SAR is pleased to present this journal by longtime Emma-Gee, Rick Cartledge about his experiences at Knob Creek.

It was with great pride that I took this article assignment from Small Arms Review. This writer has been under the weather for about two years. The twelve cylinder Packard is back. It could use a paint job, but the tires are new and the motor’s tuned. Many of the faithful readers have been terribly kind. In the following I shall return that kindness. I invite you once again to climb up on my running board and ride with me for a while. We will travel through four very special days in October. Nearly everyone agrees that the Fall ’97 Knob Creek Show and Shoot surpassed any that we’ve had for years. The weather and the people could not have been nicer.

I crossed the Salt River on I-65 about sunrise on Thursday morning, hit the exit and pulled to the red light at the top of the ramp. I swung across the bridge and stopped at the light by the entrance ramp to I-65. At this point we begin our journey. I looked toward Shepardsville, Kentucky. Beyond it stretched the mountains that lead to the Knob Creek Range. Shepardsville gave the South one of its most honored sons, Col. Philip Lightfoot Lee of the Orphan Brigade’s 2nd Kentucky. I found it fitting that Shepardsville’s cloud laden sky glowed grey and crimson, the colors of The Gallant Pelham. Later at Knob Creek Range I would view a new Rich Pugsley gun, a gun that all Southerners wish that John Pelham had fired.

While freshening up at the motel, I snapped on the news channel. The presenter waxed fondly about the Harvest Home Festival in New Albany. She introduced a local string band from the Louisville environs. The musicians cranked up with Bill Monroe’s ‘Uncle Pen’. As I motored up to the range house, Range Master Homer Saylor flagged me down. We shook hands. I told Homer about ‘Uncle Pen’ and stated it appeared we would have a great weekend. Homer agreed. We plan to go together one day to Rosine and pay our respects to Mr. Monroe. Homer and I both wore short sleeves. Short sleeved shirts became the dress du jour for all four days and nights. The presence of automatic weapons goes without saying.

Ola Amigos

I headed past the main line and around to the front of the range house. Twice a year this spot becomes the crossroads of the Title 2 world. Don Turnbull sounded the horn on his golf cart. I shook hands with the raconteur and master of the Boyes Rifle. We exchanged greetings. I brought him salutations from his good friend William Helmer, author of ‘Dillinger: the Untold Story’. Bill sent his regrets that he could not attend. He and Rick Mattix had just completed ‘The Public Enemies Almanac’ for Facts on File. Mr. Helmer experienced unexpected delays in Chicago and Rick was trailing some new Bonnie and Clyde story in Iowa.

While I searched for Paul Mahoney of Krinks, the prettiest mule driver in the Alabama Cavalry motored around the corner of the range house. She threw up her hand and I waved her over. She stopped her titanium taxi and accepted my contribution to the campfire. She safely bore it to the campsite in Kenny Sumner’s eighty acre camping field. I would later join them under St. Andrew’s Cross. We talked of distance guns and the election of the Scottish Parliament. We shall follow with great interest the developments north of Hadrian’s Wall. We send a heartfelt ‘Well done!’ to the children of William Wallace and Robert Roy MacGregor, as we are one in the same. Come springtime we will hoist a flagon and toast the tattoo on Sean Connery’s arm. It translates ‘Scotland Forever’.

On returning to the range house I found Paul Mahoney. Pauly said he had finished his post sample BREN in time for the shoot. He was on his way to get it. While I awaited Paul and the BREN, Beth and Glen Whittenberger strolled up and said hello. I first met Beth when she and Glen were dating. The week before Knob Creek, AMC ran a series of Film Noir greats. I taped most of them.
While watching the Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell classic ‘His Kind Of Woman’ I thought of Beth and Glen. About an hour before the movie debuted, the mail came. ‘The Thompson Collector News’ arrived and told the story of the ‘All Thompson Show and Shoot’ in August. The winners of the men’s and women’s shooting competition both answered to the name Whittenberger. Enough said.

Paul Mahoney sauntered out of the pole barn with the BREN gun thrown over his shoulder. He drew a crowd. BRENs have a tendency to do that. Mr. Mahoney gave us a good show. He asked us to find the receiver welds. There in the bright sunlight I could only find one. He showed us three more. Pauly stripped the receiver so that we could view the inside. Paul marveled at the skill that the Commonwealth machinists used to make the BREN. I marveled at Paul’s skill in putting one back together.

I had sent Paul a copy of the BREN gun book that Jim Allee prints at IDSA Books. Jim prints the Small Arms Identification Guides written by distinguished Australian gun writer, Mr. Ian Skinnerton. Pauly found the exploded diagrams and serial number sequences especially helpful. He considered Mr. Skinnerton’s book the best nine bucks he’d spent lately. Paul then took his BREN to his shooting slot and went to see Bob Landies for some magazines. We each departed to our separate ways.

I didn’t get far. Brian held out a friendly hand and we talked about the 1914 Hotchkiss article that we are working on. As we talked, we watched Mike Krotz and Bill Mitter unload a dewat Soviet 107mm recoilless from the Vietnam era. Just then, Jim Ballou dropped some web gear over my shoulder. ‘What’s that?’, he inquired. It appeared to be a World War I BAR gunner’s belt fitted for a wide looped .45 holster. Wrong! Jim stated that I held in my hand an original Colt Monitor commercial belt. A shrewd collector had found it up East. The collector brought it to the Knob Creek Shoot for a friend of his. Though he had already sold the rare belt, he lent it to Jim for inclusion in the BAR book. I told Jim that I had brought the Baby Face Nelson picture for the ‘In Unfriendly Hands’ section and would bring it to him later. Jim said thanks and went to photograph the Monitor belt. It is not without good reason that many of us eagerly await Jim Ballou’s book.

Show Time

A group of friends motored up I-65 past the Gene Snyder on Thursday night. We zeroed in on the Outback Steak House off Wendy Lane. Our table talked automatic weapons, the next table discussed the battle rifle match, and the table behind us talked suppressors. Outback treated us as cordially as the Derby crowd. Good to their word, the restaurant enforced ‘No Rules’. We stayed too late enjoying the stimulating conversation.

We all looked a little bleary eyed when we met Friday morning. All of us arrived early, anticipating the opening of the gun show and putting some brass on the ground. While we waited, a man with a confident stride walked toward us. He carried two trophies. I had seen the impressive trophies displayed in the range house on Thursday morning. The sponsors bought large third place trophies. The sizes went up from there. This man carried a very large one and the biggest of all — ‘Aggregate Top Shooter’.

He introduced himself as Malcome Davis of Huntsville, Alabama. We talked shooting for a while. He then noticed the ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ shirt I wore, presented by the fine citizens of Dexter, Iowa. I told Malcome that I wrote historical articles on Title 2 for the Small Arms Review. I asked him if he knew that he carried the same name, though spelled differently, as the Tarrant County, Texas Deputy killed by Clyde Barrow and W. D. Jones. Malcome replied that he did. He laughed. Malcome then told the story of the first date he had with the woman who would become his wife. He took her to see ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. With shooting and knowledge like that, the “Alabama Cavalry” may be engraving Malcome an invitation at this very hour. We shook hands at about the time we heard Kenny Sumner on the loud speaker.

Kenny announced the opening of the show. The crowd poured into the pole barn. For those who have never had the privilege (and it is a privilege) to stroll through the gun show at Knob Creek Range, the following will attempt to give you a sense of it. To say that weapons, accouterments, books, videos, and RKIs fill up the place states the case too simply. Specifics tell the tale. We will have to dodge all of the Lafette tripods that march out of the pole barn like the mop brigade in ‘Fantasia’ — 34s, 42s, Yugos, and what Bill Mitter humorously calls ‘Braunsweigers’, the optically equipped Bundeswiers sold by Robert Landies. The following describes some of the many interesting exhibits seen at this gun show.

Kent Lomont displayed one of the rare 1898 brass Argentine Maxims. This gun was very similar to the one Bob Landies displayed last spring. I confess an unmendable weakness for the venerable Maxim gun. The ’98 tops my list. An American genius designed this gun. Master machinists breathed life into this magnificent weapon during the twilight of the Guilded Age. Mr. Lomont kindly field stripped the top of the gun and handed over the pieces. The lock reminds one as much of a Swiss watch as it does a gun part. The brass D handles pass for a work of art in their own right. The safety looks like a brass ellipse bonded to a thick popsicle stick. When flipped up for firing, one views a series of concentric brass ellipses cradling raised brass letters that exclaim ‘Fuego’. The whole gun reminded me of Tom Berringer’s famous line from the ‘Rough Riders’ by John Milius — ‘Indian Bob, kill the German!’ Kent once remarked that if they told him he could have only one gun and that was a Maxim gun, he wouldn’t be too unhappy. Though I would plead for a Thompson, this writer agrees.

I moved on to the book and video tables to search for several items. Friends in Georgia sent me with a list. Alabama Arms sold a very fine video on the Browning guns. A friend had recently purchased a nice DLO A-4. He wanted some visual instruction. On viewing the Alabama Arms video, my friend stated that he found it very interesting. He stated it wasn’t fancy, just very helpful. Alabama Arms now debuts a video on the Swedish K. Several dealers featured video material on a wide range of interesting subjects. To those new to the Title 2 world, some of the most informative videos come from Knob Creek Range. For those who wish to know more of KCR’s biannual event, I recommend Fall 1996 and Spring 1997.

On another table I found a book seller of very discerning taste. Among his fine wares, he offered ‘The Devil’s Paintbrush’ by Dolf Goldsmith and Jim Allee’s quality reprint of ‘A Rifleman Went To War’ by Herbert McBride. I still consider Mr. Goldsmith’s book on the Maxim gun to be the finest gun book on a single gun by a single author. Tracie Hill called me during the formative days of ‘Thompson: the American Legend’. He asked me to write for him. The first question I asked was, ‘Do you have a copy of The Devil’s Paintbrush?’. Tracie replied that he did. I stated to him that Dolf had set the bar two notches higher and we should strive to reach it. Tracie agreed. The rest is history. ‘A Rifleman Went To War’ speaks for itself. Along with T. E. Lawrence’s ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ and ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu (the Hoosier warrior Bobby Knight’s favorite book), my family considers McBride required reading. Capt. Herbert McBride brings us to ‘White Feather’.

Mike Waterhouse came carrying a white 20 round box of ammo. Mike knew I wasn’t a distance shooter but thought I might want a box of the ammo he now carries at his table. As usual, the knowledgeable Mr. Waterhouse proved correct. Dennis Duphily had returned from overseas and I had run into him outside the pole barn. I remembered something wonderful when I read the name on Mike’s white ammo box — Carlos Hathcock II.

Several years ago, Carlos Hathcock came to the Knob Creek Range as the guest of Dennis Duphily, and Dan Shea. By the time I got to Carlos, he had run out of his sniper books. Neither his health nor mine is what it once was. I shook the hand of the man who embodies the phrase ‘Every inch a Marine’ and promised to return. I found a copy of ‘A Rifleman Went To War’ and brought it to him. I asked, ‘Do you know this book soldier?’. Carlos cracked a knowing smile and replied, ‘That’s the bible.’ I explained to Carlos that my young nephew had a tough time getting into this world. I asked Carlos to write something for Liam in Herbert McBride’s book. Carlos did.

I don’t shoot well enough to know how good the ammunition is. What I do know is this. If Carlos Hathcock put his name on it, it’s good enough for me. At the end of that day several years ago, Dennis and I watched as Carlos Hathcock departed. As he motored away Dennis said, ‘I hope that Carlos knew how loved and respected he was by every one who met him.’ I told Dennis that I was confident that he knew. With the white box from Mike Waterhouse, I am equally confident of something else. Carlos Hathcock would find welcome at the Knob Creek Range at any time. I hope that in some fall or some springtime that one of America’s most beloved soldiers might find the time to come and, once again, be among us. Should he wish to come on short notice, he should bring his books and T-shirts. I am confident that there will always be a place for him at the S.A.R. table. Dan Shea and Jeff Zimba back me up on this.

I then went to Jonathan Arthur Ciener’s table where I always expect to see something new. Jon rarely fails to have some innovative new product or variation on display. This time, Jonathan smiled broadly as he showed me the ‘Platinum Cup’, his new 22 conversion for the 1911 pattern government automatics. Jonathan stated that he responded to his customers’ requests for a full featured upper. To his 22 slide, he added a number of custom features. He first fabricated a raised serrated flat top slide. Jon then inlayed a micro adjustable Millet sight. He augmented the Millet rear sight with an accentuated serrated front sight. Jon then added angled cocking slots and tightened the whole thing up. He then finished it with the kind of quality that people have come to expect from Jon Ciener. Some years ago I shot with Dave Rosenfield and Mary Ann Sanborn, they of the famed ‘His’ and ‘Hers’ Vickers guns. Dave assisted Jonathan in evaluating some of the first Ciener prototypes. Dave gave me a test drive and it functioned flawlessly. Next spring I hope to try one of the new ones.

Knob Creek takes shooting seriously, but it isn’t all serious. The tellers told these tales better. The following tells two jokes and of a funny conversation. Married lady to girlfriend, ‘I got a machine gun for my husband.’ Girlfriend replied, ‘Good trade!’ The second one goes like this. Married guy to his buddy, ‘My wife said she’d leave me if I bought another machine gun. I’m sure gonna miss her.’ A dealer told me he knew he’d arrived when his first three Christmas cards came from lawyers. I told the dealer of the brilliant novel ‘Primal Fear’ written by fellow Georgian William Diehl. In the opening of the movie made from this book, the fine actor Richard Gere skillfully delivers a couple of lines about law school and the justice system through his character Martin Vail. We won’t print them here. You will have to rent the video (Ladies beware). Before the title page in his fine book, Bill Diehl quotes Charles-Louis de Secondat from 1742 writings relevant to 1986. Among those to whom the Founding Fathers looked to for inspiration, they listed the Baron de Montesquieu. The writer from Georgia and the Baron from Bordeaux provide some very interesting reading.

Though many tables presented interesting wares, I will close this section by telling the reader of one table in particular. This table instructs the reader on what to look for at KCR. It also helps the newcomer to avoid the same mistake that I made on the first trip to the Creek. You will see a dealer with a single table and might pass him up for a dealer with ten. As I maneuvered toward the back of the pole barn, an astute collector waved his hand. He need not have thrown up a flag. I had already spotted the ginny FBI Thompson case crouched on the front corner of his table. He had acquired some rare items from an old time Class 3 dealer who was now retiring. He kindly allowed me to examine them while giving me some valuable lessons.

Among the original Colt Thompson mags, the collector displayed several mint double dates and a shot mag. Next to the mags sat four boxes of rare ammunition. One contained 50 rounds of Thompson shot shells. The second box contained .45 Auto CF cartridges marked ‘Adapted for the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun’. The third unopened box contained Western Super X .45 Auto .230 grain Metal Piercing Lubaloy. The fourth box held .45 Auto tracer from the Frankford Arsenal. This same table had earlier yielded the previously mentioned commercial Monitor belt for another astute collector and Jim Ballou. Needless to say, several knowledgeable collectors with deeper pockets than mine went through this table like a plague of locusts. I deeply appreciated viewing these rare items and learning something from my knowledgeable friend. This man and his table make the following point. If you ignore a single eight foot table, you might just pass up the mother lode.

