I let Will talk me into taking a day off work to attend another civil war battle. what can I say ?where do I begin? it is as if I had landed on the set of Gone with the Wind, Old washington is a reconstructed 1861 town, the town had voted in the 19 century to not have the railroad stop there. well that killed the town. it disappeared. everyone left or died. then it was rebuilt the way it was in 1860. wooden sidewalks. Clapboard houses in the style of the day. the battle actually took place two miles ouside of town but the town was filled with reenactors and their tents. once we registered we fell in. as a ww2 reenactors I am not used to so many men women and children striving to recreate a scene 140 plus yeas ago. I am told that before the present mayors non-leadership deciding that the battle promoted violence and that the civil war was a racist hate crime. it almost seems he is hell bent on killing the town again. that the battle was ten times bigger before his enlightened administration. but of this was only an echo of glorious past battle reenactments it was still a mind bending experience for me. you had to have been there. it was so realistic and so impressive but more later.
drummer boys I saw about four of them all about ten to 12 years old and very skilfull you could tell they enjoyed setting the cadence for our march, their uniforms and appearance made me think of many drummer boy stories that I have heard, like the Army General who started his military career as a civil war drummer boy. and spent his entire life in the army.
girls in hoop skirts have mercy, these women were more beautiful than Scarlet Ohara herself. there were quite few of them. and they wee all dazzling. I found myself wondering could the women of 1861 been as beautiful as these? Maybe, but how can we know for sure. I was wishing my wife could do what they do. Or that I could recruit some female into the reenactment world to be like one of these miracles.
Officers men of incredible presence Our Colonel looked like a movie star, pure white hair and facial hair and a swashbucking uniform sword and all, and he knew how to give commands and make decisions, I had confidence in him in spite of the fact that few besides myself were true Lincoln men, yankees who fought the south with conviction. rather they poked fun at yankees at every oportunity. because they were really southerners who had been asked to go blue. whereas I was born in Chicago at Grant Hospital and grew up on Sheridan Road. and stared at the old exhibits that used to reside at the Chicago Public Library celebrating yankee heroes of the civil war. So I was maybe the only real yankee in the ranks, and I was the preacher. who gave the prayer before we went into combat. how could i know that an artillery blast would soon kill me.
9th Arkansas our little group included two twins whose mom had made their uniforms. but they were forty and you would have to met them and see their ebullient smiles and share their enthusiasm for the hobby.. i met lots of neat people in our own unit ad other units like Larry David and others.each person had a story and was a wonderful reincarnation of civil war soldiers. Will was wearing shoulder boards but fought with a rifle like a private. remember it was just one week previous that we did De Gray lake. and there was me, a 65 yo private who fought and marched like when I was younger. toot toot
brass bands i saw several and heard one play the bonnie blue flag, the battle cry of freedom etc. it was 5 pieces two baratone horns an alto horn and two cornets. the played a short concert after the battle, if I seem to be an enthusiastic convert to civil war reenactment you are right , try it youll like it. lol
