Welcome to the Fort Wayne Battalion Drill Site. This website has been designed to be a source of information about training events that are held for Civil War Living Historians at Historic Fort Wayne in Detroit, MI. As you look around, you will also find follow-up information about events we've held in the past. Fort Wayne was used by the United States Army as a mustering point for men entering the Union's service. While they were there, they also received elementary training into the craft of a solider. We continue this tradition today by using the Fort to improve our skills as we strive to interpret and portray these brave men.

2012 Thank you from Col. Cummings

Boys,

On behalf of Company K, Fifth Michigan Infantry and the Sally Port Mess, I would like to thank all that participated in the 2012 Combined Arms Drill at the Fort. Members from at least eight different reenacting units came together to make the drill a grand success. It was 2009 when I last commanded the drill and it was a great refresher for the men as well as for me too.

During the weekend we practiced the following tactics and ceremonies; School of the Soldier, School of the Company, Guard Mount, Dress Parade, Street Firing, Skirmish Exercises, Pass in Review & Inspection of Troops. The most amount of time spent on Saturday afternoon was on School of the Battalion. Getting the cobwebs out of our minds and the rust from our bodies was a great way to kick off the season for those that hadn't attended Shiloh a few weeks before.

The battalion staff did an excellent job of instructing, helping, being used as markers & guides and I would be remiss if I did not mention their names here; Major Keith Harrison acting as my second in command and Inspecting Officer, Lieutenant Matt Merta as Adjutant, Pat Rice as Sergeant Major. Thanks also to the company officers and a great part of the success of the weekend is due to their leadership; those officers were Captain Dave Bauman, Captain Russ Paul, Lieutenant Marty Walker, & Lieutenant Jeremy Buschlen.

The most praise & thanks goes to you boys in the ranks; I wish I could name you all here. The success of the drill could not have happened if it weren't for the men in the ranks. The men that attended showed not only their dedication to reenacting, but to each other as well. It does take a certain number of men to pull off a drill off this nature and I thank you all for taking your valuable time away from the 21st century to help us all learn the 19th century tactics so we can be better in the field and honor those soldiers that we try to emulate with our impressions. As a leader, it helps me to practice these tactics as much as it helps everyone else and in fact I think in the case of the School of the Battalion, the dedication of the men in the ranks is appreciated most by the officers who couldn't put these tactics to practice on the battlefield unless we practice them on the drill field. No amount of tabletop instruction can replace seeing these maneuvers in action.

Thank you all for your patience of me and the other officers as we made mistakes. It is through those mistakes that we learn and master these tactics. It would be nice to spend eight hours a day for a few month getting ourselves to a point where these drills are second nature. We don't have that luxury and I think that the time spent drilling this weekend will show on the drill fields and battlefields as we move the hobby forward. Three cheers to you men that gave of yourselves this weekend so we could all learn.

Thanks also goes to the men that set and participated in the Lowe Inn impression...while we were honoring those soldiers that came to the Fort 150 years ago, you boys at Lowe Inn honored those merchant Unionists that were there to support the soldiers and provide a service to them. Thanks to Jeremy Bevard, Tom Steele, Sean Collicott, Pat Price, Brian Jankowski and Will Eichler. It was a grand evening of food, entertainment, games of chance, singing and laughter. It was a brief and very enjoyable respite from the tedium of the life of a soldier.

It was a pleasure commanding this years Combined Arms Drill and filling the very large shoes for a moment of Colonel Will Eichler. I now turn command back over to him and go back to my place in line.

Thank you all.

Your humble servant,
Scott Cummings
Brevet Colonel
Fort Wayne Battalion