Cumberland Guard Engagement History

	Cumberland Guard Maximum Effort Event
	Official Cumberland Guard Event with Colonel Rob Van in Command of the Guard
	Rob Van in Command of the Union Army
	Rob Van Commanding a Division
	Napoleon Club to meet at Event

Past Events 2015

Past Events 2014

Past Events 2013

Gettysburg 150th Anniversary (GAC) Event
July 4-7, 2013

When registering for the GAC Gettysburg event, under Organizational Affiliation, please indicate:
"CG-Third Division"

Reenactor Registration is located at::
http://reenactor.gettysburgreenactment.com/index.htm

Keith G. Harrison
Major, Chief of Staff/Assistant Adjutant General
Cumberland Guard 

Gettysburg 2013

Gettysburg 2013 registration will be available beginning August 1, 2012.  The registration fees for Gettysburg 150 will be $25 until 12/31/2012.  They then go to $35 until 3/1/2013 and $45 dollars until 5/31/2013.  There will be no walk-on registrations.

Having not seen yet the registration form, but as a suggestion when you register, register as “Your Unit Name – Cumberland Guard”.  That should help avoid confusion with the people processing the registrations.

Keith G. Harrison
Major, Chief of Staff/Assistant Adjutant General

Past Events 2012

			150th Shiloh, TN	29 May - 1 Apr.
			Billie Creek, Rockville, Indiana
			Hastings, Michigan	21-22 Jul.
			Hartford City , Indiana
			150th Perryville, KY	5-7 Oct.

Perryville, Kentucky
October 5-7, 2012

It appears we will have 3 battalions at Perryville. In no particular order, they are:

A.     Earl Zeckman's Military Department of Mississippi
    
B.    Will Eichler and all of the Michigan Guard units and their affiliates
   
      C. The Indiana Brigade and the 49th Indiana have combined to create the Army of the Wabash. It appears they will be there with 120-150 under a feller named Lucky.

Now is the time to be contacting other units who you know want to go to the event but are not part of the Guard. We will gladly help them find a home.

You can register now.  Here is the website for registration:

http://www.perryvillereenactment.org/html/registration_2012.html

Colonel Dave

Perryville 2012 Update
October 19, 2011

We have been informed that in addition to the tentage types indicated below that half shelters also will be allowed.

Colonel Dave

Perryville Registration

Perryville Registration is now possible.  Go to:

 http://www.perryvillebattlefield.org/html/registration_2012.html

You need to register as individuals rather than one registration for the entire unit.

Registration costs $20.00 and you can pay on line (credit card/ pay pal). 

Keith G. Harrison
Major, Chief of Staff/Assistant Adjutant General

Perryville-2012

The Cumberland Guard has received a personal invitation from the Director of the park. There is a keen desire to get a lot of Federals there since, to my amazement, the place is crawling with Rebs.

I raised the tent issue with her (The website said no tents unless the weather was bad) and within an hour, she changes it. Now, pup tents are a problem since they weren't there yet....one reference has them arriving a week after the battle. But A's, wall, Sibleys and even shebangs are perfectly acceptable.

Those of you attending the annual Guard meeting on the 30th of this month, please have an opinion regarding this event. I support the event 100% and remind you this is origional battlefield and we will be on it 150 years after the real thing. A once in a lifetime experience.

Colonel Dave

March 2012

Gentlemen of the Guard:

We all know of the distressing events that began last November involving Tom Emerick, Jeff Verstraete, and Doug McComas and their eventual disassociation from the Guard.  I am delighted to say that, up until now, their parent unit, the 7th Michigan, has remained faithful to the Guard.  Let's hope they see the larger picture and continue to bolster our ranks.  Who knows, maybe I can get them behind the wall for the 150th Pickett's Charge like at the 125th, 130th, 135th, 140th, and 145th.

Before closing this chapter and moving on, there remains one last bit of concern.  Mr. Emerick is publicly posting that 9 Cumberland Guard units have told him they are pleased with the change in command to him at Jackson.

Simply put, that is UNTRUE.  I don't know what else to say other then you gentlemen of honor and integrity should be offended that Mr. Emerick is implying that 9 of your units have supported his four-month campaign to have him named as Union Commander, initially replacing me and now, as of February, even Craig DeCrane) at Jackson.  Nothing I can write here will change anything....it takes your peer pressure to stop any further insults to the Guard.

Now on to what reenacting is about:

Gentle readers, the Cumberland Guard has established the standard for Union reenacting in the Midwest.  It has earned, through your sweat, tears, and sacrifices, a reputation in every corner of this nation as a military force to be reckoned with.

YOU have put this together and achieved so many successes and triumphs.  Bask in the glory of knowing the men who fought 150 years ago are looking down with nodding approval of your portrayal of those heroes.

Wear that light blue ribbon with pride....

Colonel Dave

Perryville-2012

The Cumberland Guard has received a personal invitation from the Director of the park. There is a keen desire to get a lot of Federals there since, to my amazement, the place is crawling with Rebs.

I raised the tent issue with her (The website said no tents unless the weather was bad) and within an hour, she changes it. Now, pup tents are a problem since they weren't there yet....one reference has them arriving a week after the battle. But A's, wall, Sibleys and even shebangs are perfectly acceptable.

Those of you attending the annual Guard meeting on the 30th of this month, please have an opinion regarding this event. I support the event 100% and remind you this is origional battlefield and we will be on it 150 years after the real thing. A once in a lifetime experience.

Colonel Dave

March 19, 2012

Members of the 7th Michigan:

It has been brought to my attention by several individuals in the 7th that the 7th Michigan voted to end its affiliation with the Cumberland Guard at its meeting on March 18, 2012. While we are certainly disappointed that a few were able to sway those present at the meeting, your organization’s decision is respected and on behalf of the Cumberland Guard, accepted. The 7th Michigan, as an organization, will be missed.

I was also lead to understand that the decision was not unanimous. Any member of the 7th who did not vote to terminate affiliation or, more importantly, did not get an opportunity to express their opinion and vote on the matter, the door will remain open to any one of them to fall in with any Guard unit at Guard Commanded and National events, if they so desired. All they would need to do is to get in touch with me and let me know of their desire.

Respectfully,

David Shackelford, Commanding
Cumberland Guard
dave.shackelford@frontier.com

Past Events 2011

August 4, 2011

Upcoming Events of the 150th Cycle

As to the future 150th events. Next April there are two Shiloh's. Why is too long to discuss here but we need to support Earl Zeckman, the Union Commander at the event sponsored by the Army of the Tennessee (AOT). The other event is a Blue/Gray Alliance event. While I count Terry Crowder, the Union commander there, as a friend, he has not supported the Guard with the troops and determination Earl Zeckman has. He, if you recall, put on the Atlanta events and treated the Guard units with hospitality beyond the call of duty. He considers himself to be in the Guard so why shouldn't the Guard support him?

Call or email me to discuss problems, questions, etc. DO NOT LISTEN TO OR PASS ON GOSSIP ABOUT THE EVENT. THERE IS AND WILL BE PLENTY OF IT BUT CONTACT ME FOR THE STRAIGHT ANSWER.

In October of next year will be a 150th Perryville, Kentucky. This is on the actual battlefield. We need to have some very serious discussions as to what we intend to do.

I will be at Jackson and at Holland, Michigan for the balance of my season. We need to be setting a date and place for the annual Cumberland Guard meeting. Anyone got an idea? If we could get something around Ft. Wayne, Indiana, that may increase the attendance. We need to get as many folks there since we are talking about supporting events that will never, ever occur again.

Wear those light blue ribbons and three cheers for the Cumberland Guard.

June 7, 2011

Brig General David Shackelford - Commander
Colonel Jim Dedman - Chief of Staff
Major Steve Fratt - Assistant Inspector General
Major Dave Downing - Brigade Chaplain
R.J. Samp - Chief Musician
Steven Smunt - Principal Musician
Lt Robert Rock - Aide-de-Camp
Private Adam Gains - Clerk/Flag Bearer
Vivandier Victoria Dedman - Clerk Aide
1st Battalion Commander (1st Minnesota) Colonel Will Eichler
2nd Battalion Commander (5th Massachusetts) Colonel Craig DeCrane
 
Lt Col Jon Sirlin, Chief of Staff, Union Headquarters
 
Gentleman:
 
On behalf of Brig General David Shackelford, attached are a revised set of Cumberland Guard Brigade (Franklin’s Brigade - 1st Brigade, Third Division) Special Orders for Manassas and its Emergency Contingency Plan. The orders that have been revised are Special Orders #1 – #4, and #9 (primarily due to a decrease from 3 to 2 battalions). Special Orders #5 - #8 remain unchanged. There are three new orders (Special Orders #10 - #12) dealing with tentage, schedule, and event host rules and regulations). As before, these orders are tentative and subject to change prior to the event and once on-site.
 
Based on the event schedule (see New Special Order #11), individuals may arrive as early as Wednesday; however, individuals doing so run the risk of possibly camping in a wrong area and may end up having to pull up stakes once most everyone else begins to arrive. Brigade anticipates having a map shortly with the designated location where our Brigade will be camped within the Federal Camping location (which will be shared immediately upon our receipt) and, hopefully, someone there as early as Thursday to help avoid the type of situation mentioned above.
 
We will keep you informed of all change or additions to these Orders. Should you have any questions or desire any additional information regarding the Special Orders, please feel free to contact me at pcinc@prodigy.net. Thank you.
 
