Bill and Linda Donegan attended the annual Troops and Trains event in Strassburg, Pa over the weekend of November 5th. Here is their report:

Strasburg, Pa November 4, 2011 had dinner with Dave and Lois Nowack.

Saturday November 5,2011 we had breakfast with the Nowacks.  Linda and I dressed in Civil War attire and we proceeded to the Strasburg Train Museum for our orientation/safety meeting.  Linda and I were greeters/meeters at the museum and acted as a walking Civil War display.  We met Mike, a fellow Union solder and we decided to form an ad hoc unit.  We found an empty table and chairs, Mike took off his accouterments and voila, we had a display table. Soon we were joined by another artillery sergeant and Linda and I decided to walk around in the museum and pose for photographs with visitors.

Linda and I decided to walk across the road to the train station and mingle with the crowd, walk the platform and wave to passengers on the train (a train ride of one hour was assigned to each presenter). Soon we were joined by two more couples in Civil War attire.  We posed for many photographs and represented the Federal Generals Corps. We were General William Rosecrans (myself), Thomas Crittenden, and George H. Thomas. Funny how we three actually served together in Chattanooga.  In fact we actually asked the conductor if this was the Chattanooga cho cho.  To which he replied, “quarter to nine, track 29″. I told him that nothing could be finer than to have ham and eggs in Carolina.

Here is a further account of the fighting at Bulltown, WV:

(On the second day) I was asked to walk guard duty around the fort perimeter as the rest of the  garrison was asleep from the party the night before.

This just in. Correspondent Bill Donegan reports on the fighting between Union and Confederate troops in the area of Bulltown in the new state of West Virginia:

http://www.chiefloganstatepark.com/

I believe that I can honestly say that I have never been to a Manassas/Bull Run event that was not  hot. This year’s reenactment, however, took the cake (or at least baked it!). When we arrived at camp, we learned that our Lt. Colonel, Kevin Skaggs,  had brought a small table-top thermometer which informed us that the temperature was 111 degrees F.  I’m not sure that it was better to know that or not.

As we soon learned, the organizers had scheduled no battles for the afternoons, no doubt due to the predictions of extreme heat. This was good, since it was miserable enough just lying in the shade in the afternoons. The organizers did provide cooling tents with fans and walk-through misting units. However going to them would have necessitated walking across the field in the sun, so we elected not to take advantage of them. There were some lectures and other educational programs going, but again, it was too hot for me think about going.

Saturday was only 109 degrees, but seemed more humid. By around 2:00pm, my companion noted that she was pretty sure that she was not going to live through the afternoon. This was the first large Civil War event that I could remember the organizers encouraging participants to wear non-period dress ie. shorts and tee-shirts, in camp. The key to survival in all this was to drink lots of fluids and avail yourself of ice when possible. During the battles, these items were plentiful. Also, I want to give a word of thanks to all the WVRA folks for supporting one another in such circumstances.

The battle Saturday morning went off reasonably well with only a few glitches due mostly to unit commanders who didn’t stick to the script. But there wasn’t a lot of that. The WVRA guys and the Connecticut regiment whom we fell in with,  portrayed New Hampshire troops in the first part of the battle, then retired from the field to hydrate. We then came back out portraying the US Regulars. The high point was forming a Napoleonic infantry square to repulse Confederate cavalry. The Rebs charged with spirit and the result must have looked impressive, although, of course, we did not have bayonets fixed as a real square would have.

After suffering though Saturday afternoon’s heat, we managed to rally enough to go to the ball, which was situated near Sutler’s Row. The dance was well-attended despite a number of reenactors bailing out early due to the weather. Music was provided, by, I believe, the 2nd South Carolina String Band. The music was great and the dance caller did a good job. Strangely, there was nothing in the way of drinks provided at the dance. There was a water station not far away, but you needed to bring a canteen or cup with you to take advantage of it. A vendor could have made a killing selling sarsaparilla.

Sunday’s battles were a repeat of Saturday and seemed to come off better, since we had ‘practiced’ the day before. The temperature had dropped to a brisk 92 degrees by lunch time, which seemed cool by then.

The biggest glitch on Sunday was the parking/leaving situation. On Friday, a small army of volunteers had been in place to direct parking all the way up and over the hill across from the event site. No such folks were present on Sunday and with literally thousands trying to leave down a narrow lane out of the parking area, it got ugly. There were a handful of police personnel on the paved road at the bottom of the hill, but this didn’t help the situation up in the lot. I was parked all the way on the top of the hill and was stuck there with an increasingly angry crowd of hot, tired reenactors, without moving even a car length, until an enterprising young man located a back way out through the trees. Several of us took advantage of this option and I was able to get back to camp before everyone in my group had left.