The Writers Meeting

The Usual Suspects assembled at Mark’s Feed Store on Dixie Highway in Louisville. We rolled in about 8:30 Friday night. The aroma of barbeque filled the parking lot. We each selected from the menu and finished the meal with buttermilk pie. The meeting room at Mark’s gave the tell tale sign of good food. As the servings moved down the table, the conversation died. Before we could escape and find sofas to lie down on, Dan Shea opened the meeting.

First and foremost, Dan gave a glowing report on the acceptance of our magazine. In the months to come, readers will know the full impact of this acceptance. Jeff Zimba reported a steady stream of subscribers flowing past the S.A.R. tables and moving to the Gun Owners of America tables next to ours. Mr. Larry Pratt personally manned the G.O.A. tables and greeted one and all. Holly Gifford reported many favorable comments from readers who viewed the first issue at Knob Creek. A motion was made to commend Dan Shea and the Moose Lake staff for the fine job that they had done. The reader should know that the staff started flat footed. In four months they assembled the magazine. We still have some kinks to iron out. That being said, when the first issue hit the streets we knew that we had something to be proud of.

Jeff Zimba passed out some writing assignments. The book authors then gave their reports. Frank Iannamico stated that his STEN gun book neared completion. Though not yet chipped in stone, a mighty pile of rock dust lies below the granite slabs. Moose Lake will launch Frank’s book as the first of many offerings. Jim Ballou then spoke about the BAR book. He echoed Frank’s comments on the fine cooperation that museums and private collectors gave to their projects. Jim then passed around the cover photo. Though Jim keeps this close to the vest, suffice it to say that the readers will find it simply stunning. Jim had even arranged for the breakfast table decorations in the range house cafeteria on Saturday morning — BAR prototypes. With S.A.R. at KCR, if you snooze you lose.

Dan then turned to the suppressor writers and scheduling the upcoming match. The previous trials generated great interest and keen competition. Many dealers delayed table setups and ran down to the lower range to watch.

Simply put, our suppressor writers put their share of brass on the ground. They are just very quiet about it.

After the meeting Dan and I ran into each other in the motel parking lot. He asked how I thought the meeting had gone. Before answering, I thought of all the bright and enthusiastic men and women who gathered at Mark’s Feed Store. I knew we had a winner. I stated that this meeting didn’t resemble ones that any of us had ever attended. Each person in that room brought honed skills to a new magazine. We all stood together on the starting line. In ten years, we might all look back and be amazed at the race we had run.

We are unlike any other publication. If the reader looks for sky diving from a Piper Cub, he should apply elsewhere. If the reader wants to stand on the cutting edge, look out the back door of a flying boxcar, and hurtle out into the blackened night — he has found his magazine. This is not to say that we don’t make mistakes. We do. We won’t make mistakes on some dusty library shelf. We will make our mistakes standing knee deep in a brass pile.

‘Build It and They Will Come’

Kevin Costner filmed his motion picture ‘The War’ in my home town several years ago. Mr. Costner showed himself to be personable, accessible, and gracious. With all due respect to Mr. Costner (and this writer has a great deal of respect for him), there is one thing that ranks as more American than baseball — Freedom. Legitimate ownership and uses of Title 2 weapons serve as an index of freedom. The camaraderie between free Americans brought about the Knob Creek Show and Shoot. Readers who have journeyed to Westpoint, Kentucky will fully appreciate what they are about to read. Those who have never seen the Creek will still find the following interesting.

In an article for another magazine, this writer told of the changes in the Creek from the time when he first started coming more than ten years ago. Last April while dining on some fine steaks in Louisville, a friend who preceded this writer by more than ten years told his story. I ran into him this fall at Bob Landies’ tables while we looked over some of Ohio Ordnance’s semi auto only BARs. I asked Bob about the new .308 models and he stated they worked fine. Bob then announced the 1918 classic semi autos. Ohio Ordnance will build 300 limited editions of the famed blue steel guns with their finely checkered wood. Could there be a ‘scattergun’ replica in someone’s future? Only time will tell.

We then moved around to the back side of the table and took up a position by a beautiful 08 Maxim gun. We looked over the sled mount as Bob told us about the gun. This gun showed fine attention to detail as did many of the excellent belt feds offered by the dealers at this shoot. As Mike Krotz joined us, I asked my friend to again relate his story. He called off a list of the early shooters. We knew the names of them all. Just as he started telling the story of how he first came to the Creek, Mike and Bob had to excuse themselves to wait on customers. My friend and I talked one on one.

As my friend strolled through a midwest gun show in 1976, he ran into two known machine gunners. One of them stated that they planned to go to Kentucky to put some brass on the ground. They asked if he would like to come with them. They got an affirmative response. The two gunners instructed my friend to awaken early on Saturday. They would pick him up on the way. The adventurous three rolled up in front of the range house about one o’clock on Saturday afternoon. About a dozen guys hammered away on the main line. As the three unpacked their guns, Kenny Sumner came out and shook their hands. They asked if they could shoot with the rest of the shooters. Kenny explained that they would need shooting slots. Kenny pointed toward the line and said ‘Take those three slots over there that are next to each other.’ They still have them.

My friend explained that no vendors set up shop until about 1978. They displayed their wares under hospital tents. With apologies to Ted Nugent, the M.A.S.H. unit vendors presented ‘Intensities In Tent Cities’. The Knob Creek Show and Shoot was up and running. As we reminisced, Mr. Biff Sumner walked by. We waved to Mr. Biff and asked him to join us. Biff Sumner then gave us the story of how it all began.

The Sumner family bought the land from the government some years ago. Biff Sumner owned an automatic weapon and knew several friends who owned them. In 1963, Mr. Sumner invited five of his friends to come put brass on the ground. He explained that an old gun testing range stood on some of his property. The shooters began using the old range. Word spread from friend to friend through the Class 3 community. Each year a few more hearty souls showed up for good shooting and conversation. They camped on the spot where the Waffle Man now sets up his booth. As the vendor ranks began to swell, the campers moved to the other side of the range house. That is where this writer first started camping.

In 1975, Mr. Biff Sumner turned the shoot over to his son Kenny. Kenny, with the help of a lot of dedicated people, built the Knob Creek Show and Shoot into what it is today. Someone not familiar with the Title 2 world would not believe that Knob Creek today came from six people. They do not understand that automatic weapons have protected our freedom. They cannot comprehend that legitimate ownership of them serves as an index of that freedom. Many of us who come to the Creek know the following above all else. Those who harbor shallow views on individual freedom lead poorer and emptier lives than we do.

In 1963, five men looked for a place to put brass on the ground and be free. A sixth man provided it. With due respect to Mr. Costner, the following simply states how the Knob Creek Show and Shoot came to be. Biff Sumner built it. Kenny Sumner expanded it. And, oh, how they came!

The Endless Line

I first came to Knob Creek for the guns and still do. I now come more for the people, some of the best this earth has to offer. That being said, when Saturday afternoon rolls around I am ready for two things, a lit cigar and a loaded machine gun. Those who have viewed a certain picture in ‘Thompson: the American Legend’ know that I come by this in an honest fashion. We now go up on Knob Creek’s main shooting line. We shall discuss some of the wonderful guns being shot there. We will tell of it when the line goes hot. The reader then will join in conversation with some of the knowledgeable people who congregate when the barrels cool.

These serious men and women have graciously allowed me to be among them for the past ten years. I know all by face and most by name. As most of them know that I handled hundreds of names per week before retirement, they forgive me when I stumble. In the following you will meet some of them and learn from them, as do I. In this section they will pass along some words of wisdom. They will also tell some stories that the reader will find interesting.

When I first went through the orange gate, I sought out Mr. Irv Kahn. I have known this man for more than ten years and known of him for more than twenty. I never fail to learn something when speaking with him. I brought him salutations from Donna and Bill Taylor, mutual Class 3 friends from Georgia. I then got some good advice on ammunition for a friend’s BREN gun. We then talked about the thundering A-4 that Mr. Kahn has hammered for as long as I have known him. Early on, Mr. Kahn gave me some of the best advice I have ever received. As more and more people enter the Class 3 world, remiss would it be not to restate some of his sage words.

You should learn before you buy. No truer words were ever spoken about Title 2 weapons. Many first time buyers purchase guns that they have heard of or guns that their friends told them about. They buy without ever having fired an automatic weapon or without knowing much about their care and feeding. At Knob Creek, dealers on the main line and the lower range offer guns to rent. For a reasonable fee you can test drive a number of different guns. Brass put on the ground by your own hand proves to be amazingly instructive. A $100 investment can save a $3000 mistake. Remember, you will buy retail and sell wholesale. A $200 tax awaits you at the door. Mr. Kahn simply suggests that the buyer try to make his purchase intelligently not emotionally. Neither of us claims to have always done it that way. Most dealers want you to be happy with your purchase. It means that you will probably do business with them again.

Secondly, Mr. Kahn advises to always buy good ammunition and clean your weapon thoroughly after shooting. He once asked why anyone would spend $5000 for a gun and try to save $2 on a box of ammunition. When he made that statement we were discussing the bulged barrel on someone else’s Colt Thompson wrecked by some gun show reloads. Bad ammunition can seriously harm a fine gun as well as its owner. For those new to the Title 2 world I would expound a bit on Mr. Kahn’s words. You will not shoot as much ammo as you initially think that you will. You will just shoot concentrated bunches. Over a year, you will probably not run much more ammunition through a Thompson than you do through the 1911 you own. If you seriously shoot your handgun, it will balance out. Always buy good ammunition and clean your gun properly.

I then went to see Mike Free. I congratulated Mike on his latest triumph. Mike and Tracie Hill have won three best in shows with their Thompson exhibit. Their latest victory came at NRA Show in Pittsburgh, PA. Fellow writer Don Thomas and his son Paul came over. They joined in the spirited conversation. Don, the historian for the Military Arms Corporation from inception to the sale, now crafts a book on the MACs with renowned writer Tom Swearengen. As we talked, Chief Range Officer Homer Saylor ran the safety drill though the loud speaker. ‘Safety is the first thing, safety is the second thing, safety is the third thing, safety is the only thing!’ I knew the barrels would heat up soon. I headed back down the line to shoot with Ron and Gary Wilson, the Whittenbergers, and Ken Snyder.

Three shooting sessions later I made some notes for the readers. The unmistakable whir of a mini gun caught my ear off to the left. I went down to investigate. There I found the unmistakable craftsmanship of Rich Pugsley and the craftsman himself. Rich had mounted a mini gun on a beautiful underslung Gatling gun carriage. Rich kindly assisted the Small Arms Review with the article on his unique gun. (see S.A.R. January 1998). Closer still stood Frank Iannamico firing yet another STEN. Frank volunteered an aerial photograph of the Knob Creek Range taken during an Iroquois flying over. Frank stated that the only two people who enjoyed the flight more were Kathy Lomont and a comely young lady named Andrea

On the way back to the shooting slot, I finally met Bill Vallerand. I have known Mr. Vallerand by telephone for many years. I finally got to shake the hand of this most knowledgeable and amiable gentleman. We talked of Maxim guns, BRENs, Land Rovers, and the Vincent Black Shadow. Near us Jim Ballou fired an interesting machine pistol. Jim stated that he just had to break from BAR research to test this interesting gun. Next to us, the Great Lakes Barrett gun thundered away.

Bob Allen and John Rust deftly handled the 82A1 in all three rifle positions and then hip shot it. These men weren’t playing Rambo. They skillfully drove the storied veteran of Desert Storm in a professional and soldierly manner. Other than the marksmanship of Gary Wilson, watching these men safely and skillfully handle the big rifle provided some of the most interesting moments of the Night Shoot on Saturday night. Gary Wilson hit a number of the designated targets during the night shoot. As we say in our part of the country, ‘Gary’s shooting made his father proud!’ As those who come to the Creek know all too well, automatic weapons are a generational thing.

The Range Officers added some thrilling special effects to the designated targets. When hit, the targets threw star busts into the night sky. Between the fourth and last round of night shooting, the flame thrower contingent put on a spectacular show. First, they crossed two flames and then three. They then demonstrated different effects with several types of fuels. For their grand finale they marshaled ten flame throwers and lit up the night sky. The large assembled crowd spontaneously broke out in a thunderous applause. The fifth firing round featured tracers. Need we say more.

One of the people that I would drive to see whether guns fired or not is Mr. Ken Snyder. My valued friend Mr. Snyder stands as one of the elder statesmen of the Class 3 world. He does so not because of his age. He instructs us because of his knowledge that extends in depth to World War II. Several years ago, Mr. Snyder and I sat in the shade of the Navy Arms truck courtesy of Mr. Paul Reed. We discussed John Browning and the reliable guns that he left us. I still find it interesting that so many Class 2 professionals continue to bring at least one Browning gun when they come to the Creek. Mr. Snyder then summed up the genius of Mr. Browning. He captured John Moses Browning in two sentences. ‘Those line guns probably hold side plates from twenty different manufacturers. No two side plates are just alike, but all the guns work!’

During the down times, we gathered in small groups and talked of guns and gunman. Mr. Snyder introduced his friend Jack Riggle who journeyed from New Mexico to join us. I asked Mr. Snyder to convey my regards to Bruce McCurdy, maker of fine Pennsylvania style flintlocks in Maryland. He said that he would and promised to invite Bruce back again to the next shoot. Mr. Snyder then spoke eloquently of his departed friend Daniel Musgrave. Mr. Musgrave left this world several years ago. Daniel Musgrave wrote intelligently and well. The Class 3 community is poorer for his passing. Mr. Snyder called him a gentleman’s gentleman who did fine research and writing for George Chinn among others. He left us with his testament ‘German Machineguns’ still in print. I commented that I had obtained a copy of that book from LMO several years ago but, regrettably, had never got to meet its fine writer.

John Tibbetts of John’s Guns came by with the Black Maria. John’s gun topped the field at the suppressor trials in May. His victory attracted a lot of attention, some of it from the Navy SEALs. John stated that he just concluded an in depth interview with author Lawrence Meyers. I told Mr. Snyder that I had examined this suppressed pistol earlier in the day. I suggested that he check the balance of it. I count it as quite a rare day when I can show something new to Mr. Snyder. As I went with John back toward the exit gate I ran into two escapees from Gun Hell. I stopped to interview them.

Volker and Heiko Stibbe flew in from Cologne, Germany to enjoy the freedom at Knob Creek Range. The two brothers quickly hooked up with two savvy collectors. The brothers Stibbe had the time of their lives. They fired a number of weapons and praised them all. With little instruction, they skillfully disassembled several weapons and assisted in cleaning them. I think they even enjoyed carrying the sandbags for the belt feds. These two knowledgeable young men then explained the gun laws of their country.

No one may possess a full auto unless they possessed it before 1972. They can never fire them or take them outside their houses. Every firearm of any kind must be kept in a safe. Only police and politicians may carry guns. No one can possess replicas or even toys that resemble guns. If a person moves from one house to another, they must obtain a permit and a police escort. Absent the police, the owner must hire expensive private security to transport the weapon. On hearing all of this, one of the other gunners cracked wise, ‘Are you sure you guys aren’t from New York?’ The brothers’ reply sounded like a number between eight and ten.

