The Copperhead Invasion

Ohio Village

Columbus, OH

June 27-28, 2015

I arrived Friday to Ohio Village and carried in my gear. After Red River, I decided to travel light, although this weekend that proved to be not so good an idea. No tent, no shelter--just a ground cloth, poncho, and wool blanket to sleep in. My knapsack carried all my supplies for the weekend.


The temperature was dropping and rain saturated the ground. I was able to keep somewhat dry through the night, but was not comfortable with the soggy ground stealing my heat.

Morning came and I collected morning reports. With the 1st Tennessee were the 27th Virginia that were from PACS, the 44th Tennessee from Indiana that are part of the Independent Guard Battalion, the 13th Virginia, the 6th Kentucky, and the Confederate Marines. The 13th VA and 6th KY were small enough that they consolidated as one for battalion maneuvers. We also expected the 5th Texas from Medich Battalion, but only two of them arrived for Saturday only, so we consolidated them with the 27th VA. We also expected Lt Col Greg Van Wey of Medich battalion, who was to command our left wing, but due to a family emergency was unable to come. I had looked forward to seeing him to share stories of Red River with him, but the stories will have to wait. His absence left me to command the left wing. Col Danny Linkous commanded right wing, while J.R. Sharp, as overall Confederate commander, commanded the provisional battalion.


At 10 a.m., we formed the battalion and marched them into town. The Yankee battalion joined us as we held a memorial service for one of our own reenactors--a member of the 6th KY. Once the service was over and the Yankees returned to camp, we held the village, setting pickets at each entrance. We placed the pickets on 30 minute shifts, and I requested Cpl Silvers of the 1st TN to serve as Corporal of the Guard, to help me with managing the shifts. As each shift formed, I gave some basic instruction to the pickets, including the countersign of "Fredericksburg". The Yankees were given the countersign--the pickets were more for show for the spectators--and we didn't want to prohibit access and enjoyment of the town to anyone. We only asked that the Yankees remove their blouses before entering town, though they did also have to give us the countersign. The Yankees would have the village Sunday, and we would give them the same courtesy.


The day progressed and I kept busy with preparing each shift practically upon deploying the previous shift. At 12:30 pm, I had Cpl Silvers relieve the last shift with no replacements so that we could form and be ready for the battle at 1.


The entire southern side of town was active for the battle. My wing took the road to the east, pushing quickly out, then wheeling near perpendicular to the road to hit the advancing Yankees. This gave us the advantage of being able to hit them early, but when the Yankees pushed, it put us in an awkward position to fall back toward the town. I could have done a reverse wheel, but that to me is just plain awkward, so instead I right-flanked them, then ordered, "on the right by file into line", followed by a right wheel, which put the wing across the road into good position to fight. Unfortunately, the moves needed to happen too quickly, so I had to order the right wheel before the the on the right by file into line was complete. It was a bit convoluted because of this, but we got into position. Afterward, I realized that first performing a by file right (instead of the on the right by file into line), then the on the right by file into line would have been less awkward and accomplished the same thing, though I would have had to start the on the right by file into line as soon as the first file turned for the by file right command.


The Yankees pushed us hard back into the village, and we fell back as they pushed, careful not to give too much ground, trying to keep even with the rest of the battalion as they faced their opponents. Once the Yankees reach the main boardwalk, we held fast, and when they started to falter, we began a hard push out. The Yankees on my wing were stubborn, however. Left wing had to fight hard for every inch, while right wing was handed ground easily. I pushed as much as I could, but it felt I could only inch my men forward. As we passed the meeting hall, the last building to our right, Col Sharp shouted to us to push and not stop. I looked about and could see right wing on the far end of the battlefield, capturing the bridge--too far away to offer any support to us. All I needed was a single company volley on the Yankee flank, and we could break them, but my wing was on our own. Finally, the Yankee wing fell back more than 20 yards at once, and I charged my wing forward at the double-quick to take everything they gave us at that instant, having the wing ready to fire before the Yankees could regroup. It was not long after that, and we won the day.


Dead and wounded lay all about around the village. I saw one portly short Yankee laying on the ground that I remembered from two weeks ago and tried to come up with a good quip for him, but my weary body stole the brain power from me, so I let him lay. I saw several soldiers, some wounded, standing about doing nothing, so requested their assistance in carrying the dead and wounded over to Doc's tent, so that they could be dealt with. I had the Yankees that were hovering about handle their own, while any free Confederate I assigned to handle the dead and wounded of ours.


