What happens at a reenactment

Fortunately, in my initial research online to find reenactment dates, I found out that a Living History Day and reenactment was scheduled in a park near Philadelphia in Schwenksville at Pennypacker Mills.  A detailed schedule listed such events as Artillery demonstration, How to be a soldier,  Author presentation about General Webb, Music presentation, Union dress parade, and a battle reenactment.  At the 2 day event, the reenacters dress as they would have in 1860s, men, women, even children. They camp in authentic tents, use replica muskets, shoot real artillery guns. Don't know what they eat!

My first question to plan for the day was to the organizer of the event asking rather sheepishly (if that can be conveyed in an email) whether I, as a visitor, could attend the event. Could I approach the men and women in 'costume'.  How delighted to know that I was more than welcome both to the event, but to ask questions of the participants.

A beautiful hot day in June, I could see the tent camps from the road, and the 'union regiment' hanging outside their tents. Up the hill were the confederate tents, but most of the living history displays near the park mansion were near the union camp. I arrived in time for the band playing civil war music, that familiar light sound of the high trills of the flute and the  percussion so reminiscent of the marches of the time. Living history displays included hat box construction, a forge, ribbon making, ribbon flowers.

Since there was no real Civil War history here, I could concentrate on the whys and wherefores of how these events are structured.
First, how do the reenacters become involved in this lifestyle? Many have  relatives who lived through, fought in, were imprisoned by, died, in the war whether the north or south. Some were history teachers who had other family members that brought them into the fold.

Second, how are the groups structured? To my surprise, they are grouped in regiments named for actual regiments from the war.  In some cases, if during a reenactment, there are not enough of one side or another, they might 'trade places' and fight for the other side. For the most part, though, they committed to a regiment that acted like family.

During the Union dress parade, the solders marched in formation commanded by what seemed to be captains. Then then stopped in front of the colonel figure. The soldiers tested the guns, which I realized was not for show. These guns needed to be tested to make sure they were safe for the men and for bystanders. My next question came as I wondered how the ranks were determined. "Time served", I was told. Those who stay in the group and show leadership rise in the ranks.  I met the 'general' of the Confederate artillery battery, which is  a group that must be well trained and coordinated to shoot the cannons correctly. The General was well respected, several of his men praising his expertise to me.

And that is where I heard an inkling of what it might mean to be sympathetic to the south.  One of the Confederate soldiers wanted me to know that not all the regiments surrendered at Appomattox. I had not read enough at that point to understand, but I understood that he wanted me to know there was another side to the story.

The battle, such as it was, took about 20 minutes. I heard that on Saturday, the Confederates won, on Sunday, the Union. No one seemed to die, one person was 'injured'.

Starting to Read and write a song

I started reading the companion book to the Civil War series first out of a trudging realization that I had no real knowledge about history, then because it is a page turner. Totally absorbing and revelatory as the threads of Lincoln, Lee, Emancipation, Jackson, Gettysburg, the Confederacy become a fabric of intrigue, patriotism, despair. It is a large, heavy volume, so not easy to carry around.
This led me to find a copy online of the PBS series itself. Strangely, though, it is the words on page that I have found more captivating.

Another fascinating look at the southern milieu is  A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy  1861-1868. by Anne Sarah Rubin. She is a professor at U of Md in Baltimore and I would love to meet her.. The book is a detailed thesis that lays out how the south, though not a separate state once the war was over, has remained a unique nation with values that can be traced to wartime.

I find myself reading, shaking my head and crying, having to stop after sections to ponder, to mourn.
The battle of Antietam begs me to return to again and again. A song begins.

Little Round Top

Little Round Top, a small crest that overlooks the great expanse of what used to be wheat fields, farmland and orchards.with a view 5 miles long. We have returned here at 8:00 p.m. twilight, a time of calm reflection. We ponder  how the soldiers experienced this land of beauty and life, with death and destruction all around them.  .

If you were from the south, would this be seen as a place of luscious and lovely landscape. Did they stare at the open night sky, blessing or cursing the stars knowing there was a certainty that one would either die or be wounded here. How did they prepare themselves for the battle? Did sleep come quickly from the exhaustion of the previous days, or was it fitful with dreams of blood and smoke. Did those on duty curse the need to be alert for enemy fire?
And  if you were from the North, from New York, or Illinois, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, what did you talk about around the fire?
Time to read about the soldiers' experiences!

Gettysburg introduction

Fran and I drive the pleasant 2 1/2 drive from Philadelphia to Gettysburg via Route 30. It is a direct shot to the hotel, 1/2 mile from the circle at the center of town. The first stop is to visit the 15 minute movie, an elegantly produced outline of the context and content of the battles, their significance to the outcome of the war. I realize how much the reading and classes have prepared me to watch and listen, giving me the impetus to feel the power of the story that is being told here.