They thanked us all for the kindness shown them. We invited them to come again. Heiko and Volker commented that they would like to return but the trip was very expensive. From the smiles on their faces and the looks in their eyes, they will find a way to meet the expense. This writer suspects that the brothers Stibbe plan another daring escape from Gun Hell at this very hour. Volker later wrote to this writer and asked that the following be expressed on his behalf and that of his brother Heiko. ‘We would like to use this opportunity to thank all the other people we met at this weekend for their kind assistance and help whenever we had a question.’ From half a world away, these two German brothers had learned the true meaning of the Creek in less than one day. Both I and the fine men who befriended them remain confident about the following. We shall see Volker and Heiko again.

A very respected friend joined our gathering. He told the following amusing after dinner story. This sequence of events comes from Knob Creek’s storied past. Neal Smith brought a quad 50 rig to the Creek. Terry Williams served as assistant gunner. They set it up on the main line. My friend went down to assist them with setting it up and checking the guns. Just as all the guns checked out, a news cameraman walked up. The news man asked if he could film the quad rig firing. Neal and Terry told him yes. The cameraman walked up right by the muzzle and shouldered his camera. My friend walked up behind the cameraman to offer some helpful advice. He stated that the cameraman had taken a safe position regarding the bullets. However, my friend advised him that he shouldn’t stand so close to the muzzles.

The news man became argumentative. He insisted on holding his position. My friend threw up his hands and said ‘Okay!’ My friend backed away to a less exposed position. Homer Saylor then declared the line hot. Neal Smith hit the solenoids. The staccato sound of the quad 50s filled the air. The muzzle blast knocked the cameraman flat on his derriere. The camera fell on top of him. Our friend then fought to control his laughter. He stated that it was the only time during that entire afternoon that all four guns worked together. Dazed, dusty, but unhurt, the news man learned a valuable lesson. When one of the older RKIs offers some advice, one might be wise to heed it.

Adios Amigo

We continued to shoot all day Sunday. We had enjoyed four days of 80 degrees and no rain. My Knob Creek jacket never left the front seat where I threw it Wednesday night. Don and Paul Thomas stayed an extra day and got in some extra shooting. We had all but run out of ammunition when Homer finally closed the range at 5 o’clock. We all shook hands, promising to return in springtime.

We have pulled out of the Knob Creek Range. We have now reached Shepardsville. I must cross the Salt River and you must go your own way. It is about time for you, the reader, to get off my running board. I hope that you enjoyed the ride. You have spent some quality time in our very interesting world. You have seen much and learned some things. You have met some of the people who still teach me. Before you go, I will leave you with a parting story and a valediction.

A man from California first came to Knob Creek Range in the pride of his late forties. I have seen him more than once. He stood behind the main firing line and openly wept. For the first time in his life he had seen completely free Americans. He saw America as it used to be, and in this place still is. As you are reading this magazine, you are an individual who succeeds. You have done for others. Before you leave this earth, we beseech you to do something for yourself.

Come plant your feet on the free soil of Kentucky. Come drink your fill of the river of freedom that flows beneath the cordite clouds. If you cannot come and bathe in the water, we will understand. For those of you who cannot be with us, this magazine makes a commitment to you. The stalwart staff of the Small Arms Review will kneel by the waters for you. Each and every month, our dedicated writers will fill and pass you a canteen. Upon that you may rely.

An old hand once remarked that gun knowledge is knowledge gained over time. Always remember that knowledge of automatic weapons take longer than that. Before you go, I will leave with a parting phrase known wherever the Emma Gees gather. When someone says it to you, you will know that you have become part of the good company of gunmen. In Atlanta, Bangor, Seattle, and Malibu we add this same valediction when bidding farewell to a respected friend. As we part company, you must step off my running board. You will stand by the entrance ramp to I-65 where all of this began.. I’m going to drop it in low gear and leave you now. Maybe we’ll see you in springtime. Adios amigo, and God speed you on your journey. Not to worry, I have not forgotten the valediction. We say it like this: ‘See you at the Creek!’

Fall ’98 gave us a rainless weekend. We enjoyed four dry days. Were we always so lucky, we would be playing the lottery. That being said, KCR gave us some winning numbers. In the following the reader will learn winning numbers like ’18, 75, ’99, and the ever popular ’98.

Before I blew Northward on I-75 still grieving for my beloved Atlanta Braves, author William Smedlund gave me two winning numbers. Bill pointed to I-24 west of Chattanooga stating that the Battle of Hoover’s Gap occurred between mile posts 99 and 100. At Hoover’s Gap the Spencer rifle first saw combat. I viewed the Gap in moonlight just as the soldiers did so many years ago. Traveling through the towering bluffs one senses the bravery on both sides.

The Doctor Operates

I crossed the Salt River rolling into Shepardsville by dawn’s light. As is his custom, Tom Bodet had kept the light on for me. Near KCR’s ticket booth old friends had staked out camping spots and deployed their colorful awnings. We threw up hands in greetings, “It looks like a great weekend!”

I motored to the Range House and backed into a parking space thanks to Kenny Sumner and Mr. Biff’s hospitality. The KCR T-shirts arrived shortly after I did. Georgians sent orders for six. That half dozen went to my vehicle. I had forgotten a photograph picked up in Gibsland, Louisiana and would mail it later. Ms Marie Barrow had autographed to Kenny a 1934 8 x 10. In it a well dressed man stood beside her. Should anyone wish to know who Ms. Marie Barrow was, the other one was Clyde.

Outside the Range House I ran into Dr. Ed Weitzman. I congratulated him on his fine Vickers article (see SAR July ’98). Dr. Ed explained that he had brought some historic weapons to the shoot. We agreed to meet Friday morning. I then headed to the spot between the Range House and the Pole Barn. Twice a year this spot becomes the Class 3 crossroads of America.

I saw the Michigan shooters gathered near the Ohio Ordnance tables. Forbes Mathews rounded the Range House and joined us. Kent Lomont, Karl Krotz, and Robert Landies came over to say hello. I told Bob Landies about the Bonnie and Clyde Festival in Gibsland on May 23, 1998. Jimmy Gillman of Reenactors Early Thirties Crime had obtained a prototype of the Ohio Ordnance 1918 Classic BAR. I told Bob that Jimmy used the gun in three reenactments at the Festival. The ’18 was the hit of the show.

Thursday night we spent late at El Rio. Sleep could wait until Monday. On Friday morning I joined Dr. Ed and his brass Maxim. We had participated in different episodes of Greystone’s ‘Tales Of The Gun’. During ‘Dueling Pistols’ Dr. Ed made one of the show’s finest on air comments. On English duelers, he stated that a craftsman worked six months to make a gun. Greystone then showed the back side of an English dueler’s lock. The incredible workmanship would have pleased any craftsman at Boss or Purdey.

Dr. Weitzman then showed me around the brass gun that puts brass on the ground. We examined the 98’s craftsmanship. When spectators came onto the main line, Serial #96 drew a crowd. Dr. Ed gave lessons on the scope before the next shooting session. With the Zeiss scope, I picked out a plastic bottle and moved it around. This fine weapon crafted during the twilight of the Guilded Age made even me look good. I thanked Dr. Weitzman and headed for the Gun Show.

Pole Barn Adventures

Just in front of the Pole Barn I encountered Mr. Neal Smith and the comely Andrea standing beside a Pack 75. Andrea commented on how easily Neal had reassembled the gun after transport. I knew of the Pack 75 from my father’s description of its use by the 101st Airborne in World War II. I thanked Neal for the fine exhibit. Those who viewed Neal’s gun at KCR will find it useful in future SAR articles.

This writer’s father and I now crafted a series of articles on WWII 101st gun work. We were relating the series, where applicable, to ‘Saving Private Ryan’. We center around ‘Ryan’s’ Regiment, Col. Howard Johnson’s 501. The man upon whom ‘Ryan’ is based loosely served in H Company, 3rd Battalion. My father lead Col. Johnson’s 1st Regimental Recon and Intelligence Team for 501. Author Mark Bando loaned SAR exclusive photos for the ‘Johnson’s Boys’ series. In the second article, this writer’s father discusses the Pack 75s as tank killers at Bastogne.

Thanking Neal and Andrea, I then moved into the Pole Barn for some history. A nice BAR and a brace of machine pistols sat on LMO’s tables. Stan Andrewski pulled out a Star with stock and a transferable 45 auto machine pistol. Stan really knows his business. While examining the BAR someone asked, ‘You know anything about that gun?’ I turned to view the trademark snap brim of Jim Ballou. The reply stated, ‘About the gangsters and lawmen who used it — yes. Otherwise I usually ask some guy named Ballou. How are you Jim?’ Jim declared himself more than fine. He announced that Collector Grade Publications would publish ‘The BAR’ in the Winter of 1999. I then told Jim about Greystone Communications.

‘The Tommy Gun’ debuted as the 4th episode of the History Channel’s ‘Tales Of The Gun’. After episode 5, Andrew Nock telephoned. I took it as an omen that Andrew carried the surname of one of Dr. Weitzman’s favorite duelist gunsmiths. Mr. Nock asked for more material to propose new episodes. One week later a package landed on Mr. Nock’s desk. I thoughtfully included issues of SAR. Mr. Nock telephoned to thank me for the package and commented favorably on SAR. I told him that if he was telling gun history, he might as well read what the intelligent readers read.

I then told Andrew — ‘If you decide to drop the hammer, this gun’s for hire.’ Mr. Nock telephoned again two weeks later. The History Channel had approved 13 additional episodes. Andrew asked for names of other writers. The first name that Andrew got was that of Jim Ballou. I then pointed him toward writing compadres in Reenactors Early Thirties Crime.

I said to Andrew Nock that we should speak well of men like Frank Hamer of Texas and Melvin Purvis, head of the Chicago Office of what would become the FBI. I considered Mr. Purvis to be arguably the finest Federal agent who ever pinned on a badge. We should do honor to him and the other lawmen. ‘We’re not doing a show that praises criminals.or the irresponsible use of firearms.’ Mr. Nock fired back, ‘I agree.’ Greystone’s Tom Jennings filmed the Georgia part on December 6, 1998 (see SAR April ’99). He filmed in Texas in January 1999.

At the Omega Weapons Systems tables I contacted Don Bell. A friend wanted BREN parts. Forbes Mathews and two Midwest friends walked up. They engaged Dolf Goldsmith in Vickers conversation. Kent Lomont joined us. Forbes asked me to accompany his friends to look at M-16s. Kent offered to take the BREN parts to his table and departed. We went to the tables of Mark Mann to examine three 16s. I found all to be in good shape. I went through the transfer drill, advising the brothers to take their time. The brothers gave thanks and departed to view other guns.

Before the Creek, I had encountered a shooter from Marietta. ‘You know John Ross don’t you?’ He stated that he wanted an autographed copy of ‘Unintended Consequences’. I stated that I knew within about six feet of where to contact Mr. Ross twice a year. ‘Give me a pair of twenties and your business card. I’ll drop off the book and change on the way back.’ At the Lomont tables, I joined John’s fans.

As Kathy, Tom, and Brian looked on, John regaled us with ‘The Best Third World Hotel in Las Vegas’. John’s well-crafted descriptions of the off beat staff and the hotel’s human occupants and lower life forms kept us in stitches. Forbes and Michael Mathews rolled up in their golf cart, arguably the ultimate Creek vehicle. As Forbes packed the BREN parts amongst the Summit and Navy ammunition, the Midwest brothers appeared. They delivered an apocraphyl line about the gun purchases — ‘We just bought a car!’

Brass On The Ground

I ran into a valued friend from Minnesota who invited me to the line for some shooting. As we moved, he talked of John Hunt Morgan’s Raid into Ohio. When asked if I knew of Morgan, the reply came as a rough quote from lines delivered by Levon Helm in Steven Seagal’s ‘Fire Down Below’. ‘..lot of history. Folks down here don’t forget about history.’

On the line, my friend produced a Jap ’99 kit almost as rare as Morgan’s holsters — one of the Chinese 762×39 conversions imported by Don Bell. Don once talked of the time before the recent shutdown. He had developed solid business connections along the Chang Jiang. Mr. Bell stated that during his first China visit he was ‘green as grass’. The Chinese could have taken advantage of him. Don found the Chinese officials to be knowledgeable, honorable, and extremely helpful. More than once, they went the extra mile to assist him. As for the conversions, don’t call Omega Arms. Like Morgan in Ohio, they vanished long ago. Look for a later article on this particular ’99.

Paul Mahoney of KRINKS hailed me. Pauly announced that he had crafted a gun using material that I had sent him from Tom Swearengen. He unwrapped his replica of Clyde Barrow’s ‘scattergun’ for a test drive. At shooting’s end I told Pauly of Greystone. SAR writer Steve Hyde had signed up to bring a Stan Andrewski crafted Barrow replica. Pauly’s BAR would give us two Barrow customs in commentary and live fire never before seen on film. I told Pauly that we wished to represent the Title 2 community well, especially those who come to KCR. In December, Mr. Mahoney took his welcomed place amongst The Usual Suspects and RKIs.

At cease fire I moved down to Dr. Ed’s shooting slot. Forbes had broken a Vickers pin and asked for help. Dr. Ed put on a clinic (see SAR July ’98). We gathered around as they sat down on a blanket. Dr. Ed conducted this clinic with the same attention to detail that he gives his patients and employs in his articles. New pin installed, Forbes stood up and said, ‘Thank you Dr. Weitzman.’ The reply came, ‘You are most welcome sir.’

Epilogue

Fall ’98 ended as it began, with good conversation and lessons from Dr. Weitzman. We all shook hands on Sunday promising to return in Springtime. As I once again crossed the Salt River, I made a mental note to send Marie Barrow’s picture to Kenny Sumner. At three places near the Chattahoochee, I dropped off parts, T-shirts, and the John Ross book.

As I rolled past Braves Stadium I nodded and said, ‘We’ll get them next year’. I continued motoring Southward remaining confident of two things. First, I knew that I would return to KCR. There I would see old friends and probably make some new ones. Second, something would happen for me in Kentucky twice next year, twice the year after that, and on into the next millennium. That second something remains as solid as a handshake from a Knob Creek friend. I remain confident that, twice a year in Kentucky, Tom Bodet will leave the light on for me. He will do so until I die.

Thanks to Don Bell, Dolf Goldsmith, Navy Arms, and Don Thomas for their kind assistance. Those who rent ‘Fire Down Below’ should not rewind as the credits roll. Steven Seagal crafted this film in Kentucky. Mr. Seagal pays deserved tribute to Kentucky’s proud people within the overlay for John Prine’s ‘Paradise’.

Intellect and diverse interests remain two of the great strengths of the Title 2 community. Our readers will appreciate, in the best sense of the word, the following dedications. First, KCR vendor William Davis of Westville, Florida has passed away. He will be missed. Second, a great man in another arena also left us — namely The Mongoose, the legendary Archie Moore.

This writer’s father and this writer recently began a series of articles for SAR. The series focuses on the World War II gun work by the Apache Regiment of the 101st Airborne. I immediately contacted writer and researcher Mark Bando. Mark informed this writer of the then new film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ from Dream Works/Paramount directed by Steven Spielberg. This writer’s father and the soldier on whom the film is loosely based served in the same regiment. They both jumped into Normandy with the 101st’s Apache Regiment — the 501 of Col. Howard Johnson.