I am most respectively yours,
 
Keith G. Harrison
Major, Assistant Adjutant General
Franklin’s Brigade (1st Brigade, Third Division)
Army of Northeastern Virginia
 

April 28, 2011

Colonel Jim Dedman - Chief of Staff, Cumberland Guard Brigade
Major Steve Fratt - Assistant Inspector General, Cumberland Guard Brigade
Major Dave Downing - Chaplain, Cumberland Guard Brigade
1st Battalion Colonel Will Eichler, Cumberland Guard Brigade
2nd Battalion Colonel Craig DeCrane, Cumberland Guard Brigade
3rd Battalion Colonel Earl Zeckman, Cumberland Guard Brigade
Lt. Colonel Jon C. Sirlin, Chief of Staff, Union Headquarters
 
Gentleman:
 
On behalf of Brig General David Shackelford, attached are the Cumberland Guard Brigade (Franklin’s Brigade - 1st Brigade, Third Division) Special Orders for Manassas and its Emergency Contingency Plan. The orders are tentative and subject to change prior to the event (it is still early) and once on-site. (Col Sirlin: I took the liberty of adding your most recent order into ours and made two corrections as it impacts on us. "Cumberland Guard" should to be placed after Dave Shackelford’s name (as this is a Cumberland Guard Brigade) and it happened to be misspelled after Will Eichler's name). Please note that we do not have all the staff information for all the Battalions (yes, we also are missing some for Brigade). Please provide me with your staff appointments as soon as possible.
 
The Cumberland Guard Emergency Contingency Plan was developed many years ago (I have updated it for this event) and addresses such issues as Severe Water Shortage, Missing Soldier, Catastrophic Injury, Multiple Catastrophic Injury, Death, Criminal Act and Fire - issues all that we hope not to have to deal with at national events.
 
Current contacts for the Cumberland Guard Brigade are as follows:
Brig General David Shackelford - Commander (dave.shackelford@frontier.com)
Colonel Jim Dedman - Chief of Staff (coloneldedman@yahoo.com)
Major Keith G. Harrison - Assistant Adjutant General (pcinc@prodigy.net)
Major Steve Fratt - Assistant Inspector General (fratthaus@comcast.net)
Major Dave Downing - Brigade Chaplain (downing_dave@hotmail.com)
1st Battalion (Cumberland Guard - 1st Minnesota)
Colonel Will Eichler (steadiwill@comcast.net)
2nd Battalion (Black Hats/Great Lakes - 5th Massachusetts)
Colonel Craig DeCrane (decrane@buckeye-express.com)
3rd Battalion (Army of the Cumberland - 11th Massachusetts)
Colonel Earl Zeckman (ezeckman@bellsouth.net)
 
We will keep you informed of all change to these Orders. Should you have any questions or desire any additional information regarding the Orders, please feel free to contact me at pcinc@prodigy.net. Please also copy General Shackelford into all emails. Thank you.
 
I am most respectively yours,
Keith G. Harrison
Major, Assistant Adjutant General
Franklin’s Brigade (1st Brigade, Third Division)
Army of Northeastern Virginia

September 17 - 18, 2011

VanRaalte Civil War Muster Special Orders are posted on the Special Orders Page. 

Manassas After Action Review is located on the AAR page 

Upcoming Events of the 150th Cycle and more is located on the Command Dispatch page

Correspondence regarding 150th Bull Run.

To the Honorable David Childs;

Having discussed this matter with General Daniels and, indirectly with you and other significant staff officers, I presume it is permissible to help out the men in my Brigade with their unit assignments in order for them to start the process of obtaining the needed items for an accurate depiction of the units.
Thus, the Cumberland Guard Battalion will portray the 1st Minnesota. The battalion commander is Will Eichler.
The Black Hat Battalion, of the Cumberland Guard Brigade, will portray the 5th Massachusetts. It will be commanded by Craig DeCrane. This battalion will be supplemented by another Guard unit, the Great Lakes Battalion under Paul Davis.
The Army of the Cumberland under Earl Zeckman will portray the 11th Massachusetts. This will give the Brigade representation of the units that were present and in the battle, supporting their artillery, Ricketts Battery.
Thank you for the opportunity to portray such noble troops and for your patience as this all came together. I understand the issues facing General Daniels and please relay to him my eagerness to assist him in any way possible, personally and professionally.

We will make you proud.

Colonel David Shackelford

Correspondence regarding 150th Bull Run.