Obviously, there were a lot of pros and cons to the weekend. This particular event is a visual feast since so many units make an attempt to recreate the various uniforms that were present on the field during the real battle. Also, as I noted to a friend, a reenactment of this size is the only place where you are going to hear a continuous crash of musketry during the entire course of the battle, as well as the ongoing thunder of a large number of cannon. The weather, of course was the biggest downside. Obviously the organizers couldn’t control that. Overall, they did a pretty good job of compensating for it. The parking lot situation was the biggest organizational failure which I personally saw.

This 150th cycle is probably my last hurrah as a combatant in ACW reenacting. So I want to take advantage of as many of these as I can, before I become a civilian reenactor or whatever. Therefore, I am glad I went, heat or not. Hopefully, it won’t be this hot next summer when 2nd Bull Run rolls around.

The following is a post from our correspondent, Matt Gillespie:
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Buckhannon Camp #49 organized a dedication ceremony for the newly erected tombstone of Brevet General George R. Latham at Heavner Cemetery on Memorial Day.  Latham was a prominate officer during the Civil War and a prominate citizen afterward.

The following was read during the ceremony:

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) Buckhannon Camp #49 is a fraternal organization dedicated to preserving the memories of the veterans who fought to save the Union during the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865 and to the more than 300,000 Union soldiers who died preserving the government for, by and of the people.

Brev. General George Robert Latham (March 9, 1832 – December 16, 1917) was a nineteenth century politician and lawyer from Virginia now West Virginia.
Born near Haymarket, Virginia, Latham attended common schools as a child, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1859, commencing practice in Grafton. He was a delegate to the Wheeling Convention in 1861 and during the Civil War served in the Union Army as captain of Company B of the 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Latham was later promoted to colonel before being elected an Unconditional Unionist to the United States House of Representatives in 1864, serving from 1865 to 1867. Afterwards, he was appointed consul at Melbourne, Australia in 1867, serving until 1870, was school superintendent of Upshur County, West Virginia from 1875 to 1877 and supervisor of census for the first census division of West Virginia. Latham engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death in Buckhannon, West Virginia on December 16, 1917. He was interred in Heavner Cemetery in Buckhannon.

The SUVCW obtained and set a military tombstone for Latham to assist in the preserving the memory of his service.  The Create Buckhannon Committee is presently restoring Latham’s house as an historic landmark.  The SUVCW would also like to thank the VFW Post #3663 and American Legion Post #7 for their assistance with the ceremony.

Matthew Gillespie

Here is Nick Korolev’s report on the Civil War doin’s in Clarksburg last week:

MAY 13-15TH

Despite a weekend of scattered showers, the Harrison County Civil War Sesquicentennial 150^th Anniversary went off with hardly a hitch May 13 -15^th. Funded by the state and sponsored by local historical societies and business as the kick off event for West Virginia’s 150^th celebrations and reenactments it was a full two years in the planning and organizing. Free to the public and held at Veterans Park next to the Veterans’ Hospital and Nursing Home complex, it provided a total immersion presentation for the public with everything from “Meet the Generals” presentations by the two premier living history groups Federal Generals Corps and Lee’s Lieutenants, to field hospital demos, civilian life, cannon firing, military drill and a debate between Lincoln and Davis over the causes of the Civil War and on Sunday a period church service. Other attractions included a Saturday night fireworks show, hot air balloon rides, horse drawn carriage rides, plenty of food concessions, and concerts. The public was free to roam through the camps to talk with both reenactors and living historians about Civil War history for which we stayed in character.

Rick Byrd (as Gen. George Crook) and I (as Gen. William Averell) shared my tent and set up on Thursday evening and helped others set up on Friday. After supper at the local burger place Thursday night we had a violent storm that lasted several hours but the tent withstood it with no problem as we were camped among trees on a lower side of a hill in a flat spot. It took me awhile to get to sleep watching the light show on the canvas roof hoping the lightning would not hit. Spotty showers haunted the event, but we did get some sun and no wet canvas was packed on Sunday after the event. The major series of storms passed north of us. Still, with all the spotty showers, Rick got to fly his Army of West Virginia flag, made by Jim Openaker (Gen. Sherman) noting it was the first time it flew in the area since the war.