We assigned one more shift of pickets, then steadily withdrew from the village to our camps.


Evening meal was provided to us in the town, where we witnessed a wedding party gather at the church.

The temperature dropped to uncomfortably cold, with the sky spitting at us and occasionally flushing down.

Perhaps it was wimping out, but having no tent to shelter me from the cold, wind, and rain, I chose to spend the night in my car.


Who would have thought that the end of June in Ohio would require great coats?


I awoke to daylight after a reasonable rest, ready for action.


We held morning parade at ten a.m., then broke until battle time.


They Yankees held the village today, but the public would not be entering until noon, so many of us were not ready when overly-anxious Yankee pickets stopped us around 11 am. Fortunately the countersign was publicly known as "Franklin", so there was no trouble, though. Sgt Major Dave Julian told me of one picket being confused to how he so readily knew the countersign, which is particularly funny since the countersigns for both days were chosen Friday and made publicly available to all reenactors--their sole purpose was to aid in the immersion show for the spectators.


I took the long morning to visit with Jim Ruley, who took measurements for a coat I was going to have him make for me. He did such a good job with Capt Sharp's coat, and I had been considering a new frock for some time, I thought it time to talk to him.


I was given word that there were a number of period-civilian activities during the day, but since the Yankees held the town, I was not aware what they were.

Courtesy Joe Patchen

We formed for battle, then sent the Confederate Marines into skirmish against a skirmish line of Yankees. After a small show, I brought left wing up to offer support and push the Yankee line back into the town.


As we pushed forward, we pushed hard down the street on the left. The Yankee skirmishers retreated down the center, between two buildings. The 44th Tennessee came up behind us and pushed in the center, while we pushed on the left into the town. The 1st Tennessee pushed on the right flank into town. My wing included the Confederate Marines, the 27th Virginia, and the 6th Kentucky. The 13th Virginia carried their colors (an ANV Confederate Battle Flag) as color company so was not with my wing like yesterday.


Entering the town, we faced an artillery piece down the other end of the street, so did not hang around long, shifting to rejoin the rest of the battalion in the center. We fought heavily for a time, but we were outnumbered, and the Yankees soon pushed back. We slowly fell back, then rushed back between the buildings. The Yankees pushed hard, and my wing was divided from the right by the town meeting house. Our numbers steadily dropped, and two Yankee companies were quickly upon us. Although three companies were on my wing, their numbers were small, about eight rifles in each. We were quickly being overwhelmed, but just as I was to be overrun, Col Sharp brought the 44th Tennessee to reinforce us. We were able to hold our ground longer, but the Yankee artillery moved their gun into position to hit us.


We fell back further, ducking at the artillery fire, but when a third company joined the fight on us, we could no longer stand against the overwhelming forces. Our men routed, and the battle was lost.

Invasion of the North

Ohio Village

Columbus, OH

June 21-22, 2014 (June 21-22, 1864)

Plans were made leading up to the assault against a little village around the area of Columbus Ohio.  General Johnston formed a small battalion to attack Ohio Village for its strategic importance, brevetting Captain J.R. Sharp of the 1st Tennessee Co B to the temporary rank of colonel to lead four companies behind enemy lines to obtain supplies and information from sympathizers in the town.

It was a melting pot of companies, with Col Dave Julian of the Independent Guard taking command of the right wing of this provisional battalion, the Copperhead Battalion, and Lt Col Greg Van Wey of Medich Battalion leading the left wing.  Capt Sharp selected me as the battalion adjutant.  The companies that joined the fight included the 1st Tennessee Co B temporarily commanded by Capt Danny Linkus, 5th Kentucky Co B, commanded by Capt Jeff Steiner, 5th Texas Co A, who I believe was led by Dave Puechel as 1st Sgt since Lt Col Van Wey normally leads them, and a consolidated company which included the 13th Virginia and 6th Kentucky, commanded by Rick Compton.

We were also given a detail of the Confederate Marines to supply an artillery piece for us.  They were apparently going to join us by way of the Scioto River.  A cavalry unit, commanded by Merle Collins was to assist, as well.

Joe Johnston’s orders were to disband the battalion at the conclusion of the objective and have all units return to their home regiments.