Here I am at Gettysburg. How awe inspiring.


Gettysburg, the 3 day battle that would be the test of the newly appointed General Meade, his generals, and men as they fought against the formidable Gen. Lee who chose to face the Union on northern territory after  his victories at Chancellorsville and Fredricksburg.

I am crying at the end of the movie as we walk up stairs to the room that houses a 360 degree oil on canvas painted depiction of the battlefield. The lights and sounds flash around us, as the tension of the battle is described. I am sobbing now and but for the embarrassment that no one would understand why, I do not let myself cry as loudly or forcefully as I want

Honor the dead

Cemetery Hill, the ridge where the final battle of Gettysburg was won at great cost, great heroism, became the home of many of the 3,500 known and unknown soldiers who died there. In November 1863, Abraham Lincoln stood on those grounds to dedicate this as a National Cemetery, though it was designated only for Union soldiers. New York and Pennsylvania , the largest regiments. Maryland, Wisconsin, Illinois, they are there. Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia- these men were either lost or returned to southern burials after the war. 

Across the fence is the original Evergreen Cemetery, filled with markers as old as 1600, and as recent as WW2. A tall obelisk inscribed with the name Gettys marks the burial place of the family that founded the town, the small farming town that held a mere 2500 citizens in 1863. But the 10 roads that intersected the town and the abundant agriculture were an ideal location for two vast armies of men, horses, artillery and wagons to confront each other.

And yes, they did. Three days later and 51,000 Americans were killed, injured, captured, or injured.

Gettysburg monuments

After we left the Museum, our guide met us for a private 2 hour driving tour.  In addition to describing the battles themselves, the characters and politics can become a tangle of names and dates. Fortunately, I had done enough reading ahead of time to appreciate some of the finer points of history that he was explaining.

 

I never understood until we wound our way through the roads and hills of the battlefield and  the town itself  what an extensive area Lee circumscribed and the Union had to defend.  Notable too are the monuments- over 1300 of them-dedicated to the regiments, the states, individual generals and officers. The largest by far were the monuments to Pennsylvania and New York, who lost the most men.

Also had short conversations with other visitors who clearly came from the south.  Many what ifs… “What if we (the confederacy) had made some different choices or won this battle?” Hard for us to imagine the possibility that the Union might not have won.

Sept 1862 lyrics

September 1862 
 lyrics and melody by Tobie Hoffman June 2014

Sept 1862

Sharpsburg, Maryland  gray and blue

General Lee had his eye on the north

His ragged men like hungry wolves

The Potomac river behind his back

30,000 ready to attack

To strike at the heart of the Union

Lee's secret plan  his army split

Jackson racing from the south

As they marched through Maryland streets

Citizens hid behind closed doors

Maryland My Maryland

Could not rouse the soldiers ardor

So they camped and waited

On the ridge along Antietam

Chorus

Some wore blue and some wore gray

Some turned back and some would stay

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam

70,000 men in blue

To the Union they were true

Armed with the southern strategy
Wait in the night and summer heat

Gen. McClellan always cautious

Waited 18 crucial hours

To strike at the heart of the Rebels

first Light the battle had begun

Surged back and forth in early morn

15 times by 10 am

8000 men lay wounded or dead

Generals killed

Commanders injured

Men loading and firing , others flee
What were the final words they cried?

On the cornfields of Antietam

Chorus

Some wore blue and some wore gray

Some turned back and some would stay

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam

Federal army ever stronger

Overtook the sunken road

They shot their prey

Like sheep to slaughter

A frenzy seized them as they stood

Union soldiers firing on their knees
Bodies piled  by 2s and 3s

On the Bloody Lane of Antietam

Southern line nearly severed

But from the south 3000 men

Marched in to mount  one last battle

There to smash the union flank

Burnside of the northern army
pleads for help none would come
No ground was gained pushed back again                                              

Cross the bridge above Antietam

Chorus

Some wore blue and some war gray

Some turned back and some would stay

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam

The muskets silenced, the sun is down,                                         

Lees army slipped away is gone

Half his army from the carnage

Returned to sacred southern soil

Lincoln wired his commander

Destroy the rebel army now

To end this war at Antietam


It is not prudent

to pursue

We will not chase the rebels home

McLellan tells the president

More than 20,000 men

lose their lives, their limbs and more

On the cornfields, bridges, and the roads

On that day along Antietam

Some wore gray and some war blue

Some laid down and some broke through

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam