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NWT News: Current News NWT News Blue Water Regional Skirmish – June 6-8, 2008 Richmond Purcell's Battery and the 7th Wisconsin did a fine job hosting this year's Blue Water skirmish, despite some pretty dicey weather. In my opinion the method employed by Purcell's and the 7th Wisconsin is the ideal way of utilizing the range facilities at Blue Water. Our lease there gives use the use of the 100 yard and 200 yard ranges. The host teams this time around split the duties for Saturday into team match responsibilities and individual match responsibilities. Purcell's ran the individual matches on the 100 yard range for the full day, even during carbine team, while team matches were conducted by the 7th Wisconsin on the 200 yard range. 
Team matches on Saturday included a 200 yard sharpshooter match, breechloading rifle, artillery, carbine and smoothbore. The sharpshooter event allowed two man teams to work as a pair to help each other loading and firing. The image shows some of the pairs of shooters firing from the seated position while their spotters/loaders looked down range for hits. The sharpshooter match, even though low on competitors this time around, got good reviews, and I hope in the future we can have these types of event where the range permits it. A similar match, although at a further distance, is planned for the Grayling Regional. Saturday's breechloading rifle competition was held using both single shot and repeating arms in the same class, but giving a larger set of targets to the repeating arms. Given the limited number of participants with these guns recently, I think this was a good compromise. Also of note is that the cannon match, which draws spectators, was held in the middle of the day Saturday, the time most likely to have visitors. Given that individual matches were running at this time on the 100 yd range this was not a hardship for skirmishers who do not shoot cannon. Reporters from the Times herald were on site Saturday and published the following story of the event http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080609/NEWS01/806090304/1002 . The traditional musket match, a long program with some challenging targets, was held Sunday with great success. All in all, a great weekend and skirmish conducted by the 7th Wisconsin and Purcell's. Great work! Full Statistics for Blue Water are available on the website at www.nwtskirmisher.com/standings.shtml . Memorial Day Parade – Dearborn – Monday, May 26th 21 members of the NWT participated in the Memorial Day Parade in Dearborn this year, just about the same number as last year, although a few different faces. Members of the 24th Michigan, 7th Wisconsin, 8th Michigan Cavalry, 21st Michigan, Purcell's Battery, 7th Tennessee and the 1st South Carolina joined the Sgt. John S. Cosbey Camp 427 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in remembering the fallen. My gratitude goes to all involved, and especially to Doug Reed and Dave Goodwin for the drum and fife accompaniment, Paul Lipka and Chuck Kintz for carrying the colors of the North and South, and Mike Baker and Dennis Fyke for carrying the NWT banner. Below is an image of the group in the staging area. Judging by the signs we were in the right spot. 
The parade route this year was the same as last year, starting at Library staging area, with the march beginning around the Greenfield road bridge and ending near the review stand down by City Hall, just about 2 miles. This year, once the march started we only stopped once or twice, so the parade organizers must have better coordinated the different stages. As we approached the grandstands I noticed long term NWT member, and Dearborn Police Reserve Officer, Rudy Ruzicska with his camera at the ready. We stepped off from the staging area around 10. By 11:30 most of the group had gone their separate ways for the day, with a substantial portion, over half, returning to my house for beer, dogs, and burgers. Perhaps next year we can make a formal event of this latter portion. Rick Danes, of the SUV Camp has invited us back again, and I have accepted. I hope to see you there. New Beginnings Welcome to the beginning of the 2008 Northwest Territory skirmish season. Our first regional skirmish of the year took place at the Lansing Muzzle-Loading Gun Club, located at 8545 Garrison Road in Laingsburg, MI on May 3rd and 4th. This was a new range for us, and it was enjoyable to demonstrate our activities to a new group of people. The club members were gracious in welcoming us to their facility, and they made every attempt to ensure that our event ran without any problems. There was no formal host team as this was a volunteer skirmish, and many members pitched in doing the jobs necessary to make this a successful skirmish (too numerous to name them all). The weather was wonderful for shooting; staying bright and sunny right up until the end of the smoothbore match on Saturday, and the match was concluded quickly enough to get out of the drizzle that began. It was good to see friends that I haven’t seen since the end of last season, and even to meet new friends. I took some time to wander through the camps that evening, reconnecting and making plans for the upcoming season. Apparently the 111th Ohio Volunteer Infantry spent the winter practicing, and the results of the musket match show that it paid off. They took first place by over 2 minutes ahead of the 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry and the remainder of the class A-1 teams. It was a good turn out as 16 of 20 units in the Northwest Territory fielded musket teams. Richmond Purcell’s Battery also did well by besting their nearest competitor by over 60 seconds (class A-2). And in class A-3 the 8th Michigan Cavalry finished almost a full event ahead of the rest of their class (267 seconds). There were 6 teams competing in musket class B competition, a higher number than any NWT skirmish last year. Part of this is from an influx of new recruits, as the 1st South Carolina has added almost a full musket team to their ranks since last year. The class A-1 carbine match was much closer, with less than 17 seconds between the 111th Ohio (in first place) and the 1st Michigan. Class A-2 carbine had a much wider gap, with 5th Battery 230 seconds behind the 1st place 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. The 1st Michigan took some satisfaction in the class B carbine match by besting the 111th Ohio by 7.1 seconds. The 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics took first in the Breechloader competition with a time of 255.1 seconds, ahead of the 4th Michigan by 114 seconds. And the 1st South Carolina swept the smoothbore competition by taking both medals (1st A & B teams). The remainder of the results can be found at http://www.nwtskirmisher.com/files/2008NWTStats/Laingsburg08Tm.htm. Civil War Headstone Dedication 
On April 19th 2008, the 8th Michigan Cavalry assisted the Sergeant John S. Cosbey Camp 427 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) perform a headstone dedication for Private Sanford A. Smith at the Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit Michigan. Attending were Kirt Gross, the Chief Curator of the Dearborn Historical Museum as well as direct descendants of Private Smith. The actual ceremony followed the traditional headstone dedication ceremony of the SUVCW. The main body of volunteers marched in formation to the gravesite while the family, on-lookers, and officers watched. As the speeches giving the biographical history of Private Smith was being given and the historical perpspective of his experiences were being related, the honor guard stood in formation awaiting their firing of a 3-volley salute. After taps was played and the ceremony ended, everyone stayed and visited while enjoying some refreshments the ladies of the SUVCW had prepared. We were all very fortunate that the weather had turned out to be very nice considering the earlier reports had us as doing this in the rain. If you'd like to see a few pictures of this event, you can view the photo show at: http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/zr5kg5nm Oh, the weather outside is frightful... Braving the cold weather, it was time again for another Black Powder Through the Ages Event at the Washtenaw Sportsman’s Club near Ypsilanti, MI. Held February 9th, the second event of the year at this location was hosted by the esteemed sirs Jim Weber (of Battery C, 1st Michigan Light Artillery) and Pete Zahner (of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry), these events are a chance to come out and introduce our sport to new members. This event is not an N-SSA event, but follows the same basic rules and safety procedures. Non-N-SSA firearms may be used as long as they are black powder, so you can see rolling block rifles and many other later era pieces in use. The hosts know how to make this event fun, and they do a great job of it. The weather was rather chilly that day, but many souls still ventured out to get a taste of black powder. I had the pleasure of working with Heather, a new shooter, and we had a blast as she got zeroed in and took out a moskeet. This is one of the things that I enjoy about these events is the chance to meet and work with new shooters. I know many of us enjoy sharing our sport with others, and these events are a great place to do so. Even with the cold air and the winds blowing in your face, it was good to get out to the range and spend time with friends again, doing what we love to do and enjoying the fellowship of the day. 
Frosty Fun. 
The first Black Powder through the Ages event of 2008 was held January 12th at the Washtenaw Sportsman's Club near Ypsilanti, MI. Organized by Pete Zahner (of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry) and Jim Weber (of Battery "C", First Michigan Light Artillery), these events are a chance to come out and introduce our sport to new members. This event is not an N-SSA event, but follows the same basic rules and safety procedures. Non-N-SSA firearms may be used as long as they are black powder, so you can see rolling block rifles and many other later era pieces in use. I have to say that these events are fun, and a great chance to get out and try new things. 
There are targets for individual practice and sight-in, but the fun really gets rolling during the team events. Teams are set by mixing novices with experienced skirmishers, and by mixing the types of firearms used, for balancing out the teams. The targeting is fun, and is usually whatever can be scrounged, to keeps cost at a minimum. It's also a good place to test out new targets, so if there is something that you want to try out, please feel free to bring it to test and share. One of the things that I like about these events is the chance to get together with friends that I haven't seen in a few months, and the opportunity to socialize. Just like skirmishing, it is not just about the shooting. This sport is full of camaraderie, and a very helpful and friendly spirit. And that is what keeps people coming back. Please see the Schedule & Maps webpage for more events. Group picture provided courtesy of Allissa Weber. |
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At left is an image of the storm rolling into camp Saturday night. About the only complaints I heard concerned mud on the range in a few spots, and long grass in the camping area. As we all know mud and rain are out of our control, and the grass will be taken care of in the future. The host teams once again had the Boy Scouts of America out providing lunch services, and the range was used to its fullest both days.
