2006 Park Day

Park Day 2006
A Great Day To Be A Volunteer!!

Earth was turned, heavy metal was moved, trash was removed, a cannon crew was trained, and lots of hot dogs were consumed when Friends of Raymond (FOR) successfully accomplished the lengthy list of Park Day 2006 objectives on Saturday, April 1, at the Raymond battlefield. Work started early; the weather cooperated nicely; and at day's end one of Raymond's key historic attractions has never looked better.

The early start came at 8:00 a.m. when FOR volunteers met at the Dogtrot Cafe for coffee and pastries before moving to the battlefield at 8:45. On the historic ground work crews were assigned their project maps and missions for the day: delicately moving five one-ton cannon carriages into position; carefully -- applying a new coat of olive drab and black paint to one of the carriages; back-bending trash cleanup along the battlefield roadways; expertly repairing a broken water line on the battlefield; and laboriously bush-hogging the tall new rye grass along the walking trail. The roster was signed; History Channel T-shirts were issued to volunteers; and, with the efficiency of experienced volunteers, off the crews went to accomplish their respective missions.

While the cleanup crew fanned out with their soon-to-be-filled black garbage bags, a truckload of cannon-movers and painters left for the cannon park about three-quarters of a mile away. There, two cannon were carefully rigged and lifted with a front-end loader, then placed on a goose-neck trailer for hauling to the old Highway 18 bridge at Fourteenmile Creek. The two cannon, a 12 pound howitzer and a 12-pound "James" rifle, were to represent the initial position of Captain Samuel DeGolyer's Eighth Michigan Battery. At the creek, the gun carriages were again rigged and removed by a second front-end loader. After placement on the ground, the guns were then man-handled into the proper position before the locking chains were applied. The Union cannon were now emplaced in their proper position for the first time in 143 years.

The cannon work crew returned to the cannon park and moved three more gun carriages to a position at the comer of Old Port Gibson Road (now the Grand Gulf-Raymond Scenic Byway, thanks to Friends of the Vicksburg Campaign and Historic Trail) and Port Gibson Street. This position was the location of Confederate Captain Hiram Bledsoe's three Missouri cannon-two 12-pound Napoleons and a rare 12-pound Whitworth breech-loading rifle.

While the carriages were being moved, other workers dug holes at carefully marked positions (14 yards between guns, per period artillery doctrine) and buried nine foundation stones (three per cannon). The heavy guns were then carefully lowered onto the stones and the locking chains were applied. One of the carriages-the first to be restored over a year ago had been mistakenly painted the wrong color green, and a paint crew immediately went to work to correct this problem.

Meanwhile, the trash crew laboriously walked the roads, filling up many bags with refuse, and another crew dug its way into the Raymond earth to find a broken water line; cut and remove the damaged pipe; procure the needed replacement parts; finally repairing the break. At the same time, a tractor with a bush-hog mower neatly trimmed the tall rye grass that had been planted along the new walking trail for erosion control last fall.

Around noon the crews reassembled at the walking trail parking lot and rested under two FOR tents in conveniently-placed camping chairs, and enjoyed a hot dog cookout. After lunch, the volunteers received a map lecture on interesting, but little-known facts of the Battle of Raymond, to include the confrontation between two Irish regiments - the Confederate 10/30th Tennessee and the Union 7th Missouri, both of which carried green flags with golden harps emblazoned upon them. The workers then walked 100 yards to a cannon and participated in a cannon crew exercise, using period implements on one of FOR's newly restored cannon - a 12-pound howitzer placed at the north end of the trail near Port Gibson Street. The exercise emphasized the importance of trust and teamwork among the members of the cannon crew.

After lunch, the cannon painting process continued, and several workers laboriously moved a heavy steel 12-pound Napoleon cannon barrel into the bed of a pickup truck for delivery to the Confederate artillery position, where it was lifted onto the carriage and mounted. Huge ratchets were used to loosen the 106 year-old nuts and bolts on the cast-iron carriages, and the deed was done.

When the sun set in one of those brilliant Mississippi arrays of orange and gold, adding to the splendor was the bright brass of the cannon barrels. At day's end the Raymond battlefield was much better interpreted and looked much better than it did at sunrise, and the tired workers could tell themselves that, on Apnl 1, 2006, they helped build a battlefield.