Commander's Notes, Hot Springs

Commander’s Notes on Hot Springs:

My thanks to everyone who attended, & special thanks to our “fightin Chaplain” who joined the ranks.

Pro’s

1) The level of gun crew proficiency is outstanding. There was a time, many years ago, that I knew deep in my heart that Columbia could take it to any battery on the field. Y’all are there, if not a little better.
2) The general level of military skills, training, & moral is high. Because y’all are able to switch jobs, cover each other & anticipate each other’s actions; it allows us to project a lot more force on the field than our numbers deserve.
3) I was pretty torqued Sunday morning, & about thoroughly tired of listening to the Rebs talk trash. I had decided that somebody was going to pay for ruining my mood. Apparently, y’all felt the same. The Rebel Cav must have thought they had rode into a buzz saw Sunday Afternoon. Good job.
4) Weapons were well cleaned & maintained going into the weekend action-Good Job!
5) Pistol awareness/Safety has improved 100%. Keep it up!
6) Thank you for keeping the cars out of camp. It’s nice to not have to fight that battle endlessly.
7) Working jointly with the 3rd US went very well. They are another ‘old School” battery with a well-trained crew (not to mention they are good guys).
8) Moving the guns forward in support of the advancing Infantry was cool & it is historically correct- Sunday was a blast.
9) The Chaplain in the camp helps cut down on the rough humor (no Aussie demons!)
10) Your treatment of the new troop was commendable.
11) I enjoyed breakfast at the local diner immensely.

Opportunities

1) Our numbers are not where they need to be. We are at the rock bottom minimum level to project force on the field at the level we expect. One more guy lays out; we will get lame real quick. Already we are at the point where we can defend the gun or crew the gun. As late as last October, we could do both simultaneously
2) Don’t let our success go to our heads. We are still a small unit, 4-6 guys can be cut off & annihilated very quickly.
3) We crushed the mounted cavalry Sunday because they were weak. This does not diminish the fact we crushed them, but more aggressive & better-deployed horsemen can & will give us a real run for our money.
4) Keep focusing on Safety. If we get cocky, we will pay for it.
5) Sunday’s battle pushed us to our limits physically. Let’s face it; we are not getting any younger. Dennis was spent; I made myself sick (I was worthless on Monday) I think Creely lost a couple of layers of skin… I’m not saying we need to work on our physical conditioning (O.K., I do…), but be aware of your limits.

Regards,
Duke