Richard gave me my start, so to speak. And so when he asked me to return, of course I said yes! My presentation has evolved into a living, breathing entity since those days. It changes every time I give it, which is a good thing. So I was looking forward to putting my new product on display for them. And then I learned I had to keep it short, which means I had to cut out a lot of the cool stuff I had added. That was a bummer, but I try to respect any time limitations given to me.
I packed up my computer with the truncated version of my presentation, my electronics, and two full reenacting kits to make my way towards central Louisiana. Not long after I left Mississippi, I was passed by a white Mercedes exceeding the speed limit by a gross amount. You know those jerks. They're the ones you spy in your rear view mirror approaching you so quickly that you fear you're about to have an unwanted guest in your empty passenger seat. They don't slow down to give you time to get out of their way and don't seem to care. Justice seems to pass those jerks by as fast as they are driving. Not this one. Not this time. I eventually caught up with him. But that was only because he was sitting still...on the side of the interstate....with a cop digging through his trunk. Heh
Speaking of interstates, the speed limit on I-49 is 75!
My four-hour drive took me across the swamps and even a few rice paddies of south Louisiana and then up through cotton fields to Alexandria, Banks' staging area for his ill-fated campaign. But unlike him, I showed up on time. Actually, I was early. Mark was earlier due to his flight schedule. But through a comedy of errors that rivaled those encountered by the Federals, his flight ended up getting switched and delayed three times for a variety of reasons. Yeah, Delta's ready when you are.....except when the bathroom door won't stay closed. Really.
We had a couple of hours after I picked him up, so I used that time to finish my presentation. Yeah, creativity tends to strike me at the most inopportune times.....like the night before a talk. So that left me trying to finish scanning, cutting, pasting, and animating new content into power point an hour prior to show time.
My talk was a part of a larger annual event commemorating the Red River Campaign, so I made sure to highlight the women soldiers who participated in those engagements. Other than the symposium of which I was a part, there was a reenactment, dinner theater, dances, etc. The venue for my talk was the Kent Plantation House, which, I regret I didn't have a chance to tour. The presentation wasn't held in the house itself but in a building out back. So Mark and I arrive and start setting up: me my equipment and Mark the display of gear. You know how my equipment is always messing with me? Well, this time I couldn't find my clicker I use to advance my slides, which caused my mind to whirl a million miles an hour, almost as fast as that white Mercedes, trying to figure out how this was going to work with me now having to mash the button on my computer each time I wanted something to happen with my slides. I decided to look through my stuff one more time and eventually found it in the bag where I keep my cables and cords. The week before a talk, I always hook up my equipment and run through the power point just to make sure everything is working. Apparently, when I repacked everything, I failed to put the clicker back in the pink kissy lips bag I always keep it in.
And then I tested my wireless mic. I couldn't figure out why I was getting so much feedback until a gentleman pointed to the knob on my PA system that says, "Echo." Apparently, I must have inadvertently turned it while trying to adjust the volume, and I need to become better acquainted with my stuff. Yeah, so my equipment wasn't messing with me this time. That was just my age catching up with me.
With the disaster averted, I proceeded to go through the short version of my presentation. It all went great. I
had a nice crowd, one of whom was Miss Battle of Pleasant Hill. I had no idea there was such a pageant, but I was honored to have her attend. She was a young girl named Sarah, and I told her about another Sarah, Rosetta Wakeman, who fought at Pleasant Hill disguised as "Lyons Wakeman." She was enthralled, but I'm not sure if it was because of the story I told about Wakeman or the fact that I knew the pageant winner's name was Sarah. It was on the back of her shirt.
The crowd asked a ton of interesting questions. One was "Did they fall in love?" Yes, yes they did. I then told the story of Emma Edmonds and Jerome Robbins. That's another post. Another lady asked, "What made you interested in this topic?" I get that a lot. But that, too, is another blog post. On Mark's side when he was manning the gear table before my talk, he got the usual questions about the hobnails and heel plates on my brogans. We don't know why that fascinates so many people.
And it was during this presentation that my equipment messed with me. Specifically, there was a slide that made a premature appearance thereby ruining that particular moment.
As Mark and I were heading out, we met Ranger Scott Dearman who was returning from participating in the reenatment in Alexandria. He asked how it went, and we ended up chatting for a while about a variety of topics. Like with Ranger Mumaugh, I was very impressed with his knowledge of women soldiers, which he incorporated into a very nice display in their museum. Go check it out.
The following day, we toured some Red River Campaign sites before returning to our respective homes. Thankfully, our trips proved to be uneventful.
I would like to thank Lauren Cook Wike for providing me with copies of Rosetta's letters, which are housed in the Library of Congress. People at both talks were absolutely fascinated with them, and they helped me further connect Wakeman, and women soldiers in general, to those who were present.
Until next formation....rest.
(Photos by Mark Hidlebaugh)
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