A GREAT DAY AT THE GETTYSBURG REENACTMENT!

A coworker of mine, David Dewey, does these war reenactments (no, that's not him below-I actually couldn't find him) and told me about the Civil War / Gettysburg battle at El Dorado Park on May 31-June 1. He's with the Union side, 1st US Sharpshooters. I'll try to remember what I saw.

Unbelieveable realism, down to the cooking on wood fires, the PBI ('poor bloody infantry') staying in pup tents, the 'camp followers' like sutlers, merchants, grocers, laundries (spelled 'lon-dri'), dances and dancing (I learned some contra-dancing, the Virginia Reel, some round dances-I was sweating by the time they were done so I can imagine what the ladies in full regalia with their hoop skirts, shawls and dresses felt like!)... the artillery...you would not believe the perfection in reproduction of arms and heavy artillery! And all the participants took the names of the people in the battles and faithfully reproduced what happened-who died, who was wounded, the generals and guys running the cannons, loading them, 'firing on down the line', amazing stuff. (yeah, I know-the cars and vehicles in the background kinda don't fit, but hey, gotta roll with the times)

The soldiers would sit around their campfires at lunch, eating beans and hardtack then afterward somebody would have a harmonica and they'd sing Irish songs (if their regiment was Irish) or southern songs-some of us joined in with them when they sang 'Dixie'. They sang pre-battle, they sang when they mustered after battle, they sang to keep their spirits up and to remember loved ones at home and why they were fighting. Notice how realistic the many period costumes and uniforms are. It amazed me also that they were firing at each other without protection, like from behind an object, but it was explained to me that that would be the cowardly way to fight. I subscribe to the old adage, "live to fight another day". (video is just below)

Several of the pictures above are one of the cannons being rolled into position for firing, one of the soldiers checking the load process while they 'tamp down' the gunpowder, and

Side note: I remember at the range we used to shoot at, the range commander shouted out, "Ready on the right! Ready on the left! Ready on the firing line"! except these guys were shouting, "Ready number one! Ready number two!" and when they'd get ready to fire, they'd get the go-ahead from the main guy in back and the person firing would shout out, "Clear!" then all hell would break loose. It was neat (in a primitive sort of way) how the soldiers would 'sight in' the cannons. Howinthehell do you sight a cannon in other than by dead reckoning, huh?

Below are two pics getting the cannon ready to fire when given the word. See the guy in the red cap in pic #1? He's holding his left hand up and holding a firing cord when one of the soldiers goes thru the motion of lightint the fuse. He pulls the firing cord when given the order to fire. The 2nd pic below is the actual firing and resultant smoke. When all the cannons went off in a line, there was so much smoke you couldn't see the battle.

The uniforms and the units' regimental colors and names were pretty neat-very realistic and if the uniforms were reproductions, they were done by hand with as close to the same coarsly-woven material as possible. Some of these smaller pictures are the soldiers reloading/packing in and firing the cannons. It was very interesting, the cannons in action and the soldiers doing reloading, calling the steps out and that the cannon was ready. . Since I was right behind the cannons, that wasn't too hard to take pics! (now I KNOW why hardly anybody was sitting where I was! I just went for the shade, that's all.)

Guys, you'll be bored with the following paragraph, so you can skip it and scroll down. I loved the dresses; some of them were so elaborate, and most of them were handmade. These folks REALLY go for realism right down to the wearing of bloomers so that no men could see their ankles. One lady was saying that at a Fort MacArthur reenactment (still Civil War era), a gentleman in a kilt was commenting wildly on her ankles, so she got bloomers (handmade by her daughter) to cover them up. I thought these dresses were so much more comfortable during the day than the Renaissance period, where the ladies had to wear the heavy tapestry-type stuff, heavy headdresses and no hoop skirts. In my opinion, the hoops skirts made it more comfy because they were out and away from the body so there was more airflow, especially when they 'swish around'. I know I would swish around just because the dress would allow me to, and it would be so neat to wear one of those dresses! (but then, I've always been into dresses and lots of material and REALLY regret that bustles went out of style)

Another interesting fact I found out is that the ladies HAD to be covered up during the day, but after 5 PM at night, the gloves came off and the neck and arms were uncovered. The general public was shooed out at closing, but you COULD be invited to stay by any of the reenactors, have supper and attend the dance.

And here is yours truly (in my aerobic gear) with President Lincoln.

After the 3 pm battle, Mr. Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. Couldn't stay that long, but it was still an awesome day.

Here's the website again.

http://www.acws.net/


Note: I DID NOT ride my bike for a couple of reasons:

• I had too many things to take, change into, change out of, aerobic/workout gear, plus pick up a huge basket from Dan;


• The parking and the site were in the dirt, and the parking area was all gopher-holes, regular holes, mounds of dirt, and just a real hassle for a bike (unless you had a dual-sport). Could you imagine navigating a heavy cruiser in the dirt?
  
  I took as many pictures and videos as I could of all sorts of different areas that I felt were interesting, but since my camera doesn't have a really really LONG RANGE lens on it, I couldn't capture some of the battle whereby the South was advancing on the North, and the North 'coming over the hill'.
  
  David, BTW, I have a CD-Rom for you with all the pics and videos I took. I'll drop it by your site or put in the mailbox for you on Monday June 2.