I contacted Dream Works for additional information. The Dream Works/Paramount staff, provided very professional and enthusiastic assistance. Ms. Stephanie Watson, Mr. Spielberg’s Atlanta representative, kindly extended an invitation to my father and I to attend the sneak preview of ‘Saving Private Ryan’. On the appointed day we picked up Mike Thacker and motored to Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.

My father, Mike Thacker, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. During our homeward drive, I asked my father if he thought that the film accurately and faithfully portrayed the men with whom he served. He commented that it did credit to both the Airborne troopers and the Rangers, although he did not expect the actors to be in the same physical condition as Johnson’s Boys. My father felt that all of the actors had given very credible performances. He stated, ‘Though it may difficult to watch, I recommend viewing ‘Saving Private Ryan’ to all Americans over age 18. It is probably as close as Hollywood will come to war. War is not a parlor game. This film shows as well as Hollywood can what our generation did to insure the freedoms that we all enjoy today.’

As we motored southward, Mike commented that a prominent belt of 30 cal didn’t have primers. I laughed and said that we were probably the only three people in the theater that caught that. Mike’s statement brought us to the subject of the guns. Though very loud for a theater, we all knew that the real guns sound much louder than what we had heard. I then said that whoever drove those guns was very good. The steel sounded real. The motion picture soundtrack sounded as if someone had placed a microphone about 300 yards down the Knob Creek Range. The sounds reminded me of the old days when we had open lines on Thursday. You stepped to a position and, to use a 60’s drag race phrase, ‘run what you brung’.

The armed citizen and his history played an important off camera roll in this magnificent film. Mr. Steven Spielberg operates under the First Ammendment. For some elements of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Mr. Spielberg requested assistance from those who operate under the Second Ammendment. For some of the history and the story of this, read on. In the fullness of time, I would learn just how close I was to the truth about the soundtrack to ‘Saving Private Ryan’.

Not Just A Southern Tradition

To better understand what will follow, a bit of family and unrevised American history presents itself. The Spaniards first brought gun craft to an eastern American settlement with the founding of St. Augustine. The Spaniards later withdrew leaving an extant settlement. Christopher Burroughs, ancestor of this writer, joined the Jamestown Colony in 1608. The Saints occupied half the Mayflower when it wandered onto Plymouth rock at a later date. Shooting for sport, food, and self defense started in the South and became a Southern tradition. The shooting tradition spread. Shooting and an armed citizenry became two hallmarks of colonial America.

In 1861, George Rockingham Gilmer Cartledge ran away from Boiling Springs Plantation at age 13 and joined the Confederate Army. His little brother Joe, age 11, tagged along. Both finished The War of The Sixties as sergeants. George Cartledge gave his son, my grandfather, a .22 rifle at age six. He gave him a gauge for ever year at twelve. Grandfather did the same for my father. My father did the same for me.

Grandfather and his friend Walraven carried their rifles to school, shooting at targets along the way. Walraven became a legendary shot in Madison County. For years he served in law enforcement around Danielsville, Georgia. Stories recount crooks surrendering in armed conflict when they knew that they faced the guns of Walraven. Grandfather, father, and Walraven continued the tradition of generations. As proof, this writer’s father relates the following boyhood story from the year 1930. Its generational history leads from Old Bob Lee to ‘Saving Private Ryan’.

My father ran out of ammunition on a Saturday morning. To replenish his rifle, he walked from the farm to the general store in Ila, Georgia. Just outside town, he stopped at the blacksmith shop. There, for a while, he watched a distant cousin and his son doing what came naturally on a Saturday afternoon. The son’s years numbered nearly seventy. The old Confederate counted more than ninety summers. These two men engaged in spirited conversation as they sat on a pair of wooden crates outside the forge. They talked as fathers and sons have done in this land since before the Revolution.

Across the narrow road, a saw cut board leaned against an old oak tree. Into the board, the men had tapped a number of forged flat nails. They sunk the nails into the wood just deeply enough to hold them straight. They left the nails’ square heads and most of their shafts exposed. My father stood and watched as the two old men speedily and skillfully loaded four Confederate Colts. They then took turns driving the nails. A penny bet rested on each shot. The son shot magnificently. The old Cavalier gave his son a run for his money. About three cents changed hands.

The father and son had shot in the same rythmic double handed style that John Singleton Mosby raised to an art form at a place called Milford Farm. Those of other climes first viewed this shooting style at a place called Manassas. The two men then reloaded their black powder guns after the white smoke cleared. My father left and went for shells at the general store. As he walked away my father remarked to himself that he would not have wanted to have met that old Cavalier and his friends at that place they called Cold Harbor. In the fullness of time, other men would say the same of my father and his friends at that place that they called Bastogne.

I think of this story whenever I hear the phrase, ‘Form us up again!’. I know what would have happened had Old Bob Lee been able to ride by that blacksmith, stop and say, ‘Men, they need us again in Virginia.’ The old Cavalier would have tuned his pistols plainsman style and stuffed them into his belt. Without a second thought, he would have fallen in behind Traveler. His son wouldn’t have been far behind. Men such as these not only inhabit the South but every other part of this nation. They have answered their country’s call for generations. They will do so again. Mr. Steven Spielberg crafted ‘Saving Private Ryan’ to honor such men. They answered the call in Normandy.

Far from Madison County there exists another relic of Confederate shooting. Last Sunday I held in my hands a very unusual rifle. Made in the Jaegeresque style, it is a heavy barreled yet graceful flintlock conversion — a Kings Mountain type of gun that Stephen Vincent Benet once described in a War Between The States poem. The barrel starts as an octagon and ends round. It mikes to .58 caliber. Fine open sights grace its top. Double set triggers nestle in the brass trigger guard of the cheek plated and brass mounted stock. The lock plate reads ‘Harpers Ferry 1818’. The hammer and percussion cap base give the look of a Richmond conversion. With this rifle on April 12, 1863, Confederate sniper Johnny Lane shot one of James J. Andrews’ spies aboard ‘The General’ during ‘The Great Locomotive Chase’. As to where the rifle is, don’t ask.

1871 — The Defense Of Freedom

Throughout the history of America we, as America’s citizens, have answered her call to defender her. American shooting, not words or pieces of paper, has defended this nation. Shooting is a skill gained over time, the more practice the better. In every war but one, the Federal Army outshot its enemy. After the War between The States, one Union General said publicly what they all said privately. He stated that a smaller and poorer equipped army had outshot them. That General help found and served as first President of the National Rifle Association. His name was Ambrose Burnside. As a Union General he met members of this writer’s family across battlefields in Virginia. Ulysses Simpson Grant soon followed Gen. Burnside into the Presidency of the NRA. These men helped found America’s oldest civil rights organization to encourage American civilian shooting. Unlike in most other countries, America’s is a civilian army in waiting. The Generals encouraged civilian shooting so that the Federal Army would never be outshot again. They had seen with their own eyes what being outshot costs on a battlefield. Ambrose Burnside remembered Confederate distance shooters to the end of his days. Only 400 such men held off his army and got a bridge named after him in Maryland. One of those shooters was a member of this writer’s family.

The esteemed author Tom Swearengen once remarked, ‘The generation that learned to shoot before 1945 shot better than the generation of today. They knew their guns better and were just better at it.’ Some of us younger ones listened to and learned from that magnificent generation. Those who did found themselves in better stead when they too answered the call. They carried with them the civilian shooting tradition passed to them by each generation from 1871. On June 6, 1944 that pre ’45 generation landed in Normandy in defense of our freedom. They brought with them America’s most valuable hidden resource in time of peril — American civilian shooting. From the beaches named Omaha and Utah, they shot their way to Berlin.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the German coastal defenders on Utah and Omaha awoke to face the greatest armada ever assembled by mankind. Not withstanding the armada, the Germans on Utah found another considerable problem behind them, the Apache Regiment. Among those troopers stood blood kin to the Army of Northern Virginia. Col. Julian Ewell, 3rd Battalion Commander, was grandson of Gen. Ewell and nephew to JEB Stuart. Frederick ‘Fritz’ Niland, the man on whom Steven Spielberg in part would base his movie, served in Julian Ewell’s Company H. As for this writer’s father, he missed Drop Zone C and landed at Chef du Tont. From there, his Thompson carried on the tradition of the Enfields of Grandfather George and Great Uncle Joe.

For The First Two Ammendments

Director Steven Spielberg decided to pay tribute to that pre ’45 generation. He chose the script ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and worked with its author in a collaborative effort. After the establishing scenes, the script opens with scenes from the most pivotal day in the 20th century — June 6, 1944. The soldiers coming off the LCI’s weren’t a debating society. They were shooters. In defense of freedom they had come to kill or capture the men who were shooting at them.

As an accomplished director, Steven Spielberg knew how to film ‘Saving Private Ryan’. After much consultation and many ideas, Mr. Spielberg knew the look that he wanted for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. He also knew the sound that he wanted for ‘Ryan’. Sonically, ‘Ryan’ might have suffered in lesser hands. Cheesy stock recordings of Title 2 weapons could have found their way onto the soundtrack. They have done so in many other films.

Recording the sounds presented Steven Spielberg with no problem. He knew the sounds that he wanted. Mr. Spielberg would use a Hollywood sound crew of the same high caliber that he always had. The difficulty arose in finding someone who could generate those sounds. This proved to require a little more effort than just a trip across town. To generate the sounds that Mr. Spielberg wanted, the sound crew turned to three men who had learned shooting from the World War II generation. These three men carried on the American civilian shooting tradition passed down to them through the generations form 1871. These three also carried on another tradition. They carried on the tradition of Title 2 weapons. However, men such as these couldn’t be found on the outskirts of Hollywood. They lived on the outskirts of Atlanta.

The Title 2 tradition began with two civilian who bought guns in 1898. Theodore Roosevelt accepted the Tiffany family’s generous donation. The first automatic weapons in American ground combat debuted in The War with Spain. Lt. William Tiffany’s family bought two 1895 Colt Automatic Guns for his regiment. The Rough Riders carried them up San Juan Heights (see SAR July 98). For ‘Saving Private Ryan’ only real sounds from real guns would do. For those sounds, Mr. Spielberg’s men came to the Title 2 community. In so doing, Steven Spielberg and his men may have learned something new — not just about us, but about themselves as well.

Check Your Chains at LAX

One of the finest Title 2 scholars in America lives in California. Though not universally known (and I would hasten to add ‘yet’), his attention to detail enhances the depth of many Title 2 writers. I am but one. Occasionally, he yearns for the type of freedom that in California qualifies as but a faded memory. He buys a ticket at LAX, mounts some silver wings, and flies eastward or southward. When he lands, he spools C and L drums. He then empties them until his heart is content. With his heart replenished he then returns to California and the day job that he loves.

When he began the background work to film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Steven Spielberg knew the following. Mr. Spielberg knew that many veterans who ‘were by God there’ would view his film. These veterans would know real from unreal. Men and women who came to Normandy by ship or parachute might suspend belief while viewing a comedy. These soldiers would not suspend belief while viewing a motion picture that dealt with them. Steven Spielberg applied his legendary craftsmanship to this film, with attention to the smallest detail. For the veterans who would view ‘Saving Private Ryan’ he wanted it not only to look like Normandy but to sound like Normandy. He wanted scenes that looked not staged but real. He wanted sounds not foley but real.

Mr. Spielberg immediately set out to find real guns and real sounds for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Telephone calls quickly brought home to Dream Works the Title 2 reality. In some things, Californians are not as free as other Americans. Blank firing antiques and replica Title 2s live in California. Real guns don’t.

The Thunder of Bethlehem

To solve his problem, Steven Spielberg turned to his friend George Lucas. Mr. Lucas operates, among other things, Skywalker Sound. Mr. Lucas assigned the Title 2 problem to Shannon Mills. Mr. Mills teamed with Christopher Boyes. Mr. Boyes has not a bad last name when one thinks of Class 3 in World War II. These two consummate professionals list ‘Terminator 2’ and ‘Titanic’ among their many credits. With the roster set, Skywalker Sound evaluated the problem. Then they tackled it.

Shannon Mills concluded that the men that Skywalker sought lived free. These men drove the old guns in the old ways. Mr. Mills reasoned that he could best find free men on Freedom’s Highway — the Internet. Though he did not know which off ramp to take, he knew how to erect a billboard. Shannon Mills booted up his vehicle, shot down the Liberty on ramp, and merged with the traffic. Picking out a likely mile post, he erected his billboard —’Wanted — Real Guns and Gunmen for World War II Motion Picture Soundtrack’ Mr. Mills posted his shopping list of hardware required and left his E-mail address. A friend of Kevin Brittingham passed the info on to him.

Shannon Mills telephoned Kevin Brittingham. They worked out the arrangements for the shoot. Two days later Shannon Mills and Chris Boyes rolled to a stop on West Crogan Street just past the Courthouse in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The way they had packed their Suburu Outback with sound equipment would have made Paul Hogan proud. Kevin, Harold, and Vince met Shannon and Chris at the front door of Advanced Armament. Kevin pointed to the loaded Advance Armament trucks and told them to fall in behind. The convoy motored to the large farm of Kevin’s brother Greg outside Bethlehem, Georgia. Once on the farm, the trucks made their way to Greg Brittingham’s 500 yard gun range.

Both crews unloaded their separate gear. Before they set up, they discussed shots and held a safety meeting. Neither crew counted this as their first rodeo. Kevin, Harold, and Vince brought up the crew served guns and stationed the small arms at the ready. They then brought up the ammunition. Shannon Mills and Chris Boyes spent about an hour and a half carefully placing microphones at strategic spots. In addition to wiring everything from the firing position to the back of the berm, they employed hand held sound recorders. After Skywalker Sound finished final sound checks and cleared the range, the Advanced Armament crew went through their gun checks.

Kevin and Harold set up the MG 42 on a Lafette tripod. Vince brought up the belted 8mm ammunition. Kevin and Harold took turns letting the gun rip and piling up brass. Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills took turns operating the switchboard to the well-placed microphones and working the hand helds. They had rigged various mikes with kill switches to capture the gun sounds from different positions. With the switchboard they captured impact sounds in grass, dirt, wood, water, and steel. Harold Shinn then brought up the Solothurn S18/1000 20mm anti-tank rifle. Kevin cranked the chain and shook the ground. Skywalker Sound captured the thunder.

The Advanced Armament crew then switched to other guns. They fired the A-4 Browning, the ’03 Springfield, the BAR, and the M1A1 Thompson. Skywalker Sound captured these guns in single shots, short bursts, and extended bursts. As with the ’42 and Solothurn, they captured the sounds of shooting mud, water, wood, metal, and trees. They then recorded sounds past trees, through trees, and bullet impacts into sand. Skywalker also captured the sounds of loading magazines and loading each of the weapons.

Both crews then set up to capture some of the eeriest sounds used in ‘Saving Private Ryan’. A friend, now a retired Army officer, commented specifically on these particular sounds after viewing ‘Saving Private Ryan’. He did multiple tours in Vietnam with both Special Forces and the Rangers. He knows of what he speaks. He stated that,’…those sounds of bullets going past their heads made the hair on the back of my neck stand up!’ Advanced Armament and Skywalker Sound devised an ingenious and completely safe way to capture those sounds.