Our information told us that we would be up against the Army of the Ohio, commanded by Col Bob Minton.  I am not certain of all the Yankee companies that were involved, but I do know they included the 4th Ohio Co B—commanded by Trent Boham, 41st Ohio (I don’t know who commands them), and a consolidation of the companies from McCook’s Brigade, commanded by Andrew Mott.  We were concerned about the two artillery pieces that they had to defend with, too, but we knew, at least, that they had no cavalry.

The space we had did not suit well for organized streets for our camp, so we camped in rather disorganized array.  The various units were at least able to camp together. I supplied each of the infantry units with blank morning report forms.

We held a brief parlay with the enemy in the village square Friday evening, perhaps hoping the Yankees would see our numbers and avoid harassing us.  All commanding officers were there and we each introduced ourselves.  But the meeting ended only with the certainty that a battle would occur Saturday afternoon.
Early Saturday morning I received the morning reports and held the officer’s meeting, making the basic plans for the day.  Word of the impending attack also apparently had become known to the local reporters, as we were accosted by them.  Capt Sharp tried to avoid meeting with them, delegating private Bob (whose last name escapes me) to the task, since he is a teacher and had the ability to sound knowledgeable, without giving away any of our plans.  But those reporters are tricky.  They somehow cornered both Capt Sharp and I, involving us both in the interview.  I’m sure I sounded like a stuttering fool, but Capt Sharp seemed to come through as a sharp-tongued serpent.

Having passed that first test, we formed the battalion for drill, but things seemed sluggish.  It felt as if we were leading a pack of turtles with ropes.  The drill was to rehearse our assault against the village, but all the companies were slow to follow the commands, and it seemed difficult to keep them organized.  Perhaps it was the heat.  We troubled ourselves to understand the unusual difficulties we had.
Again under a flag of truce, a ceremony was held for Edd Sharp, former captain of the 1st TN.  Honors were granted to him for mapping the trail under which John Hunt Morgan traveled in his invasion of Ohio.
Fortunately, we received word that the Yankees were having similar difficulties.

We started the battle outside the gated area for the village.  A Yankee company approached our camp, and we began the assault.  This company extended in a skirmish line, but collapsed quickly.  We chased them into the area where they played rounders, where that company was joined by at least two more Yankee companies.

All was going well.  We pushed the Yankees into the town and continued to decimate their forces.  But the Yankees had a stronger force there than we expected.  Yankee reinforcements entered the village from the north side and pushed us out.  Back in that rounders field, Lt Col Van Wey took his wing to flank on the Yankee’s left, while the rest of the battalion spread out to cover the right.

The area through which the Yankees could come out was tight.  As they exited the town, their battle line was more of a battle ball, with confusion hitting at every corner. It bought us a little time to get ourselves into some organization, but we knew we would not be successful in taking the village.  We fell back.  The Yankees pursued us a little, but broke it off before getting too far from the town.

They were at least kind enough to escort their captives back to us.

That evening the Yankees agreed to a flag of truce while a local Amish family—the Der Dutchmans—supplied food for soldiers of both sides.  Having gone hungry all day, it had been a long time since I had eaten that well, with a couple of pieces of broasted chicken, fresh green beans, potatoes and a roll, not to mention an exceptional peanut butter and chocolate pie for desert.  I think perhaps these Amish had an underlying purpose in their generosity—I believe that they hoped our overstuffed soldiers would be too weighed down from the food to be able to fight the next day.

The village’s tavern opened for a few hours under that flag of truce.  I watched soldiers of both sides spend time together, completely forgetting this War, laughing and having a good time.  It was a terrible thought that these men would be killing each other tomorrow.

It had been a long day and I was weary.  Capt Sharp discussed some business with me, which went to the early hours when we retired.  At some point during the night, I was told that one of the ladies that were with the 5th Kentucky became seriously ill and nearly died.  She was discovered passed out late by a couple of the 1st Tennessee guys as they returned from visiting their friends with the 4th Ohio.  Capt Sharp provided assistance and sent out a telegraph to the local medics, who promptly took her to the nearby hospital.  I received word later that although she is in intensive care, she is recovering.

I slept well.  As this was one of the warmest nights of the year so far, I experienced one of my first nights not shivering, and barely needed a blanket.