To the Honorable David Childs;

Having discussed this matter with General Daniels and, indirectly with you and other significant staff officers, I presume it is permissible to help out the men in my Brigade with their unit assignments in order for them to start the process of obtaining the needed items for an accurate depiction of the units.
Thus, the Cumberland Guard Battalion will portray the 1st Minnesota. The battalion commander is Will Eichler.
The Black Hat Battalion, of the Cumberland Guard Brigade, will portray the 5th Massachusetts. It will be commanded by Craig DeCrane. This battalion will be supplemented by another Guard unit, the Great Lakes Battalion under Paul Davis.
The Army of the Cumberland under Earl Zeckman will portray the 11th Massachusetts. This will give the Brigade representation of the units that were present and in the battle, supporting their artillery, Ricketts Battery.
Thank you for the opportunity to portray such noble troops and for your patience as this all came together. I understand the issues facing General Daniels and please relay to him my eagerness to assist him in any way possible, personally and professionally.

We will make you proud.

Colonel David Shackelford

Gentlemen of the Guard;

It seems that we have been assigned the task of portraying the 1st Minnesota at the 150th Bull Run. They performed beyond anyone's expectations and are famous for the conduct in the battle.

For the uniform, many wore red battle shirts. I do not believe it is mandatory for ALL of us to have red battle shirts but the more the merrier. For those that insist on the standard blue jacket, I am fine with that.

If you have questions, please call 317.439-1563 or email dave.shackelford@frontier.com or check out the event website.

Col Dave Shackelford

The Annual Cumberland Guard Meeting will be October 29, 2011 at 11:00 AM at the Woodlawn North Room at Conner Prairie, 13400 Allisonville Rd, Fishers, Indiana

Gentlemen of the Guard;

It seems that we have been assigned the task of portraying the 1st Minnesota at the 150th Bull Run. They performed beyond anyone's expectations and are famous for the conduct in the battle.

For the uniform, many wore red battle shirts. I do not believe it is mandatory for ALL of us to have red battle shirts but the more the merrier. For those that insist on the standard blue jacket, I am fine with that.

Questions, see me or check out the event website.

Col Dave Shackelford

Past Events 2010

****************MEETING NOTICE*****************

The annual meeting of the Cumberland Guard is at 10 am on Saturday, November 20, 2010 at Conner Prairie, Indiana. It will be held in the log cabin. There will be signage directing you to the cabin or just ask any staff member.

Obvious topics include our local schedule as well as the 150th events cycle that begins next year.

We will have pizza delivered. If you can, please send a note telling Col Dave (dave.shackelford@frontier.com)  how many will be attending from your unit as this will assist in the planning.

There is no limit on how many folks can attend from any one unit so talk it up. I believe it is the direct involvement of each and ever soldier with the private having as much say as the colonel that makes the Guard unique and successful.

If you have questions, please call 317.439-1563 or email dave.shackelford@frontier.com

Gentlemen of the Guard. Word has reached Headquarters of the loss of Craig DeCrane's mother.

The heart of the Guard is broken and sad beyond words.

Colonel Dave

To the Guard:

I want to extend a very big thank you on behalf of the Atlanta Campaign Inc and me personally for your attendence at the Atlanta reenactment this past Sept. Because of your participation this past event was a tremendous success. We surpassed all expectations. The Guard has been and again was a huge reason this happened. Our total donation made this year was a little over $8600.00 and brings our ten year total to over $25000.00. Our total reenactor count was 2007.

As usual you guys were great. The battles were very well done on both sides. Working with the Guard staff was easy and efficient. Again, THANK YOU for being part of the 145th Anniversary Atlanta. I look forward to the next time we work together on the field.

Your Most Obedient Servant,
General Earl Zeckman, Commanding
Union Forces, Lovejoy, Ga.

Gentlemen of the Guard;

First and foremost, all should congratulate Will Eichler on the birth of his daughter. Baby and Mother are doing fine and Will is about to learn the true meaning of sleep deprivation. A truly joyous occasion for the Eichler's.

2010

The year ahead will be discussed at the annual meeting in November. Please have some idea as to what your unit wants to support when you show up at Conner Prairie.

There is an event at Land between the Lakes next November. It is not a tactical like the first event there.

There will be a wargame at my house following the meeting.

Until then, I remain your most obedient servant,

Past Events 2009

			Cumberland Guard Meeting	November 7, 2009
			Civil War Days (Hartford, Indiana) 49th Indiana and 50th Virginia Hosting. <<http://www.angelfire.com/in3/34IN/>> This is the 20th year for this event. You can register on line at this website.	October 9-10, 2009
			Atlanta, Georgia	September 4-6, 2009
			Jackson, Michigan	August 28-30, 2009
			East Tennessee Civil War Campaigns	May 1-3, 2009
			Billie Creek, Rockville, Indiana	June 12-14, 2009

Past Events 2008

			Atlanta, Georgia	November 7-9, 2008
			Cumberland Guard Meeting	October 25, 2008
			Hartford City, Indiana	October 10-12, 2008
			Gettysburg, Pennsylvania	July 4-6, 2008
			Hastings, Michigan	July 18-20, 2008
			Jackson, Michigan	August 22-24, 2008

Gettysburg 2008 Images from 145th Gettysburg - July 2008