Using the microphone kill switches Skywalker captured the bullets in flight as the gun crew fired suppressed weapons. Advanced Armament fired at or past designated targets. The appropriate mike picked up the desired sounds. Kevin, Harold, and Vince used modern subguns for this part of the recording session. Kevin first hauled out an MP45SD. He then followed with a Beretta M12S with can. Vince Mueller wielded a Colt 635 with can. Harold Shinn finished off the first part of the session with a canned Uzi. The Advanced Armament crew then took turns firing. As they fired, Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills recorded both bullet flights and impacts from the suppressed weapons.

At days end, the last piece of brass hit the ground. Both crews were exhausted. The men of Advanced Armament and Skywalker Sound had brought their considerable skills to bear. They had pooled their considerable talents to create the firearms sounds for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Their hard work and professionalism created something special for a very special movie. Kevin Brittingham stated that all of the guns sounds in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ came from the guns of Advanced Armament Corporation. Kevin, Harold Shinn, and Vince Mueller had the satisfaction of being half of the ‘Saving Private Ryan’ sound effects team. A couple of days later, the postman dropped off a letter. In it Kevin found a check and a thank you note from the other half of the team — Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills of Skywalker Sound.

Epilogue —’The Director Speaks’

In writing, most works contain an element in which the writer does not describe but speaks directly to the reader. Writers generally ascribe the phrase ‘the writer speaks’ to this element. One finds this in short stories, novels, and magazine articles. Motion pictures dictate a different kind of writing and a different element.

In film, first there is the script, or the word. The word answers the questions ‘Is it visual?’ and ‘Does it move?’. Dialogue and visuals drive films. These drivers make films the director’s medium, not the writer’s medium. Because movies also consist of collaborative effort, one very rarely finds the element of ‘the director speaks’. In ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Mr. Spielberg gives the viewer not only something wonderful but something quite rare.

In each and every detail, Steven Spielberg sought to honor those of that magnificent generation that secured freedom for all of us. He hired Dale Dye (see SAR July 98) as military advisor. He consulted with Dr. Stephen Ambrose and Mark Bando. He met with numerous reenactors, many historians, and visited actual locations to craft his film. When he looked for old guns driven the old ways, Steven Spielberg came to one of us. The Title 2 community legally owns and fires the old guns. In so doing we help preserve their places in history, both of uses and of gun craft. In the doing we honor those who came before us. When Mr. Spielberg asked for help from one of us, he paid the same honor to the D-Day soldiers that we do as a matter of course.

In short, Mr. Steven Spielberg wanted not only the sight but the sound of what so many had confronted. He wished for us to experience the most pivotal day of the 20th century — June 6, 1944. The veterans could point to ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and say to their grandchildren, ‘If you wish to know of the Second World War, see this picture!’. In so doing, Mr. Spielberg paid tribute to his father, to mine, and to so many other men and women of the magnificent generation that came before us. The readers and writers of the Small Arms Review now know the following. To get the correct sounds, Mr. Steven Spielberg did not go to Hollywood. He came to one of us.

In short, Steven Spielberg needed correct gun work. He asked.the Title 2 community for assistance. We delivered. Kevin Brittingham’s company generated the gun sounds for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. With those sounds, Mr. Spielberg added yet another component to the collaborative effort that is his magnificent film. Perhaps Herbert Biberman said it best. Mr. Biberman once remarked, ‘You must resist the tyranny of the Right and the Left. Your art must be free.’ In the making of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Mr. Spielberg kept his art free. In the way he chose to keep his art free, he also kept it true.

‘Saving Private Ryan’ captured The Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Picture’. As for the Academy Awards, many honors awaited. In addition to other honors accorded the film on March 21, 1999, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed its highest honors for sound to Dream Works’ Skywalker Sound. The Academy honored ‘Saving Private Ryan’ with Academy Awards for ‘Achievement In Sound Editing’ and ‘Achievement In Sound’.

Though many more accolades will continue to come to this magnificent motion picture, the following says it for this writer. My father’s perspective on this picture comes from standing upright in Normandy with a Thompson submachine gun at 30 minutes after midnight on June 6, 1944. He landed as part of the Apache Regiment of the 101st, the regiment of ‘Ryan’. Thanks to Dream Works, I had the privilege of viewing this motion picture with him. Afterward, we talked about Normandy and the gallant men with whom he served. Some of that discussion rests in this article. Simply put, in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Dream Works filmed the Defense of Freedom. In so doing, they employed the Sounds of Bethlehem. Well done, Steven Spielberg. Well done, Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills. Very well done.

This writer wishes to thank Ms. Stephanie Watson and the publicity staff at Dream Works/Paramount for their splendid asistance. Special thanks also goes to Phil Parker, ever alert and an all around good guy. I would like to thank Mr. Edward J. Land Jr. and The National Rifles Association of America for their kindness and splendid assistance. On a personal note, this writer would also like to thank Mr. Steven Spielberg, on behalf of his father and mine. — Rick Cartledge

Sources:

Kevin Brittingham,
Advanced Armament Corporation,
221 West Crogan ST,
Lawrenceville, GA 30045
770-277-4946 phone,
770-963-6556

Edward J. Land, JR.
National Secretary
National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill RD
Faifax, VA 22030
702-267-1055

The 101st in Normandy and The 101st From Holland to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Mark Bando,
9025 West parkway,
Detroit, MI 48239
$23 each, $42 both PPD
Note: Readers will find Mr. Bando in the credits of Saving Private Ryan

The Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences,
8949 Wilshire BLVD,
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
310-247-3000

‘Panther’
by Melvin and Mario Van Peebles
available at rental stores

‘Saving Private Ryan’
by Steven Spielberg
now playing, need we say more.

A BRACE OF PRETTY BOY FLOYD: An SAR Book Review, Times Two

The code duello, a Southern tradition, finds few practitioners today. An ancestor of Theodore Roosevelt stood under the oaks in South Carolina, as dueling carried legal sanctions in Savannah. Mr. Bulloch emerged victorious. Ernie Kovacs suffered great distress when his first wife failed to return his babies from a visitation outing. His girlfriend at the time, Ms. Edie Adams, bought the famed television genius a pair of dueling pistols. Mr. Kovacs carried the matched pair under his overcoat for months as he searched the New York streets for his missing children. Not without good reason did Ernie Kovacs marry Edie Adams.

The following tells of two fine books. These books cover the hunt not for missing children but for an outlaw employing all of his wits not to be found. Seeking him was not a loving father but a South Carolina lawyer named Melvin Purvis. The first book takes the worst slice of the killer’s career and examines it as never before. The second book delivers the whole loaf in incredible detail. These two books, taken together, frame the best picture ever painted of Charles Arthur ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd.

The Union Station Massacre -The Original Sin of the FBI’

by Robert Unger

At about 7:15 on the morning of June 17, 1933, local law and Agents of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Investigation attempted to transport captured felon Frank ‘Jelly’ Nash back to Leavenworth Prison. They got off a train from Arkansas at the Union Station in Kansas City and escorted Nash to a Chevrolet in the parking lot. Adam Richetti, Verne Miller, and Pretty Boy Floyd descended on them attempting to cancel Nash’s extended reservation at the grey bar hotel. One of the officers made a bad career move. He pulled iron against the leveled muzzle of Pretty Boy Floyd. The resulting melee brought on the 1934 Gun Control Act and catapulted J. Edgar Hoover’s sub agency into what it is today.

This story held great fascination for Kansas City native Robert Unger. The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist sought to clear the fog that had hung over his city since 1933. To accomplish this, Mr. Unger knew he must unlock the true story of the massacre. He found the key tucked in the Freedom of Information Act. Under that act, Mr. Unger sought and received the 89 volume FBI file on the Kansas City Massacre at Union Station. He then spent the next fourteen years researching, gathering photographs, and writing this thrilling true story of early 30’s crime. The resulting book unlocks the mysteries of the Union Station Massacre and blows the fog away.

Robert Unger not only gives the reader a fascinating slice of early 30’s crime that reads like a novel, he delivers more. Our SAR legal writers — James Bardwell, Basil St. Clair, and James Jefferies — will find this book as intriguing as the dedicated emma gees shooting 30’s guns. In the FBI file, the agents wrote with complete candor, secure in the knowledge that their words would never see the light of day. They omitted the CYA prose and legalese used by bureaucrats today. In so doing, they told a tale of uses and misuses of power, tainted evidence, and competent and incompetent police work. Mr. Unger skillfully relates all of this to modern times. In short, Mr. Robert Unger offers a fine read illustrated by rare photographs. For readers wishing to taste this slice of Pretty Boy’s life, Andrews McMeel Publishing in Kansas City awaits your call at 1-800-247-6553.

The Life and Death of Pretty Boy Floyd

by Jeffery S. King

Jeffery King inhabits one of the most enviable environs for the dedicated early 30’s crime writer. A respected research librarian now retired, Mr. King lives in Washington, DC. His residence affords him easy access to the National Archives. Mr. King’s acknowledged professionalism showed him early on ‘where the bodies are buried’. Our astute readers will find this writer in the acknowledgments of Jeffery King’s book. Readers should know that I hold no pecuniary interest. Greater praise goes to the other writers and researchers acknowledged. The greatest praise goes to Mr. King himself for research well done and a story well told.

As a boy, this writer’s grandfather told me of meeting Mamie and Walter Floyd and their knee high son Charles beside their wagon in Ila, Georgia’s Hebron church yard. The year was 1907. He called the Floyds “good God fearing people who farmed the land”. Pretty Boy’s fate upon reaching Oklahoma grieved him some. Just before I went to college, we talked about the Floyds for the last time. He openly asked why all the trouble had come to Pretty Boy, as if I in my seventeenth year would have known. Today as I approach my fifty second year, I do. For those who want the saga of the Sagebrush Robin Hood in depth, I direct them to Jeffery King’s book. Witihin its pages the reader will find his pompadour, the Tommy gun, and his bullet proof clothes.

In his book, Jeffery King calls Charles Floyd not highly intelligent but cunning. Faithful readers know that this writer has called him highly intelligent, not well educated, and clever. Readers may think that Mr. King and I disagree. We do not. We view the same overlapping facts from a different perspective. Writers and journalists carrying diplomas from the latter day government schools toss around clever and cunning as if they interchange. They do not. Some Knob Creek campfire safety wisdom will save our readers a mad scramble to the dictionary. ‘It’s like being shot with an unloaded gun. Whether the gun was loaded or not, you’re still shot.’ Jeffery King chose the precise word. This example of Jeff’s word precision gives the reader an inkling of the scholarship that Mr. King brings to his subject.

Jeffery King tells Pretty Boy’s story with depth, detail, and textures. These elements this writer appreciates, in the best sense of the word. Jeff King well captures the good people from whom Floyd came and those who loved him despite his outlaw ways. Perhaps Jeff’s strong finish to his book best showcases the fine wares contained within. He first quotes Ma Joad from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The fictional Joads hailed from Charlie Floyd’s last home town of Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Mr. King then takes us to some Pretty Boy lines from Woody Guthrie. He closes by referencing a revue of Outside The Law, a play based on William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. With As You Like It, Jeffery King speaks well for both his book and that of Robert Unger. For those who would know the Sagebrush Robin Hood better than they do now, Kent State University Press awaits your call at 1-800-247-6553.

Parting Shots

Emma gees will notice a few minor gun mistakes in both books. This writer spoke at length with both authors. Both men stated that they were not gun guys. Both stated that the research told them that firearms played a significant role in the life and death of Pretty Boy Floyd. Both authors stated that they worked very hard to understand the gun part of the story and to correctly report it. Emma gees and SAR readers cannot expect every writer to know the silky smooth bolt of a Colt Thompson or the glass slick hammer of a pre-War automatic. Mr. Unger carries a shared Pulitzer Prize and a dozen nominations for same as part of his professional credentials. Mr. King upon retiring from a successful research career wrote a fine book that a prestigious university press enthusiastically accepted. Both Robert Unger and Jeffery King approached the Floyd story without agenda. They followed the facts where they lead and reported them in a straightforward fashion. This writer applauds their efforts.

Readers of both books will find a variation in their Union Station Massacre story. Mr. Unger’s book and research were not available to Jeffery King until after his book went to press. Some researchers may complain that Robert Unger’s book lists two major sources either not commonly available or unavailable to them. I do not. Additional KCR campfire wisdom tells why. ‘It’s OK to bring two guns to a gunfight. If they’re the right guns, two is all you need.’ Were this writer to write a book on Floyd, I would rely on Mr. Unger’s journalistic integrity.

In the motorized bandit section of Thompson: the American Legend the name Herb Farmer popped up in my text more than once. Of Charles Arthur Floyd and his funeral I wrote the following, ‘…to the hardworking people around Sallisaw and Akins, he was neither outlaw nor killer but one of their own who was finally at peace and had finally come home.’ From these two fine books the reader may learn, in depth, why. Well done Robert Unger. Well done Jeffery King.

Andrews McMeel Publishing
4520 Main ST
Kansas City, MO 64111
816-932-6700

Kent State University Press
Kent State University
Kent, Ohio 44242-0001
330-672-7913

Some say that Hollywood in recent years has produced more bombs than fell on Ploesti. It comes as no surprise to this writer that John Milius and Tom Berenger teamed up on a notable exception. Their stirring mini series collaboration now stands ready for rental or purchase. After reading what follows, those who saw ‘Rough Riders’ on Turner Network Television may wish to revisit it. For readers unfamiliar with ‘Rough Riders’, Small Arms Review will introduce you to the film whose opening frame reads: ‘To the American citizen soldier, Who answered the call, Climbed the hill, Paid the price, And never let us down.’

Viewing without commercial interruption imparts the full power and majesty of this extraordinary work. This movie gives us the Cowboy Cavalry packing Colt’s machine guns. For us, movies don’t get much better than that. Small Arms Review assumes the intelligence of our readers. Herein we will explore depth and background that will enhance the viewing of this truly wonderful film.

Mr. Tom Berenger originated this project. His research told him that he wanted to accurately portray arguably our greatest President at the pivotal moment in Theodore Roosevelt’s magnificent life. In doing so, Mr. Berenger knew he would celebrate in celluloid the virtues and character of that unique race of people called ‘Americans’. To accomplish this, Tom Berenger thought of only two people — John Milius and Hugh Wilson. Few who viewed the John Milius film ‘The Wind And The Lion’ starring Brian Keith and Sean Connery have ever forgotten it. ‘Rough Riders’ gifted screenwriter Hugh Wilson wrote the first draft. He and John Milius wrote the final script. Turner Network Television, to its great credit, backed ‘Rough Riders’ enthusiastically. For their courage, TNT received more than high ratings and excellent reviews. They financed a modern classic that will stand the test of time.

THE OPENING GUN

From the opening frame, John Milius draws the viewer into the epic world of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. On viewing this film for the first time, many will think that it came from John Ford. This does not suggest that John Milius copied John Ford. He did not. The man who gave us ‘Dirty Harry’ built on the firm foundation laid by John Ford. Mr. Milius expanded upon a number of innovations that John Ford incorporated in his films. In terms of historical accuracy, ‘Rough Riders’ far exceeds ‘My Darling Clementine’. Were he alive today, Mr. Ford would have been very proud of Mr. Milius. The following gives some examples of Mr. Milius’ mastery of his craft openly displayed in ‘Rough Riders’.

John Milius tapped award winning composer Elmer Bernstein to write the ‘Rough Riders’ theme. Peter Bernstein conducted it. No composer handles heroic brass and violins better than Elmer Bernstein. Peter Bernstein employs massed violins when needed and at other times lets a single sing like a solitary Moore around a Kentucky campfire. As the opening credits roll, the music establishes the heroism of the Rough Riders against the most appropriate and beautiful artwork imaginable — original Spanish American War paintings and drawings from then Hearst war corespondent Frederic Remington.

John Milius selected artists who correctly matched the scale of the story that he was about to tell. John Ford did this on a smaller scale in ‘The Searchers’. In the opening of ‘The Searchers’, a lone woman framed by a doorway gazes into Monument Valley, Utah doubling for Texas. She strains to see an approaching distant rider. Composer Max Steiner led in with a single woodwind playing the melody of ‘Loraina’ and followed with a lone violin singing ‘The Bonnie Blue Flag’. Those of Southern birth knew the character of Ethan Edwards before John Wayne ever came into clear view or uttered a word. In ‘Rough Riders’ John Milius established the character of the then forming G Troop through Sam Elliott playing Prescott, Arizona’s legendary lawman William ‘Bucky’ O’Neil. Bucky introduces ‘The Minstrel Boy’ as the troop song of G Troop and bids the troopers to draw strength from it. The melody recurs in the film. In the second decade of the 20th century, ‘The Minstrel Boy’ became a song of Easter Rising and the Irish Rebellion. This writer suspects that it’s still sung in Donegal.

The Collaborative Effort

This picture belongs to Tom Berenger. Illeana Douglas perfectly complements him as Theodore’s wife Edith. Mr. Berenger received high praise for his masterful portrayal of the young Roosevelt. Many feet of original film and many recordings of Theodore Roosevelt survive to this very day. Those who have seen or heard any of them (and this writer has) will appreciate what a truly fine actor Mr. Berenger is. He not only captures the look and mannerisms of Theodore Roosevelt, he captures TR’s voice. Sickly and asthmatic as a child, Theodore Roosevelt developed a unique pattern of enunciation. Mr. Berenger explained it thusly, ‘ He’d take a huge breath and then rattle off words until he’d start to lose breath; it gave him his machine gun speaking delivery.’ From his opening frame to his last, Tom Berenger precisely duplicates Theodore Roosevelt’s voice. His tour de force performance begins with Roosevelt’s speech to the Naval Academy cadets on March 9, 1898.

Movie making is a collaborative effort. Magic on the set is rare. Set magic that makes its way to screen is rarer still. ‘Rough Riders’ delivers the rarest of the rare. The entire cast and crew enjoyed making this picture. They put that enjoyment on the screen. The joy begins with costars Sam Elliott and Gary Busey. Though both men list credits longer than we have space for, this writer’s personal favorites are Mr. Elliott’s ‘The Quick And The Dead’ and Mr. Busey’s ‘The Buddy Holly Story’. We begin with Sam Elliott’s portrayal of G Troop Capt. William ‘Bucky’ O’Neil. Sam Elliott gives us many truthful scenes as 1886 and 1895 Winchester packing lawman Bucky O’Neil. In the following, we will discuss only two wonderful scenes. The many others await the viewer.

Bucky O’Neil takes G Troop for its first day at the firing range. The weapons instructor demonstrates the Springfield 30-40 Krag-Jorgenson smokeless repeating carbine Model of 1896. G Troop forms lines for target practice. Bucky O’Neil and author turned war corespondent Stephen Crane, played by Adam Storke, observe them. The troopers shoot miserably. Bucky O’Neil orders G Troop down range to bash the watermelon topped targets with their gun butts. As the troopers rush the targets, Stephen Crane and Bucky O’Neil discuss gunmen, war, and gun fighting. Crane asks, ‘It really is murder isn’t it?’ Bucky cracks a knowing smile and replies, ‘You betcha.’

Bucky explains that John Wesley Hardin and Clay Allison were not great shots but ‘drunken louts’. Their survival rested not in marksmanship but in their ‘ability to murder their fellow man.’ Those familiar with Knob Creek (see March 98 SAR) should know the following. A pistol oriented member of the Alabama Cavalry and this writer had exactly that conversation around a campfire at the Creek four years ago. We came to the same conclusion. Hugh Wilson and John Milius know how to write truthful lines. Sam Elliott knows how to deliver them in high style.

Sam Elliott gives us his most poignant scene when he portrays the death of Bucky O’Neil. Official reports recount the murderous fire that poured down hill from the San Juan Heights. Bucky O’Neil stood up in combat to give his men confidence and urge them onward. At the bottom of Kettle Hill he stood erect, oblivious to the fire around him. He bends down to admonish Brad Johnson’s character Henry Nash who came unarmed from a hospital bed to the front lines. Bucky hands Nash his 1895 Winchester in 30-40 Krag and then again stands up. Nash tells him to get down. Bucky replies that, ‘The Spanish bullet hasn’t been made that can kill me!’. Shortly, a Spanish bullet finds the Captain of G Troop. Bucky O’Neil falls dead on the field.

Though physically much larger than Joe Wheeler, Gary Busey gives what is this writer’s favorite performance in ‘Rough Riders’. This favoritism comes from a personal bias openly admitted by the writer. Standing on the steps of 5th Corps HDQ in Tampa, Joe Wheeler is greeted by Col. Horatio Swayles, well played by veteran actor Larry Randolph. Col. Swayles reminds Gen. Wheeler of the Atlanta Campaign. Fighting Joe replies that Atlanta ‘was not one of my fondest memories!’. The Southern part of that campaign is a favorite of this writer. This fondness comes from Wheeler stories told to me in boyhood and from regularly passing a still extant stately white house in Griffin, Georgia. The stone on its left corner read ‘H’QTS GEN. JOE WHEELER’.

After the battle at Jonesboro, the Orphan Brigade walked to Griffin, Georgia. Here the Orphans became a mounted unit thanks to captured Yankee horses courtesy of Joe Wheeler. The Union Army sent a southward tentacle toward Griffin bent on burning the town, kidnapping the staff at the five Confederate hospitals here, and taking that staff to Camp Sumter (Andersonville). The Orphans stopped the Union Army cold at Bear Creek Station. The Blue Coats took a savage beating at the spot on which the Atlanta International Raceway now stands. NASCAR finishes the Grand National season on ground where Union town burners met stalwart Kentucky grey riders and found themselves wanting.

A Union General later attempted to pull the same torch and kidnap job on the Confederate hospitals at Newnan, Georgia, hometown of the songwriters and singers Doug Stone and Alan Jackson. Alan Jackson once wrote that, ‘Love grows best in small houses’. General Wheeler saved not only the small houses but the big ones. Outside Newnan lies a subdivision named for Wheeler’s friend — ‘Bedford Forrest’. Joe Wheeler rode 25 miles west and engaged the enemy at Brown’s Mill Station outside Newnan. Expecting to encounter defenseless civilians, The Union General found that he faced Joe Wheeler’s mounted pistol fighters backed by Tredegar guns. The ensuing fray proved to be the largest cavalry engagement of the Atlanta Campaign. In fairness, it should be reported that the Union General did make his way to Andersonville. After a crushing defeat, he accepted Joe Wheeler’s sword point invitation to tour the Confederate Prison System.

At the end of the Atlanta Campaign, Joe Wheeler rode west of Griffin and camped at Double Cabins, an Indian trading post turned stagecoach stop that dates from the 1830’s. From there Joe Wheeler left us, pursued Sherman’s western flank, and rode into history. At the end of hostilities, Fighting Joe Wheeler stood as one of the few Southern boy Generals to survive the war. Joe Wheeler rebuilt his life and served with distinction in the United States Congress, thinking that he had sheathed forever his terrible swift sword. Thirty three years later, his country asked once again for his leadership in the War with Spain.

Interestingly, a Bedford Forrest co-biographer and friend preceded Wheeler into Cuba. Gen. Thomas Jordan served with the Cuban insurrectos before his death in New York in 1895. When Joe Wheeler arrived in Cuba in 1898, he suffered from bouts of malaria. General Wheeler reverted to the tactics that had served him so well in his youth. In so doing he well served this nation. Gary Busey correctly captures the spirit and character of the 5’6” soldier who still holds legendary status in the Piedmont of Georgia. This writer has already praised Gary Busey’s performance in a previous article (see SAR February 98). Now the reader knows why. Well done Mr. Busey.

For a good laugh, don’t miss the recipe for ‘footless animal stew’ given by veteran actor Geoffrey Lewis. For two stunningly realistic performances, pay particular attention to Marshall Teague as Lt. John Pershing and Dale Dye as Col. Leonard Wood. Both actors bear startling physical resemblance to the men from history whom they portray. West Point lists only three soldiers who graduated with perfect records — Robert E. Lee, John Pershing, and Douglas MacArthur. In Marshall Teague’s performance, the reader will view the metal of the man in 1898. John Pershing twenty years later would lead the American Expeditionary Force to victory in Flanders Fields.

Julie Alter, CSA’s casting of accomplished actor Dale Dye as Col. Leonard Wood shows sheer brilliance. Two slots on Dale Dye’s report card on life read ‘Capt. USMC (ret)’ and ‘military historian’. Three weeks before anything went on film, Dale Dye set up a boot camp for the actors. He taught them the authentic drills, gun handling, and commands of the 1890s. When the cameras rolled, the actors functioned as a team rather than a group of individuals. On film, not only do the actors look like a cavalry unit, they move like one.

When Mr. Dye stepped before the camera he gave depth to the lesser known Leonard Wood. When Colonel Wood arrived in Cuba he already stood as a Congressional Medal of Honor winner and a universally respected professional soldier. Readers will be fascinated by the exchange of authentic commands between Leonard Wood and John Pershing before the attack on a cabin. Inside the captured cabin, Col. Wood explains the superiority of the Mauser rifle to his assembled men and a Spaniard in a tree. Then, without blinking, he asks them to find El Poso Hill on the map. After viewing Dale Dye’s characterization, readers will know why a military base near the Missouri Ozarks proudly carries the honored name ‘Leonard Wood’.

Class 3 On The Field

You are reading Small Arms Review. We know that you want a tour of ‘Rough Riders’ Title 2 world. Veteran actor Geoffrey Lewis, through his character Eli, opens the tour. Eli carries a man’s gun for settling disputes up close and personal — a sawed off Remington hammered 12 gauge double. Mr. Lewis deftly handles this persuader in a number of scenes. In so doing, he demonstrates the shotgun’s strengths and weaknesses. Armies did not ban shotguns from combat until the Geneva Convention. Smooth bores fought in Cuba and in the Argonne Forest. Special Forces carried pump shotguns in Vietnam as Victor Charlie had not signed the Geneva Convention. Eli’s gun might have met the requirements of the 1934 Gun Control Act but other smooth bores that actually fought in Cuba might not.

DDs played a major role in the battle at San Juan Heights and played a major role in the Tom Berenger film. Krupps, Hotchkiss, and a French 75 took the field to add authenticity to the movie. Second Unit Director Terry Leonard captured many nuances of 1890’s artillery. He caught the precision movements of the reenactor artillerists. Bag guns illustrate Mr. Leonard’s skill. Though much smaller, bag guns operate like coastal artillery. The artillerists insert a ram assisted HE shell and bag of powder, close the breach, and fire. In 1898, the Americans shot 3.2 inch white smoking breech-loaders. A French 75 sans shield does a credible stand-in for the movie.

Those who journey to Knob Creek in the Spring of 97 viewed and heard a massive two inch Hotchkiss revolving cannon fabricated by Thunder Valley Arms. Rich Pugsley correctly stated that this type of gun ‘served in the 1890s.’ I took up a position and watched Rich fire down range. Rich fired at a target at about the same distance as the blockhouse on San Juan Heights was from the Rough Riders. Rich fired live ammo. The movie artillerists fired blanks. Those fortunate enough to have viewed this rare weapon in live fire will applaud the accuracy of Terry Leonard’s footage. The Hotchkiss did fight in Cuba. It just wasn’t as pretty as Rich’s gun.

A brace of Krupp guns provides one of the most interesting historical footnotes to the film. Like the 30-40 Krag carbines, these field guns are not replicas. They are real guns that predate the Spanish American War. The 2.5 inchers carry the model number of 1891. They play an important part in the final battle scenes at San Juan Heights. Reenactors man them as a German gun crews. To view the Krups and the Hotchkiss mountain cannon would prove sufficient, but there is more. Writer Dan Gagliasso reports the following intriguing Hollywood rumor in his article ‘Guns of The Rough Riders’ (see Guns and Ammo, August 97). The rumor states that the movie Krupps actually came to the United States as captured ordnance from Cuba in 1898.

The film shows the guns of three American geniuses at work on the battlefield — John Moses Browning, Sir Hiram Maxim, and Dr. Richard Gatling. In 1898 only two answered muster at San Juan Heights — Browning and Gatling. In the movie, two Gatlings in 45-70 serve under Lt. Parker played by James Morse (see SAR February 98). The 1898 brass Maxims, though contemporary, did not fight that July afternoon. John Milius introduced the venerable belt feds for dramatic effect. Faithful readers know of this writer’s affection for the beautifully crafted 98. If I were able to have several brass Maxims hang around for a month or so, I would. By this writer Mr. Milius is both forgiven and applauded for the 98s. In one scene a Maxim gunner experiences a problem with elevation at full bottom stop. Knob Creek attendees know the immediate remedy.

Most interesting of the belt feds are the 1895 Colt Automatic Guns. In 1914, this gun added a changeable barrel and became the 1895/1914 model. That model accompanied Capt. Herbert McBride and the 21st Canadian into Flanders Fields. Capt. McBride reported that a Colt gun could hold a burst of 10 in the bullseye at 1000 yards. He proved it more than once. The Rough Riders carried the 1895 guns into combat. They acquired them in just the way that John Milius filmed it.

William Tiffany, courageous son of the prominent family, joined the Rough Riders. The Tiffany family presented the Cowboy Cavalry with two 1895 Colt Automatic Guns chambered in 30-40 Krag. Watching the gun crews advance the guns in the jungle and up Kettle Hill provides some of the most interesting frames in the movie for the dedicated emma gee. Properly advancing gun and tripod with precision challenges soldiers, not to mention actors. James Parks in the role of William Tiffany and the other actors handle the gun movement well. The filmed advances remind one of those described in ‘O’Ryan’s Roughnecks’ by the 27th’s William F. Clarke. This writer suspects the skilled hand of Dale Dye. The Colt guns went to Cuba with Rough Rider William Tiffany and served well. Tiffany did not return.

For Our Falcons Yet To Come

Michael Greyeyes plays Delchaney, an Apache warrior and Carlisle University student, who assisted in Rough Rider basic training. Bob Primeaux plays Indian Bob, a Souix who volunteered. Francesco Quinn gives a stirring performance as Rafael Castillo, who left the safety of the hacienda and the love of his life to ride with Teddy Roosevelt. Hamilton Fish played by Holt McCallany, B. F. Goodrich by Titus Welliver, and Craig Wadsworth by Chris Noth joined their friend William Tiffany in harness with the Rough Riders. They, Fifth Avenue boys, could all ride and shoot. When Hamilton Fish reported for duty he was arguably the wealthiest young man in America. He forsook all to ride with Teddy. Hamilton Fish sailed to Cuba and did not return.

Though General Shafter respected Joe Wheeler, Leonard Wood, and John Pershing, he and his staff considered their men amateurs. Joe Wheeler did not share the Corps Commander’s opinion. Fighting Joe had commanded an integrated cavalry during the War Between the States. He knew the 9th and 10th Cavalry could fight and suspected that they might be the most professional soldiers currently in the United States Army. Leonard Wood had trained the Rough Riders.

The real General Shafter tipped the scales at 320 pounds. His gut hung half way to his knees. His aids constructed a portable crane to put him on his horse. He got sea sick on the Cuban passage and stayed on the beach for two days. Joe Wheeler commanded all cavalry and answered only to Shafter. For an ex Confederate who had spent much of his time behind enemy lines, absence of command presented no problem. Joe Wheeler simply rounded up the amateurs, sent out skirmishers, and proceeded to wage war on the Spaniards. ‘Find them, turn their flank, and kick ‘em in the teeth!’

On that fateful day in July, the Black Troopers and the Cowboy Cavalry stood together at the bottom of San Juan Heights under murderous fire. The Rough Riders attacked Kettle. The 9th and 10th, backed by New York infantry, assaulted the larger and more fortified San Juan Hill. Their unflinching slow walk through death’s door inspired all who saw it. John Milius filmed it exactly as it happened. Surely the hearts of 9th and 10th descendants will soar on viewing this. They will soar as surely as do Celtic hearts when Mary Black sings the ‘Song For Ireland’. Therein, free falcons mount Eire’s Atlantic wind and ‘twist and turn in e’re blue sky’. At San Juan Heights, American falcons soared up two death laden hills. Theodore Roosevelt wrote in dispatches that the Black Troopers were the bravest men that he had ever seen. Under Joe Wheeler and Leonard Wood these American falcons won victory together. Members of that unique race known as Americans threw the cruel Spaniards off their well-defended hills.

This film accurately tells the history of America. It tells our history at a pivotal point in our time among nations. With a few concessions to drama, the firearms and their uses rate as excellent. A number of museum quality pieces come into view in close-ups. The Mauser rifle carried by George Hamilton as William Randolph Hearst is but one of many examples. A number of scenes in this film will stun the viewer. The following gives the most impressive example. In ‘The Searchers’ final scene, we see Ethan Edwards standing in light, framed by a darkened doorway. He takes his left hand and clasps his right elbow. At that moment he is John Wayne paying tribute to his long time friend Harry Carey. In so doing, he also honors his costar Harry Carey Jr. That gesture speaks of Harry Carey and how grateful the Duke was to have known him.

In ‘Rough Riders’ we see Teddy Roosevelt sitting on the porch of the blockhouse atop San Juan Hill. He is humbled by the victory won. As the camera catches him we see a fewer starred Old Glory gently waving behind him. At that moment he is Tom Berenger paying tribute to America. His gesture reminds us all of America and how grateful we all are to have known her. All of the above would be good enough reason to watch this movie. It truly does celebrate America. But there is more.

‘Rough Riders’ comes on two cassettes. It lasts more than three hours. It is the kind of movie for a Sunday afternoon. Father and son, uncle and nephew, grandfather and grandson should view this film together. At viewing’s end they should talk about America and being an American. As to why, I will leave the reader with two reasons. First, Gary Busey said, ‘This film is a piece of American history that no one has seen before on the screen.’

As a professional writer I am confident that I could write the second reason. To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, I could choose the right words and place them in the right order. On this occasion I will heed the words of Dirty Harry written by Harry Julian Fink. Harry Callahan said, ‘a man must know his limitations.’ To find the second reason we turn to the finest writer in the English language. William Shakespeare wrote, ‘This story shall the good man teach his son’ — Henry V — Act 4, Scene 3, Line 58.

In celluloid, John Milius has captured the Rough Riders. Therein he reminds us of how close to each other and how truly magnificent they all were. Tom Berenger said of Theodore Roosevelt, ‘The Rough Riders worshipped him, and he truly loved them. These men stayed a part of Roosevelt’s life until he died.’ In the telling of the Rough Rider story, John Milius reminds us of all of the above. His film says something else to the readers and the writers of the Small Arms Review. ‘Rough Riders’ speaks to all who enjoy the freedom of the Title 2 world. It reminds us of who we truly are. It simply reminds us that We few, we happy few, are the archers of Harry the King.

America’s Agincourt

In one of the opening scenes, Hugh Wilson threw a couple lines like high hard fastballs worthy of John Smoltz. When Hamilton Fish uttered the first line, like a rookie called up from Richmond, I said ‘That sounded like a strike.’ Then Hugh Wilson threw the second one through Craig Wadsworth and I said, ‘That was a strike and I’ve heard it more than once before!’ After a first viewing of ‘Rough Riders’ I could not rest until I knew the origin of the lines. I knew the lines were chivalric, but more. These lines came from the birth of chivalry, chevalier — mastery of the horse. The phrasing reminded me of the manner in which our suppresser guys competed last May. At match end, one gentlemanly spoke for all to the winner. In the most chivalrous fashion he said, ‘You fought the good fight and won fairly. I’m going home and get better!’

One out of eight who nominated the current occupant of the White House in 1992 belonged to the NEA. For those who earned a sound education before the NEA turned public into government schools, Hugh Wilson will take you back decades and you will be grateful for it. For those not so old, if you read Small Arms Review you have initiative. The following will also assist you. I first went to ‘Le Morte d’ Arthur’ and missed the target. I found the target in Shakespeare’s histories. I cut the outside circle with The Bard’s only epic history ‘Henry V’. I hit the ten ring with Act 4, Scene 3. If you wish to stack one behind the other, read Henry’s speech to his men before the battle at Agincourt. The reader should do so before viewing this film. The destiny filled lines of Henry’s speech reverberate throughout ‘Rough Riders’.

A surface viewing provides fine entertainment. If one knows Shakespeare’s lines and their attendant history in advance, one finds ‘Rough Riders’ to be an even finer film. A second viewing showed that Hugh Wilson and John Milius wrote in layers. The viewer can wet his feet and measure it in inches or dive in and measure it in fathoms. Brad Johnson (star of the action drama ‘Soldier of Fortune, Inc’) carries the upper narrative through his character Henry Nash. He opens the plot as an old man reminiscing in his attic about when he was young and so was America. As he goes back in time, he tells of how he joined the Rough Riders. While we follow his story, we also pick up that of the Fifth Avenue college athletes and hear Henry V’s lines. These lines carry the under narrative throughout the picture. Though Henry V’s lines establish the Fifth Avenue boys as ‘educated men’, Hugh Wilson and John Milius are not talking about Fifth Avenue. They are talking about America. And they have much to say.

The brothers Crispis and Crispianus fled religious persecution in Diocletian’s Imperial Rome. They hid in the guise of cobblers and did good works. When finally captured in A.D. 289, the Romans threw the Christian brothers into boiling lead. The Catholic Church elevated the martyrs to sainthood and designated October 25 as Saint Crispin’s Day. In the 15th century England’s newly crowned Henry V, Harry the King, felt he possessed a legitimate claim to the crown of France. He felt his claim more legitimate than that of the Frenchman who squatted on the throne. Between 1413 and 1415, Henry busied himself securing money for his army by taxes, loans, and hocking the crown jewels. In August 1415, Henry assembled the small army that he could afford and set sail to rectify the French affront to himself and the sovereign crown of England. The 7000 man army landed in France, hefted their long bows, and marched ashore following Harry the King. The tiny army won several small victories and caught dysentery. Henry fell back and camped at Agincourt.

An army of 30,000 bore down on Henry’s men. The Frenchmen poised for battle near the Calais road on October 24, 1415. Henry faced two divisions of infantry and one of mounted armored French knights. Against them he could throw 6000 archers and 900 men at arms. That night Henry personally surveyed the looming battlefield. He viewed his only two advantages — deep mud to slow the French horses and a place to skillfully deploy his archers.

The French outnumbered Henry five to one. The trained soldier whom Richard II had knighted for bravery in the Irish rebellion of 1399 decided to fight. Before the battle, Gallic emissaries attempted to negotiate with Henry. The French extended Henry the option of a ransom befitting his station. Henry refused to offer the French ransom for either his life if captured or his corpse if killed on the field. Harry the King vowed to fight on this Saint Crispin’s Day. His lieutenants Warwick, Talbot, Exeter, Bedford, and Gloucester backed him. Westmoreland wanted 10,000 more men. Harry the King wanted not one more. Henry offered to pay the homeward passage of any man who wished to leave before the battle. Harry the King refused to die in the presence of any man who would not die with him. On this Saint Crispin’s Day, Henry would either die for his beloved England or change her course forever. On October 25, 1415, Henry kept his appointment with destiny. The few, the happy few stood steadfast on a field of honor with Harry the King. Henry V engaged the French just outside Agincourt at less than 500 yards. His skillfully placed archers blacked the sky with arrows. A contingent of French knights dismounted in the deep mud and died where they stood.

At battle’s end the defeated French counted 7000 casualties. Henry V suffered 500. Contemporary historians hailed Henry as King of England and France and Lord of Ireland. England treated Henry’s soldiers as royalty for the rest of their days. Henry said of those who fought at Agincourt, ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’. In England’s darkest hour she reached back to Henry V to honor the men who so valiantly defended her. All of England took unspeakable pride in the outnumbered RAF pilots in the Battle of Britain. The British paid homage to those heroic airmen by giving them the bravest unit name from English history. They called them ‘the few’.

On a July day in 1898, Fighting Joe Wheeler faced a better equipped Spanish army on Cuban soil. Leonard Wood, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Pershing backed the grey haired Cavalier. The Spaniards sat up hill, dug in, and fortified. From Kettle and San Juan Hills they controlled the San Juan Heights. Like the archers of Harry the King, Joe Wheeler’s Krag equipped cavalrymen should have been destroyed in place. They weren’t. Against odds and raked by murderous fire, the Black Cavalry and the Rough Riders charged. On that afternoon they changed the course of America. Because of them, America shucked her role as ‘a third rate agricultural experiment’ and took her rightful place on the world stage. Mr. Tom Berenger stated the following about Theodore Roosevelt, ‘He believed his destiny was that war, and either something great would come out of it or he would die in glory.’

KUDOS

Kudos to Bill Taylor, J. P. Jennings, Doug Hollberg, Scott Howard, and Don Thomas for additional research. The author offers his heartfelt thanks to The Frederic Remington Art Museum, Turner Network Television, and Nostalgia Good TV Network for their splendid assistance. For our fortunate readers who live nearby, the author recommends a trip to the The Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, New York. The paintings lent to Small Arms Review represent but a small part of their impressive collection. For those who have not had the privilege of viewing original Remingtons, we offer this caveat. Be prepared to tarry a while and enjoy a stirring part of America’s history captured by the master’s hand.

The following gives an interesting historical footnote to ‘Rough Riders’. Joe Wheeler, at the end of his days, elected to be buried in the blue uniform that he wore at San Juan Hill. On viewing him at his funeral one of his grey riders said, ‘Lord General, what is The Mighty Stonewall going to say when you show up in that uniforn?’

Sources:

‘Rough Riders’ video
by Turner Network Television
1050 Techwood DR
Atlanta, GA 30318
1-800-523-0823

The Frederic Remington Art Museum
303 Washington ST
Ogdensburg, NY 13669
315-393-2425

‘From Shiloh to San Juan Hill’
Joe Wheeler biography
Columbus Armory
1104 Broadway
Columbus, GA 31901
706-648-4698

‘Henry V’ by William Shakespeare Cambridge University Press 1993
Mary Black, Collected
Gifthorse/Dara Records
CD # G2-10006

‘The Searchers’
by John Ford
Warner Home Video

‘Henry V’
by Sir Laurence Olivier
Paramount

‘The Wind and the Lion’
by John Milius
Turner, MGM/UA

‘Guns of The Rough Riders’
by Dan Gagliasso,
Guns & Ammo, August ’97

‘Pocket Diary’
TR’s personal account of the War with Spain, with notes by Curator Wallace F. Dailey
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel. 617-495-2449 / Fax 617-495-1376 publication date 07-01-98
the 100th Anniversary

‘The Campaigns of Lt. Gen. N. B. Forrest and Forrest’s Cavalry’
by Gen. Thomas Jordan and J. P. Pryor. rare book, available in reprints.

THEODORE’S STOLEN GUN

In ‘Rough Riders’ Tom Berenger as Theodore Roosevelt carried a seven and one half inch Single Action Army. The real Theodore Roosevelt carried a double action Navy marked Colt .38, serial number 16334. The revolver carries the butt # 5770 and the year stamp 1894. A Roosevelt relative recovered the pistol for Theodore during salvage operations on the battleship Maine. Theodore carried this pistol through Cuba, up San Juan Heights, and back to his Oyster Bay home Sagamore Hill. After the President’s death, Sagamore Hill became a national historic site. Colt .38 # 16334 rested there until 1991.

In 1991, person or persons unknown stole Colt .38# 16334. To the current possessor of this American treasure, this writer wishes to say the following. The Rough Riders were the kind of men that all of us would wish to meet on the other side. But not if they are angry. The possessor should assuage his guilt, salve his conscience, and save his soul. Colt .38 # 16334 belongs not to you but to the Rough Riders, to Theodore Roosevelt, and most of all to Sagamore Hill. Wipe the Colt free of prints, wrap it in newspaper, stick it in a cardboard box, and mail it back to Sagamore Hill.

The Theodore Roosevelt Association offers a cash reward for the recovery of Colt .38 # 16334. Should any of our readers catch a scent of the Colt’s location, the reader should notify Sagamore Hill Nationa Historic Site and point them upwind. The preceding covers John Law. As members of the Title 2 community know, there is John Law and then there is Murphy’s Law. The following will cover Murphy’s Law if applicable.

Thirty-four members of this writer’s family wore grey. As President, Theodore Roosevelt paid honor to his mother’s side of the Roosevelt family (see SAR February 98). In 1905, Theodore Roosevelt returned the captured battle flags to their Confederate units. A surprising number of the 34 lived to see it. In many homes of the Old South, families still refer to Theodore as ‘The Good Roosevelt’. Readers would find this writer undisturbed to learn that the possessor of Colt .38 # 16334 suffered a singular loss that he could not report to John Law. This writer would be completely unsuprised to learn that a cherished American treasure somehow had made its way back to Sagamore Hill. Should the above sequence of events take place, this writer stands good for the postage. The person accomplishing the sequence I would like to meet. To maintain confidentiality, I paraphrase a line from Forrest Carter’s brilliant work ‘Gone To Texas’. Simply put, ‘I’ll pay you when I see you Josey Wales.’

