"When our advanced guard and Cavalry first reached the Rio Grande they [the Rebels] got up and left in such a hurry that they left all their sick behind at Franklin who were agreably surprized [sic] at the treatment they received at our hands, for they were laboring under the false impression which their leaders had imbued them with, that the California troops were but little better than Cannibals who would torture if not eat their Prisoners"-Eli W. Hazen, NOTES OF MARCHES MADE BY CO. E, 1ST INFT. C.V.!!!OFFICIAL 1ST CALIFORNIA COMPANY F WEBSITE!!!
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Click here for yet more information on the California Column
We are first a foremost, a group of pards, who just happen to live in the same region and enjoy the same era of history. The 1st California Volunteer Infantry Company F, of the California Column, is a hardcore living history unit stationed in Arizona and California.
While we put an emphasis on properly made uniforms and equipment, we believe it is only a vehicle to what is really important; the experience of the soldier or civilian between 1850 and 1866. By living this history we find it easier to understand who these persons were, which in turn allows us to perform historical interpretations with more knowledge and depth.
It should be noted that while our portrayed unit is contemporary with the American Civil War, we are not necessarily a Civil War living history outfit. Our impression is of a unit that at different times was in California, and the Arizona and New Mexico Territories. The mission of the California Column was to push any Confederate Infantry in the territory back into Texas (which the California troops did with great success), arrest any Confederate sympathizers (who were sent to the prison at Ft. Yuma in the SW corner of the Arizona territory), escort and protect civilians in the area, enforce the martial law place on the Arizona territory, suppress any "hostile" Native American tribes (most notably the Apache, who were extremely resourceful and strong warriors), and finally map the territory (which was for the most part uncharted).
LAMENT FOR ME BROGANS by Mike Bogert
It started with shoes on a San Francisco street.
It ended in Arizona with two dirty feet.
I marched out of San Francisco,
a fine new chapeau from the hatters.
I got to Arizona in rags and in tatters.
I'd weep for me brogans, but salt water I can't drink.
I feel like something left behind in the sinks.
(chorus)
I weep for me brogans.
I cry for me shoes.
No heel plates. No hobnails.
No pegs and no tools.
Cactus for cushions. Thorns for a seat.
Sucking on stones, suffering the devil's heat.
If the sun doesn't cook me like a fat german brat,
then the wind will surely steal my goddamned hat.
I left the fort with plenty of wheat.
Now all I have are Sesech to eat.
(chorus)
I left California with a shirt on my back.
I got to Arizona and suffered an Apache attack.
I left California with hair on my head.
I ended up in Arizona scalped and quite dead.
(chorus)
