My first unit photo.

This is the first Cooper’s Battery unit picture that I was ever in.  Since then, I have been in countless pictures with the full battery, but this one is important to me because it was my first.  It is also special to me because it is the only unit picture that my dad is in with me.  He is standing to the front and left of me, wearing the clean blue trousers.  This picture was taken at the Spotsylvania reenactment in Virginia right above our campsite.  We are standing next to a tree that we later climbed and napped in since it was shady.  During the battle, we also climbed the tree in order to spot targets for the artillery and to relay how the battle was turning to the officer’s staff.  Since this photo was taken, I have been to the Spotsylvania battlefield numerous times, including multiple reenactments.  The tree had been cut down a few years ago, and the building behind it was dismantled sometime in the past year.  It is interesting to us as reenactors to see how much the fields that we return to every year can change.  I think this picture to me signifies how much things can change.  I began reenacting as a young, clumsy kid who knew next to nothing about the artillery, but now I fit in as one of the respected members of the unit.