Source:

Curator Amy Verone
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
20 Sagamore Hill RD
Oyster Bay, NY 11771
516-922-4788

I first met Rich Pugsley at Knob Creek Range in 1989. Kenny Sumner had recently built the pole barn, but hadn’t added the extensions that are present now. In the middle of the barn, I caught a glimpse of deep blue steel, the rich hue of hickory and ash, and everywhere the glimmer of polished brass. I knew that I beheld the work of a dedicated craftsman. I went to investigate. Rich Pugsley introduced himself. Rich then showed me around the 1874 45-70 Gatling gun on full combat chassis that the had just built. Beside it rested a half scale 9mm Gatling on a naval mount. The 9mm gun sported a proportioned 9 mm Accles drum. Beside the Navy Gatling rested two 9mm Accles drum cases built of fine wood with authentic strapping.

Rich then told me the story of how his guns came to be. He reached under his display table and came up with an Accles drum in 45-70. Rich then hauled out his photograph album. It held numerous pictures of the Gatling gun company that he had just bought. Rich stated that he had to bet his money and his skilled hands that he could succeed. Rich didn’t blink. He bought the company and moved to Nebraska. In the freedom of that western state, Rich Pugsley still operates The Thunder Valley Gatling Gun Company, a Class 2 manufacturer and maker of Richard Gatling’s guns. Rich did so for two reasons. First, he remained confident that he would succeed. Second, and more importantly, he passionately wanted to recreate the guns of Dr. Richard Gatling. For his craftsmanship and knowledge, and for these two reasons, Rich Pugsley is my kind of gunman.

The Doctor Operates

Richard Jordan Gatling came to earth in 1818. Before he left this earth in 1903, Mr. Gatling had invented agricultural machinery, become a medical doctor, and invented the gun that bears his name. Herein we concern ourselves with the latter two of Dr. Gatling’s accomplishments. Richard Gatling entered the medical profession in the belief that he could help relieve human suffering. He brought this heartfelt belief to the invention of his gun. He perceived that he could build a gun so terrible that men would know of it and never again go to war. He did invent and build the gun that bears his name. He produced it for many years. As the reader knows, mankind accepted Richard Gatling’s gun but ignored his lofty perception.

After some hits and misses, Richard Gatling patented his gun in 1862. Though available at that point, the Gatling gun saw very limited use in the War Between The States. In the post war Navy, and in the adventuresome west, the Gatling gun came into its own. Rich Pugsley builds a full-sized replica of the 1874 model Gatling gun in 45-70. This gun employs the standard rifle cartridge of the day. In combat, the Army used the gun as a field piece. Each gun carried a complement of eighteen men. Additionally, each gun carried both a limber and a caisson.

In 1876 General George Armstrong Custer made one of his worst career moves. He failed to take his Gatling guns. George Custer thought that the Gatling guns might slow him down. Among other quarry, The General hunted the Souix and Cheyenne on The Greasy Grass. Unfortunately, on June 25, 1876, he found them. Though the resulting mortal combat may have been Custer’s last one, it wasn’t much of a “ stand.”

At the end of production, Dr. Gatling produced some electric powered models. Early on, he had searched for a substitute for hand cranking. In the fullness of time, the doctor devised a system of simple pulleys and wheels that drove the firing mechanism. These guns actually worked very well. Lack of reliable and available electric power proved their downfall. Battery technology struggled in its infancy. Few battlefields possessed convenient hook-ups for drop cords. As we fast forward more than a century, electricity presents no problem. This brings us to the craftsman Rich Pugsley and his thoroughly intriguing gun. Elsewhere in this issue, our writers will explain the technical marvels of the mini gun. The following tells of unique example. Rich Pugsley built what may be the most interesting “A ticket” ride at the Spring Knob Creek Shoot.

Mr. Pugsley’s Gun

As a Class 2 professional, Rich Pugsley felt naturally drawn to the mini gun. He wanted to build the end all of the Gatling gun while giving a nod to the genius of Dr. Gatling. Nothing could be more natural than a mini gun mounted on an authentic Gatling field chassis. Mr. Pugsley knew that the 1874 mount would need some modification to accommodate the modern gun. Rich stated that he spent a lot of chair time on this project. He laid out certain requirements for the gun, then thought long and hard about how best to achieve them. Rich wanted non-binding traverse, and a low center of gravity. He also wanted two-handed gunner control, and easy serviceability. Finally, Rich Pugsley wanted to give a nod to history. Rich concluded that the chassis held the key to all five goals.

The chassis yoke presented him with an interesting challenge. This yoke determined the scale of the whole gun. On Dr. Gatling’s original chassis, the yoke held the gun with a box flanked on each side. These boxes, called ‘egg crates’, held stick magazines for the Gatling gun. Rich knew that he would mount the mini batteries and feeder in the boxes. He also knew that the steel braced yoke would traverse with the gun, thereby keeping the batteries and feeder aligned with the weapon. He determined the width of the yoke by establishing the size of the battery box. Rich went to Sears, where he measured two deep cycle marine batteries. He then added sufficient space for the electrical connections. These measurements established the dimensions of the battery box. He then fabricated the feeder box as an exact twin. This, coupled with the gun positioning, determined the width of the yoke. From the mini gun scaled yoke, all else followed.

Rich first lowered the center of gravity on the 1874 Gatling chassis. Though similar in appearance to the 1874 model, Rich’s mini gun chassis differs in dimension and slinging. The .308 mini gun’s needs dictated this difference. Rich dropped the center of gravity by re-configuring the 1874 chassis, and underslinging it. This arrangement afforded easy access to the yoke mounted mini gun. He then built a superstructure of hand fabricated, cold rolled steel. and covered the superstructure with hand polished oak. The rich hue and graceful lines of the underslung oak chassis mask the massive steel structure that nestles inside it. Rich then added a brass Gatling gun seat for the gunner. He sand cast all six parts for the seat. Rich then assembled and finished the six brass pieces into a single unit.

There is a fascinating story to the carriage. The dishing and outward cocking of the wheels was part of an 18th Century suspension system. The wheels mount solidly to the axles, and must flex slightly during travel. A rut or wide ditch would shatter wheels that stood perfectly straight. These wheels give slightly under high stress or heavy loads. On impact they flex and cushion the blows to the axles and hubs. The well-crafted wheels feature a one-piece steel rim around the wood filly, joined by a single weld. Their black patina sets off the beautifully crafted oak and hickory wheels.

Rich Pugsley takes no credit for the wheels. Instead, he turned to craftsmen who have fabricated circular works of art since the 18th Century. Rich generously gives both credit and praise to the Amish craftsmen at the Holmes Wheel Company in Holmesville, Ohio. Two men with the same last name have crafted wheels for him. One of these men built the huge wheels for Rich’s two inch Hotchkiss revolving cannon. Those who viewed this mammoth gun at the Spring 97 Knob Creek Shoot will verify that its scale deceives. Seen at a distance, the graceful lines of this behemoth belie its 3000 pound weight. The other man crafted the wheels for the Gatling mini. As the reader may view in the photographs, the Gatling mini’s wheels offer the same gentle lines. These wheels stand in sturdy tribute to the followers of Jacob Amman. Their fine lines give silent testament to the generational craftsmanship and abiding faith of the Amish people.

The Remembered Past

Until the very end of World War I, guns of rapid fire served as adjuncts to artillery. On first viewing the Gatling mini, I thought of two men from history that should have fired such a gun. I first thought of John Pelham, cannoneer of the Army of Northern Virginia. At Malvern Hill, Confederate units attacked massed Union guns before the arrival of sufficient artillery. John Pelham committed his Tredegars to the fray. Outgunned fifteen to one, he dueled the Union artillery until incoming fire disabled all of his guns. Among those on Pelham’s side of the field was Henry Burroughs Holliday, father of “Doc”, Holiday.

At Fredericksburg, John Pelham disobeyed orders and hauled his guns to a completely exposed position on Marie’s Ridge. From there, The Great Cannoneer poured fire into the advancing Union lines. Excellent shooting by Union artillerists disabled several of Pelham’s guns, but could not dissuade him. Only when he ran out of ammunition did Pelham pull back to the lines of Thomas Jackson. The Foot Cavalry of The Blue Eyed Killer cheered the daring young Pelham. Among those who cheered The Gallant Pelham was this writer’s great, great grandfather, John Adams Burroughs.

Another who cheered would become, during his long lifetime, one of Georgia’s most beloved and respected Confederate Veterans —William H. ‘Bill’ Yopp, a Black Confederate of the 14th GA. Bill Yopp now sleeps forever amongst his fellow Cavaliers in the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia. Holliday, Burroughs, and Yopp would survive the war. They, like Pelham, gave their all to valiantly defend the Valley of The Daughter of the Stars. Unlike them, the Gallant Pelham would fall mortally wounded near The Daughter’s outstretched arms — March 17, 1863. Readers who have not studied Bob Lee’s boy cannoneer should know that others have, including Erwin Rommel. The “turned down” 88s in North Africa came from John Pelham.

I then thought of another brave soldier under Confederate command some three years before our current millennium. At the outbreak of the Spanish American War, President William McKinley called upon the unrepentant cavalryman “Fighting Joe Wheeler”. General Wheeler donned a blue uniform and did his duty. Theodore Roosevelt volunteered to serve under Leonard Wood in Wheeler’s Command. Teachers in the government schools label Theodore Roosevelt as a blue blood New Yorker from Sagamore Hill. As usual, that is only half true.

The other half of Roosevelt’s blue blood flows from Bulloch Hall in Roswell, Georgia. Margaret Mitchell would later use Bulloch Hall and TR’s mother Mitti Bulloch as inspiration in part for Tara and Scarlet. A contemporary described the President’s mother thusly,’beautiful as she was spirited and courageous’. TR’s beloved ‘Uncle Jimmy’ was none other than James Bulloch, London head of Confederate Secret Service. Jimmy Bulloch built the sloop of war C.S.S. Alabama under the noses of Union spies. He then smuggled her out of Liverpool. Bulloch’s younger brother Irvine served on Alabama’s decks. Another uncle made General at age twenty-six, with the Army of Northern Virginia. When Leonard Wood moved up in Cuba, Major General Wheeler made a fateful decision. General Wheeler handed the reins of the Rough Riders to Col. Roosevelt. Joe Wheeler did so because he knew Teddy Roosevelt to be a fighter and a leader of men. The Major General also knew from whence he came.

The Regular Army sent four 30-40 Krag chambered Gatling guns to 5th Army Corps in Tampa, Florida to aid the invasion of Cuba. These guns formed a battery under the direction of Lt. John Henry Parker, West Point Class of 1888. After landing, the Rough Riders and the black troopers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry set out to free the port of Santiago. John Parker muscled his guns over the same rough roads traveled by the dismounted cavalry units. John Parker’s Gatlings slowed down no one. Parker threw his Gatlings into the fray at both Kettle and San Juan Hills. At the Battle of San Juan Hill, his Gatlings raked the block house that overlooked the Americans and Santiago Bay.

So impressive was Parker’s covering fire during the foot charge up San Juan Hill that, throughout the rest of his life, he carried the name ‘Gatling Parker’. So dreaded were the black soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry that the Spaniards called them ‘Shadow Yankees’. Their bravery under fire helped swing the tide of battle. Joe Wheeler found the black soldiers’ heroism completely unsurprising, having commanded an integrated unit during the War Between the States. After his service in Cuba, John Parker wrote two books on machine gun tactics, considered far ahead of their time. John Milius and Tom Berenger captured most of the above, and more, in their brilliant film ‘Rough Riders’-now available on video from Turner Network Television.

Had Gatling Parker a Rich Pugsley gun, Spanish buttons would have pinned themselves even closer to the ground. Perhaps Bucky O’Neil would have seen Prescott, Arizona once again. Perhaps he and others would have rejoiced in the new millennium. One finds history filled with what if and what was. That explains in part why we reach back to enhance the things of today. When Rich Pugsley built his gun, he reached back to our honored past. The finishing touches, as well as the carriage, come from history. These touches complement his mini gun that comes from the present.

The Finishing Touches

Rich Pugsley added a pair of angled M-16 pistol grips to the mini gun. These grips provide the gunner with two-hand control. These angled grips suggest the grips on the Jap 92 heavy machine gun. Rich then added the linnet to the tail piece. On an 1874 Gatling, the linnet attaches to the gun’s limber. Rich then added the windage pole socket. In the latter half of the 19th Century, gunners like Gatling Parker planted a pole in the socket. With a hefty lift, they could quickly shift the firing position of the gun.

With all work done from the gun barrels down, Rich still wanted something extra to finish the Gatling mini. For his final touch, Mr. Pugsley consulted with Mr. Paul Reed of Navy Arms. From Mr. Reed, Rich secured a reproduction brass tube telescopic sight. Mr. Reed selected a sight featured on the Navy Arms distance rifles used in Cowboy Action Shooting. With the Navy Arms scope, Rich Pugsley’s Gatling mini became complete. This finished gun now stands as yet another example of the old style craftsmanship still practiced at the Thunder Valley Gatling Gun Company.

Dorothy, You’re Not In Kansas

he preceding tells of an intriguing gun, as interesting to view as it is to fire. In other magazines an article such as this would have slammed shut two sentences ago. Many readers probably abandon hope that they may ever view or touch such a gun. Despair not. Always remember that you are reading the Small Arms Review. Within these pages we try to provide the cure for what ails you. The following may offer just the medicine that you need.

Rich Pugsley vows to return to the Knob Creek Range. Mr. Pugsley and his gun will be counted present for the April ’98 Show and Shoot. At that shoot, as he did at the last one, Rich Pugsley will sell rides on the Gatling mini. For you, the reader, we offer simple instructions. Pack your ear and eye protection and head for Kentucky. Arrive at the Knob Creek Range on April 17 — 19, 1998. Belly up to the orange fence and watch the excitement. If you wish to sit on the brass seat and drive the Gatling mini, Mr. Pugsley will oblige you. Rich will seat you on the past and hand you the triggers of tomorrow. Bring a friend and a video camera to capture the moment. You should know that this “A ticket” will not be cheap. That being said, this writer remains confident that Rich Pugsley and the Gatling mini will give you one hell of ride.

Plaudits to Don Thomas for additional research. Kudos to Bulloch Hall, Harvard University, and Turner Network Television for their able assistance. The writer from Georgia sends thanks to the drummer from Texas, Gary Busey, for his portrayl of Joe Wheeler. Special thanks to my grandmother Kate Burroughs Cartledge (1888 — 1993) and her grandfather John Burroughs (1823 — 1911) of Burroughs Plantation, Madison County, Georgia from whom some of the above came.

Sources:

Rich Pugsley
Thunder Valley
Gatling Gun Co.
P.O. Box 97
Palmyra, NE 68418
402-828-4275

‘Rough Riders’ video
by Turner Network Television
1050 Techwood DR
Atlanta, GA 30318
1-800-523-0823

‘Mornings on Horseback’
TR book by David McCullough
Bulloch Hall
180 Bulloch AVE
Roswell, GA 30075
770-992-1731

‘The Gallant Pelham’
David Brady
Columbus Armory
1104 Broadway
Columbus, GA 31901
706-327-1424

Forgotten Confederates
Black Soldiers in Grey
by Kelly Barrow
P.O. Box 1314
Thomaston, GA 30286
706-648-4698

Paul Reed
Navy Arms Company
689 Bergen Blvd
Ridgefield, NJ 07657
201-945-2500