A Holiday Cavalry Battle

Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!

Since 1999, I’ve spent the weekend before Thanksgiving at a Civil War reenactment just north of Houston at a place called Plantation Liendo. It really was a 2,000 acre plantation during the 1800's, The stately big house was built in 1853 and still stands, shaded by giant pecan trees. During the early days of the Civil War, a Confederate training camp was located on the property. Later, a prisoner of war camp for Union soldiers captured along the Texas coast and in Louisiana was close-by. All to say, Plantation Liendo is a great Texas location for a Civil War reenactment.

The photo is from last weekend’s cavalry skirmish that is a standard part of our sham battles. I’m including it here because with a little ‘willing suspension of disbelief’, it reminds me of the historical fight between Captain Callahan’s mounted Texas Rangers and the Mexican army cavalry they encountered and fought on Mexican soil in 1855. That wild melee fought on horseback is part of the climax of my new novel, A Different Country Entirely.

The reenactor on the far right is a friend, Edward Teniente, whose wife took the photo. The image has riders waving short muskets and shotguns and Colt pistols. Too bad there’s not any lances or swords, but you can still get a feel for how chaotic it must have been when several hundred charging horses met and mingled with the riders shooting at close range and hacking at each other.

In contrast to the bellicose action poses Edward and the two Rebs to his left are displaying, note that the very young Reb facing Edward on the pinto horse in the middle is more tentative, not quite ready to mix it up with all those crazy older guys. That rider probably reflects most soldiers' first battle experience.

Since horses are large dangerous beasts which scare me, I took part in the same battle as a Union infantryman. Here is a photo, also from Mrs. Teniente’s camera, of our company firing a front-rank volley towards our brothers in gray.

One last image of our company before the battle. I like this photo, not because of my snow white beard or dandy red fez, but because I’m next to a young man enjoying his first afternoon as a rifleman in the front rank, instead of being a drummer behind the action. Since my two grandsons are too young to play in our sham battles, I thought of Koal as my surrogate grandson for the hour we were elbow-to-elbow comrades in arms. And he did just fine. He is a spunky kid.

To close with a self-serving comment: With Christmas coming on, please consider buying a McBride novel as a gift for someone. And if, perchance, you have already bought and read any of my novels, a rating and short review left on my Amazon page would make a greatly appreciated gift to me.

Now, eat lots of turkey this Thursday, and when you are out shopping on Black Friday, slip a few dollar bills into the Salvation Army Red Kettle when you pass one.