scruffy Skippy
Staff Officer,
1 River City John
Dress Uniform
Texas Sarge
Fatigue Uniform,
Rattlesnake Jack Robson
Civilian Clothes; Men’s,
Shalako Al
Civilian Clothes; Lady’s,
Cherry Lake Kate
The Division of Canada won the Division Plate race on the strength of Rattlesnake Jack Robson’s first place finish in both the Mil-Spec. Single Shot and fatigue uniform contests
I will announce the results of the side matches in a future report.
The Battle Rifle Classes continue to grow and gain in popularity. The added experience with the battle rifle classes has taught me that future match directors will want to consider limiting those classes to around 7 rifle shots. The initial load restrictions on lever guns really doesn’t provide the parity between the classes that was intended. In my opinion the scout class is competing only against the scout class; therefore, let the scouts load up to the limit of their firearms. I wrote my stages limiting the initial load for scout guns to 5 and tried to average 10 rifle shots for the match. While the participants did not seem to mind, it did make for long stages. It is my hope that participants will ad their critiques of the match before too much planning for the next muster occurs.
I remain,
Your Ob'd Servant,
(Bvt.) Col. Jerry M. Davenport
Commander, Department of the Missouri
Grand Army of the Frontier
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