When Thom asked me to join him for a re-enactment of the epic battle in Virginia that turned the tide of the Civil War against the Confederacy--it's Gettysburg's 160th anniversary--I had one condition: make sure your nephew is fighting for the Union.
Here's Jimmy, who's majoring in game design at the Stevens Institute of Technology, with his mother Deanna after day one. He'd been drilling and fighting in that WOOL uniform since early morning under hazy and humid skies. "Ice angels" delivered the frozen stuff so that the pretend soldiers could stuff it in their hats to cool down. Momentarily.
Participants strive for authenticity, sleeping in tents and eating food prepared from 19th-century recipes and served by people in period costume.
Penny has been cooking like this for 17 years, ever since her son got into the scene, which attracts (mostly) guys of all ages, the kind who likely played with toy soldiers in their analog childhoods.
This cast iron stove, based on an original Civil War design, eased the stress on Penny's back as she prepared chili and French toast for the Union troops.
Sam, Isaac and Jimmy met virtually while playing Holdfast, a Napoleonic war video game. Sam asked Jimmy to be his best man when he got married even though the two never had met in person. Isaac, who belongs to the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh, acknowledged that the men impersonating Confederate soldiers were probably racists.
Lest you think Thom and I were interested only in women's work, note his aptitude for musketry. Jimmy, BTW, has modeled costumes for his Holdfast buddies using 3D computer graphics, illustrating how the design gene in the Barra family tree has gussied up both proms and battlefields!
While waiting to be seated, we struck up a conversation with a couple who owned a Pennsylvania farm. He also turned out to be the state's Secretary of Agriculture. Really! They recommended we check out Hollabaugh's farm stand where I picked up a quarter-peck of freshly picked peaches ($6), the first of the season.
The Daniel Lady Farm hosted the re-enactment, which isn't open to the public. I guess that's to discourage protesters. After all, there can't be too many places above the Mason Dixon Line where the Confederate flag is openly displayed and sold. Full disclosure: it turns out there may be a Confederate bigwig hanging from my family tree on my father's side. Jubal Early shared quarters with Robert E. Lee at the farm and remained an unrepentant Rebel after Andrew Johnson--Lincoln's successor--gave him a presidential pardon in 1869. Talk about an embarrassing lineage!
Aside from spending time with family, I'm pretty sure that Deborah, Thom's sister, enjoyed communing with the horses most.
Although the farm sponsors events all day long, the battle doesn't start until 4 p.m., when the troops begin mustering.
It's much easier to buy into the make-believe close-up. Spectators set up chairs, three and four deep, on two sides of a large field where the organizers have placed large loudspeakers used to narrate the action. Unless you're well-versed in Civil War history, the re-enactment, complete with sound effects and gunpowder smoke, doesn't make a lot of sense.
The psychology of the Confederate soldiers fascinated me. After all, who wants to lose? Again?
Re-enactors themselves get to decide if they've been mortally wounded. Or maybe these guys are just suffering from heat exhaustion. Better dead that Reb!
Thom and I also had some time to sightsee on our own. Memorials erected by various Union states commemorate the soldiers who fought against slavery. Here's Pennsylvania's, by far the most imposing. The names of all residents who served are etched in bronze around the perimeter. Those marked with asterisks didn't make it out alive.
From the top, we got an excellent view of one of the actual battlefields which stretch out over 18 square miles. Washington, DC is just 69 miles south as the crow flies which is why General Lee chose to launch his offensive in Gettysburg. Post victory, he intended to march triumphantly into the nation's capital and force the Union to surrender to the Confederacy.
Horses obviously played a pivotal role during the Civil War.
They're memorialized, too.
In an age of drone warfare, it's easy to forget how low-tech battle once was from supply lines to ground transportation.
At the Gettysburg National Military Park I got to hang with my buddy Abe.
En route to the national veterans cemetery, we passed a sculpture that really captures both the camaraderie and exhaustion of war.
The entire text of the Gettysburg Address is reprinted on the two bronze plates that flank Lincoln's bust near the cemetery's entrance.
Lincoln, suffering from a mild case of smallpox, delivered his two-minute address, perhaps the most famous speech in American history, four months after the battle ended, at the dedication of the cemetery. The man who preceded him on the program spoke for two hours. Lesson: keep it short. Brevity earns you attention and accolades.
Both my father and Thom's are buried in national veterans cemeteries, separated by 2,250 miles. During the Civil War, Texas (where Ken's grave is located), fought for the Confederacy.
Fifty-one thousand soldiers were killed at Gettysburg from July 1 through July 3, 1863. That's just 7,000 less than the total number who lost their lives fighting in the Viet Nam War which lasted an entire decade. Many were never identified and none got to decide when they died which, IMHO, makes the whole re-enactment thing pretty silly.
Thom is standing in front of house where Major General George Meade directed the Union troops at Gettysburg. Although he and his men repelled Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North, General Meade fell into disfavor with Lincoln when the Union Army failed to take the Confederate general prisoner.
A New York State memorial is located nearby.
No comments:
Post a Comment