adds artillery to his soft-plastic Union forces.
My plan was to arrive on Thursday and get a good night's sleep, so I'd be ready for the gaming on Friday morning!
My limited budget meant that I used priceline.com to find the least expensive flight possible - which took me in three hops (Albany, New York, to Newark, New Jersey; then to Memphis, Tennessee; and then Jackson, Mississippi).
TMPer 
reeves lk 
was there to meet me with a "TMP" sign, and we set out on the drive to Vicksburg, Mississippi (where the convention was located). However, being wargamers, we took a somewhat indirect route...
The Battle of Raymond
Our first stop was Raymond, Mississippi - site of the Battle of Raymond from the Civil War. In a nutshell, the Confederate commander led a bold attack on what he thought was a feint by Union troops (in reality, he was hopelessly outnumbered); as a consequence of the battle, his forces are strategically cut off.
So here we are - just off the highway (which briefly parallels the Civil War-era road), at the creek along which the battle started. And just behind this fringe of trees is a fragment of an older highway, and an old bridge which reportedly is on the same site as the Civil War-era bridge.
If you ignore the modern highway and its flanking trees, and the telephone poles, and imagine the old highway as a road of an earlier era - then the battlefield hasn't changed much. A creek, a bridge, trees along the creek, and fields...
The Confederate right flank (above) and left flank (below)...
The Battle of Raymond was fought around this time of year, so it's tempting to wonder if the creek was about the same as we find it: steep sided, not much water.
Another view of the old highway bridge...
Not much water on this side of the creek...
...and only a little more here.
There are also a few replica cannon around the battle site - reeves lk prepares to man the defenses!
On the other side of the creek, off the modern highway, we find a modern monument (erected this century) dedicated to the Texans who fought (and some died) here.
I can't help thinking of how I'd run this as a scenario... got to keep both sides guessing... is it a Union attack, or just a feint... are the Confederates here in force... hmmmm...