Photo Album

Below is a link to a very nice video produced by Eli Lilly & Company about their Veteran's Day celebration

https://www.facebook.com/elilillyandco/videos/1254577494558511/?theater

Hartford City 2017

Image from the April 1st, 2017 Indy Star, taken at the Beech Grove

Battle of Belzer 2016

2016 Sassafras Tea Festival in Vernon, Indiana

2016 Spring Mill Park

2016 Spirit of Freedom @ Crown Hill Cemetery

2016 Indianapolis Tour de Cure @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway

2016 Hartford City (4 GUNS STRONG!!!)

Veteran's Day at Eli Lilly and Company

Hartford City 2015

Carmelfest 2015

Billie Creek Village 2015

Crown Hill Cemetery's Memorial Day Service (2015)

Crown Hill Cemetery's Spirit of Freedom (2015)

Pictures of the Lincoln Funeral 2015

Our new 35 star swallow-tail flag and 14-1/2' tall two piece pole. This was first flown at the Lincoln funeral.

Some images taken at Battle of Belzer 2014.

The crew at Camp Belzer.

The Rebs never stood a chance against the 18th Indiana Light Artillery. We attacked them fom the cover of woods that skirted the creek. Never saw us coming. :-)

The rebel mortar battery captured by the 18th Indiana.

Perfect timing of howitzer and mortar firing. You can see the mortar blast just under the muzzle of the mountain howitzer.

When Mongo likes someone THEY tend to get carried away.

Sean taking the lanyard with Gabriel, Jacob and Dustin tending the piece.

Some awesome pics from the Hartford City 2014 night-fire.

Hartford City night-fire 2014.

Lt. Snell almost wins the stone throwing competition. He also almost hits a rebel artilleryman. :-)

The girls goofing around and having fun.

The valiant crew of the 18th raking the rebs with canister.

Ft. Recovery live-fire, 2011. Sarge is on the left. A VERY fun shoot! Video here: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=712396138809806&set=vb.445053922210697&&theater

Carmelfest 2014. We got to pull the mule-cart in the parade.

Loading the gun during Spirit of Freedom at Crown Hill Cemetery.

5th grade teacher Mrs. Schadle fires the mountain howitzer at Spirit of Freedom.

Hartford city night-fire 2014.

The crew takes a knee to avoid musket-fire from the rebels advance.

The Union gun line at Hartford City 2014.

Time to fill canteens.

President Lincoln and the men of the 18th Indiana discuss placement of artillery at Knightstown 2014.

Sarge and the gun at Knightstown.

Starting shot at Indiana Tour de Cure 2014.

Opening shot and 21 gun salute with Indiana National Guard. We had the honor of firing 21st shot. See the video here:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=691480250901395&set=vb.445053922210697&&theater

The Cart
We have a cart now to haul ammunition and our wounded. Now we just need an army mule to pull it... Maybe one will follow me home someday.

Holden at Bayonet Drill.

Holden practices his bayonet drill at the 49th Indiana's camp of instruction. Spring of 2012.

Gimlet Takes a Swing.

Gimlet practices his bayonet drill at the 49th Indiana's camp of instruction. Spring of
2012.

Stacking Arms With the 49th.

My boys can just about do it all. Bayonet drill, stacking arms, they will even "rough it" under a tarp if need be. My crew is hard-core!

Close Range Canister. :-)

This was our first ever round live-fired from the mountain howitzer. We fired a round of canister at this "butternut" from about a 100 yards away. It was some pretty good shooting if 'ya asked me!
Fired at the 49th Indiana's camp of instruction, Spring of 2012.

A Motley Crew.

Who are those good-looking guys in the middle there? They must be artillery-men. ;-)
49th Indiana's camp of instruction, Spring of 2012.

Sarge's 15 Seconds of Fame.

Sgt. Snell being interviewd for the show "The Weekly Special". They got several of our names wrong in the episode, but it was still very interesting. You can see the episode here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUGIJCqT7p4

Preparing for the "big shot".

Here we are getting ready for the bang that was used in the episode of "The Weekly Special".

The Big Bang.

One of my all time favorite pictures of the crew/gun. Taken at the 49th's camp of instruction during filming for "The Weekly Special".

Just Talking 'Bout the 18th...

My interviewer asked several questions about why reenacting the 18th Indiana Light Artillery was so important. The answers were easy, but you'll have to watch the episode to hear them.

Tour De Cure. June 9th, 2012

The "Boys" and I had the honor to fire the starting shot for this great cause. We did it right: synchronized shots with the howitzer and mortar!

Effect of our canister on an oak tree.

Round of canister fired from our mountain howitzer on November 3, 2012 peppered this oak tree pretty good.

Honey locust tree hit by solid shot.

This unfortunate 4" thick honey locust tree was hit by one of our solid shot rounds before the ball traveled another 25 yards and embedded itself into a hard clay bank.

Scar on tree from wooden sabot.

Cannons from the Civil War era typically used a wooden "sabot" to help stabilize the round and secure the powder bag to the round. The sabot from our first shot hit this oak tree.

Impact point of one of our solid shots.

This is the impact point of one of our solid shots fired on Nov. 3, 2012. The creek bank we used as a back-drop was made of very hard clay. The round passed through a 4" thick tree, travelled another 25 yards and buried itself about a foot into the bank.

Recovered solid shot.

For what this ball had been through, it is in pretty good shape. It had just passed though a 4" thick tree, about a foot of hard-packed clay and struck a large rock. Not bad for a two pound piece of lead!

Recovered canister shot.

We were only able to recover two of these. There would be 148 of them in a full size 12 pound mountain howitzer round. We have a pretty fair amount of respect for canister now after seeing the amount of damage they are capable of doing.

Hungry gun crew.

I don't think these guys even bother to chew their food sometimes... Taken at Hartford City 2012

"Gimlet" checking his eyelids for holes.

He says he wasn't sleeping... Yeah right! He looks so peaceful. ;-)

In line ready for action. Hartford City

This was taken just before Sunday's battle at Hartford City, 2012.

On the firing line.

Here we are in line with the rest of the Union artillery at Hartford City getting ready to cut loose on the rebs.

Mongo takes a bow.

If we get all our ducks in a row and get our limber built in time, Mongo (picured here) will be pulling the howitzer for us soon. He'll do just about anything for a juicy red apple.

C C C C C Cold Crew.

Here's some of the crew at the aftermath of Battle of Belzer 2012 on Sunday morning. It was a little chilly... Taken October 28th, 2012. We started a new branch of service; the cavetillery... You had to be there.

Mongo's Morning Hair.

Even with "bed-head" Mongo isn't camera shy. He saw me coming with the camera. What a ham!

Foraging Patrol.

Or maybe just a little trail riding around Camp Belzer. Either way, Jacob seems to be having a good time...

Just Horse'n Around.

Our four-legged friends at Battle of Belzer. From left to right: Jazz, Ramsey and of course our buddy Mongo.

An Artillery Horse.

Mongo in his new artillery harness. Doesn't he look great!

Head-stall and Blinders.

Close-up of the head-stall and blinders. Blinders were used to help keep the horses calm and focused. We don't really have that problem with Mongo.

Back view.

Back view of the head-stall. This is what Lexi sees while driving.

Breakfast.

Breakfast at one of our limber practices. Pancakes and bacon. Mmmmm!

Close-up.

Close-up of breast-strap and the muscular chest under it.

Picket Line.

A good shot of the picket line and gun.

;-)

Good exercize for Jacob.

Rolling.

Limber and riders on the move.

Smile.

Smiles all the way around!

Awesome shot!

Soon as I took this one, I knew it was going to be our new Facebook header.

Conner Prairie 2013

Our debut at Conner Prairie as a horse-drawn battery. I think we did extremely well. We made more friends and learned what we need to do and not do as a battery. It was a good experience! This was an GREAT photo!

The Lighter Side.

The ladies in camp take the "rough edge" from the army life. Not that we are that hard to get along with. ;-)

AOW Meeting.

Always nice to sit and chat with friends. Even if it's about "business".

Crown Hill Memorial Day 2013

Fired three salutes in honor of our fallen heroes at Crown Hill Cemetery (where Eli Lilly is buried). Governor Mike Pence joined us for a photo. He was one of the guest speakers at the ceremony.