I awoke at daybreak and made my morning ritual, including a pot of coffee.  I managed one cup out of my pot—but when I went for a second I was disappointed to find the pot empty.  At first I was ready to find someone to blame, but then saw a small pinhole that had released all the remainder of my coffee onto the campfire.

Our numbers dwindled some as a few deserters lost the courage to face another battle against the Yankees, but we still held a significant force.  We received word that the Yankee numbers had dwindled a little as well.  Now, instead of numbers that exceed three soldiers to each our one, they only doubled our numbers.
Word also came to us that the Yankees intended to attack us in our camp from the south, so we quickly advanced to the village, taking it without incident. The Yankees completely abandoned the village in their enthusiasm to hit us.

But our victory was not to last.  The Yankees came at us hard.  We sent Capt Compton’s group out as skirmishers first, but they were forced back once the remaining companies obtained positions to defend our take.

We covered the gaps between each of the buildings on the south side of the village.  I ran back and forth between each of the companies to ensure a path of communication between them and Capt Sharp.  And the Yankees kept coming.

They pushed us back into the village square where we made our stand.  With numbers dwindling, the Yankees started to break, giving us the chance to push back and keep the village.

But I took a hit in my shin.  I knew the farmhouse on the northwest side of town was sympathetic to the Southern cause, so I had a private help me up and assist me to this home.

There, I, uh, changed my hat and coat and transformed myself into a civilian.

I met with photographer John Rys and proceeded to assist him as he photographed the aftermath of the battle.  He handed me the exposed plate, which I carried to the dressmaker’s shop where he had set up his lab, returning with a new plate for him to use.

We found Private Tim Ellifrit of the 1st Tennessee dead on the road.  We tried a few different poses for him, trying to convey an emotion that would attract the attention of some publishers.  First I rested his musket on his belly and put his hand on it, but something about it didn’t seem right.  So we moved the corpse over to a tree and tried to sit him up—but apparently these Confederate soldiers are getting fed much better than what we have heard—or maybe it was just the Der Dutchman meal from the night before still being digested.  Anyway—he was too heavy for me to pull him to the tree in my present weary state.  Perhaps if the battle had occurred early in the morning I would have been fresh and able to pull him up.  I settled on simply resting his head on his haversack.

John still was not satisfied with the pose, finally pulling out a small photo of his wife and placing it in the soldier’s hands, to make it appear he died viewing his love.  I had to agree the photo would definitely be a candidate of choice.


I do hope you enjoyed my first person attempt at telling my story of the Ohio Village Reenactment—it is a means to reflect the level of immersion the event is trying to reach for spectators, taking this hobby to the next level beyond simply blowing powder at each other for 45 minutes, then blowing a bugle to have everyone get up and walk off.  To me, this event is again an unqualified success—meeting the success of the year before.  As the battalion adjutant, I was worn weary with my duties—but it was worth every effort.  And Capt Sharp gave me the highest of compliments for my efforts.

Video from reporter of event

The Village

Ohio Village

Columbus, OH

May 25-26, 2013

Having been raised in Columbus, I spent many a time at the Village and Historical Society building.  As the destination of school field trips and a museum for a quiet afternoon, I have visited every exhibit.  I have been to the Ohio Village on numerous occasions, always in a period environment.  Never had I seen anything more than a horse or people walking its streets.  So, when I rolled my car down its main street Friday evening to get to the Confederate Camp, looking around at all the period buildings, I thought, “This is different.”

Confederate camp was located in a bowl next to the Historical Society building.  Having inspected Company Q all week, and since my home was close, I chose to spend the night at home, departing after meeting with the federal officers that evening for the overall battle plans, returning in the morning in time for the officer’s meeting.

That weekend I determined that restroom facilities were woefully inadequate.  Not having been released from my duties of inspection of Company Q, I determined the location of every facility on the grounds, including one in the village square, one in the hotel, the porta-johns on the south-side of the village, the two on the first floor of the building, one in the auditorium, and one on the second floor of the building.   I personally inspected every facility in the building, finding the one in the auditorium to be the best, having the most modern treatments, though the one located across the lobby from the exit to the village offered a lock to give complete privacy.  Although, I felt sorry for the pair of boys who needed the facility after my inspection had completed.

Yes, my inspection of Company Q has not been pleasant.

