Resaca GA Reenactment After Action Report
/Dragoons:
Myself, Corporal Moloney, Trooper Amos, Trooper Joe, and Trooper Tony traveled to Resaca, Georgia to begin the Atlanta Campaign. On Saturday the 6th Ohio was present in force and the Federal Cavalry was able to split into two companies: one commanded by Bob Vance and the other one consisting of our small but mighty detachment augmented by troopers from the 3rd Alabama/2nd Maine. Even with the presence of the 6th Ohio we were outnumbered, which is how we like it. During some literally and figuratively hot action we managed to keep the Confederate Cavalry occupied and also pull a couple of flanking maneuvers on their infantry, just as the cavalry is designed to do. Saturday night brought heavy rains and thunder storms, which prompted the 6th Ohio to return to base before the camping area turned into a quagmire.
Sunday dawned with wet ground but no rain, so the Federal Cavalry were much reduced in numbers without the Ohioans. I used the opportunity to learn about western cavalry tactics and rode as a section leader under the command of the galvanized 3rd Alabama/2nd Maine, who used Cooke's and relied heavily on mounted pistol and carbine charges. I think I fired more carbine rounds off of Red that day than I have since I started riding him. It was an enlightening experience and I recommend riding with other units from time to time to see how things get done.
There was a cavalry competition on Sunday and Corporal Moloney once again took second place. Back to the heads for me and Red this summer...
Mentioned in dispatches were everyone: Harry for setting up camp and representing the Old Second well at the competition. Amos for keeping her respective commanders in line with the guidon. Joe for being a source of positive waves and humor. Tony for being her helpful self and bravely riding an unfamiliar but very majestic mount aptly named "Traveler" on Sunday.
My thanks to the unit and especially Lt Ace and the NCO's for making New Market a success. My parents, 91 and 89, were able to see us in action at Resaca and it meant a lot to me to be there. It is also evidence of a healthy unit that things function smoothly in the absence of the Captain. Huzzah!
I'll close with some remarks I made at a Memorial Day service in our county seat, in the event you haven't already seen them on Facebook.
Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant
Scott E. Womack
Captain, Commanding
2nd U.S. Cavalry Company A/9th Virginia Company D
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for attending our brief ceremony to remember those who have fallen in our nation’s wars and for whom this holiday exists. It is fitting to spend some time on Memorial Day to reflect on their sacrifice, and it is fitting to do so at this location since this holiday has its roots in the American Civil War. As I was tacking Red this morning and viewing his empty saddle, like the ones used at Arlington National Cemetery to represent the fallen service member, a few familiar names came to mind: my Dad’s cousin John Leuty, killed in 1944, a week after D-Day in Normandy, France; my son Joe’s cousin Richard Tuten, killed in Vietnam in 1968; my first cousin Bobby Ellis killed at test pilot school in 1981; fellow paratrooper Douglas Lance Hunter killed at Fort Bragg in 1987; West Point classmates Wayne Locklin and Charlie Moses killed at Fort Hood, Texas in 1988; Tommy Bates, another classmate, killed in the first Iraq War in 1990; Chad Buehring, who served with me in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, killed in the second Iraq War in 2003; John McHugh, another West Point classmate, killed in Afghanistan in 2010, and Randall Koehlmoos, a fellow paratrooper and Foreign Area Officer, killed in Indonesia in 2011. This is a just handful of names, yet their impact ripples to eternity through the lives they touched, and each touched my life.
Amongst the reams of words written and spoken for Memorial Day I think the most poignant and powerful come from the movie Saving Private Ryan. At the end of the movie the dying Captain Miller looks up at Private Ryan and simply says ‘earn this.’ These two words capture the meaning of this day better than any other for me. They are but two words yet they speak volumes, for how can we earn a life? By staying physically fit, mentally alert, and spiritually grounded in something larger than ourselves? Yet the fallen were not isolated individuals: they were husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, students, workers, and citizens. How can we earn a husband or wife? By being faithful, forgiving and selfless? How can we earn a father or mother? By loving our children and raising them to love others? How can we earn a son or daughter? By honoring our parents and seeing that they do not want for our attention? How can we earn a student or employee? By doing our duty in the workplace and giving work the honored place it deserves? How can we earn a citizen? By voting and being politically active to hold our elected officials accountable for their deeds and misdeeds? I don’t have an answer adequate to the occasion, so in the end we must each decide how to ‘earn this.’ Thank you.”