But anyway, the overall weekend was spectacular.  It was our goal to set a new standard.  We decided that our intent would be to tell a story, and not just put on a show.  So, for Saturday, the Federals started in possession of the town.  We were to fight our way into the town and push the Federals out.  Sunday would be the reverse.

Capt Sharp was overall Confederate commander, and with three companies, we needed to form as a battalion, so the Provisional Copperhead Battalion was formed for the weekend.  Capt Sharp (brevetted to Colonel), asked for me to serve as his adjutant, with Major Gary Evens on staff.  Present were the 4th Kentucky, 5th Kentucky, and 1st Tennessee.

It was an interesting time, to say the least.  I prepared Bvt Col Sharp ahead of time with the list of tasks for morning parade, to which he felt overwhelmed  until I pointed out to him that his only job was to look pretty.  During parade, it’s the adjutant that has all the work—the commander just nods approvingly.

We were ready for battle.  The Saturday afternoon battle started with the Federals in charge of the village.  The 4th Kentucky, under Major Evens, began the assault in skirmish lines.

Bvt Col Sharp led the 1st Tennessee, while I led the 5th Kentucky into the battle.  As we pushed into the buildings, the 5th KY started down a center gap between two buildings—but I saw a federal unit (the 76th OVI) slip into a gap on the other side of a building, getting ready to flank us.  Quickly ordering a change of fronts, Capt Steiner got his men lined up and firing on the federals just as they came out of the gap.  But we were too close.  I ordered another maneuver to flank the Yankees and push them back into the gap.

We tried to follow them into the street, but were pinned in the gap between buildings.  I remembered something we did at Guyandotte, where we took the long way around a building to sneak up behind a Federal unit, and suggested this to Capt Steiner.  We began trekking around, but I think Bvt Col Sharp was concerned about being left opened, so stopped us before we could complete the maneuver.  We ended up taking the occasional pot-shot until we were no longer pinned in that gap.

I found out later that had we taken that move, it may have been more aggressive than the Federals could have handle, and ended the battle in a hurry.

Once we took the town, Bvt Col Sharp had members of the 1st Tennessee deployed as pickets.  However, we he noticed they were being deployed without bayonets, he had me go around to get their bayonets fixed.  Being that we were now full in a scenario in front of the public, I hammed up the role playing first person battalion officer barking at the privates who were improperly doing picket duty.  I hope I didn’t upset any of them—I was just filling a role.  The last pickets I reached were ready—they had their bayonets fixed.  I found out, though, Sgt Kletzli started racing around to let the pickets know to get their bayonets on or I’d be screaming at them.  But what does that matter?  As far as a superior officer knows, duty is either being performed or it is not.

A “resurrection” was never performed, as is usual for reenactment battles.  Instead, the dead and wounded became part of the scenario.  The proportion of dead and wounded to soldiers was researched and matched.  Wounded were brought to a doctor’s station, while the dead were piled together (though, fortunately, not on top of each other).

The evening provided a healthy supper.  The frozen fruit salad appealed to my rather argumentative intestines.

For the Sunday battle, we started with possession of the village.  Pickets were placed, each company providing a shift.  The 4th Kentucky took last shift, to be in position for the start of the battle.

The Federals pushed us pretty hard, forcing us to retreat through the town back to the fields.  At one point, Capt Steiner took a hit, and the 5th begged not to leave him behind, so I sent one volunteer to rescue him.  When I saw the Federals start to roll out an artillery piece and that we were starting to get left behind by the rest of the battalion, I realized I should have sent two volunteers.  I rushed out to help carry Capt Steiner to shade.  When I got back to our line, we were in trouble.  The men were waiting—not knowing what to do—but in a position to be obliterated if that cannon fired.  I ordered an immediate about-face and double-quick to get us back with the rest of the battalion.

Courtesy Columbus Dispatch

We made a final assault in echelon, marching ten paces behind the 1st Tennessee, with the 4th Kentucky ten paces behind us.  It was not long before things started falling apart.  I lost the 1st sergeant, and after that I could not keep the unit marching straight, having to point with my sword through the center files which direction “forward” was.  It had certainly become chaos at that point.  By this time, the 1st Tennessee was in retreat, and the 4th Kentucky was gone from a canister blast.  Time to go home.  I ordered us to fall back.

Despite my painful inspections of Company Q, this was one of the more memorable events for me.  I look forward to a return next year, and hopefully, Company Q will not be in attendance.

Columbus Dispatch article