The centerpiece of the event were the living historians of both the Federal Generals Corps and Lee’s Lieutenants and we were treated like royalty as far as food was concerned. We all swear we gained weight by the end of the event from a dinner on Friday night with the local dignitaries and sponsors, lunch and Bar-B-Que on Saturday evening. Besides our regular schedule we also participated in a saber arch for a wedding and were invited to visit the hospital and nursing home on Sunday morning so the veterans who could not walk to the event next door could meet the generals. We thanked them for their service and they totally enjoyed themselves amazed at the accuracy of our military uniforms and how real we made history for them.

All in all it was a great event for participants and public and we all agreed that it would go on our schedule if repeated in 2012. Barry Meadows (Gen. U. S. Grant) provided the photos below.

Nick Korolev

The WVRA held it’s annual School of the Soldier at Prickett’s Fort, near Fairmont, WV over the weekend of April 30, 2011. The weekend was well attended and the weather was pleasant. The fort is a good location for this sort of event for a number of reasons. There are numerous historical connections to the area from the late 18th Century on up. There is an attractive antebellum brick house on the property which offers an appropriate setting for Civil War living history interpretations. In past years, we have celebrated a Civil War Christmas at that location.

The restored fort, of course, predates the Civil War by at least 70 years. There are full-time living historians who work at the fort and offer presentations to the public for a modest admission fee. There is also a well-appointed visitor’s center and a rustic amphitheater. The grounds between the fort and visitor’s center gave the reenactors an excellent parade ground for marching and drilling over the weekend as well as artillery demonstrations and skirmishing.

Because of the the fort, we also had quite a few interested spectators for the weekend’s activities. This was a win-win situation for all involved and hopefully will be a location we can use for this purpose in the future. There are regular featured attractions at the fort throughout much of the year as well as the day-to-day historical interpretations. I recommend it as a good stop for the historically inclined.

http://www.prickettsfort.org

Special Thanks to Ruth Rowland for the pictures.

Here is Nick Korolev’s report on the latest installment of ‘The Long Road Home’ event series:

The weekend of April 8-10th Clover Hill Village, Appomatox, VA had the first installment of a special series of events titled “The Long Road Home” which will follow Civil War soldiers on the final campaign leading up to a major reenactment of the 150^th Appomatox. The event this year- Cold Harbor which had those critical of the war labeling Gen. U. S. Grant “The Butcher”. As promised – the first of this series was unlike any event presented so far in that reenactors and living historians worked together to make the experience as real as possible for the public. And unlike any other event the spectators found themselves stepping beyond the yellow tape barrier in an interactive experience with them able to volunteer to help soldiers write home, help medical personnel with difficult patients in a fully set up field hospital and talk directly to the commanding generals. Sponsors are the Appomatox County Historical Society, United Daughters of the Confederacy Appomatox Chapter 11, and the prestigious living history groups Lee’s Lieutenants and the Federal Generals Corps.

Rick Byrd and I left on Thurs to arrive early to start setting up camp in the area designated for the Federal Generals Corps and the Union troops. It was a beautiful day, though scattered thunder showers and cold nights plagued the event until Sunday just before period church services in both camps that were open to the public. Still, no one was about to let wet weather and cold nights get our spirits down.

Many of us had to change the personnas we usually portrayed. Rick’s character for the weekend was Maj. Gen. William F. Smith, commander of the 18^th Corps and mine was Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan. This of course put us in research mode before the event so we could properly portray our personnas for the public. I had to put up with a lot of ribbing from my friends in Lee’s Lieutenants like “Keep matches away from him.” and got into a bit of a debate on tactics with Gen. Longstreet on “total war” in the Shenandoah Valley that the public enjoyed. In our camp the public also got to witness Gen. Smith complaining about the decimation of his troops to Gen. Grant (Barry Meadows) and Gen. Sheridan arguing with Gen. Meade (Paul Bourget who usually portrays Gen. Green and supplied the photos of this event) over the proper use of cavalry among other scenarios.

There were other changes, too. Because we lacked enough of a showing for Union troops many of the rebels had to “galvanize” and some of the generals went out as privates. And because of this lack of Union troops one of the funniest and most heart warming stories from the whole weekend came about.

For the first part of Cold Harbor presented on Saturday, Jay Vogle who normally portrays Gen. Longstreet for Lee’s Lieutenants became a Union private christened Pvt. Shortroad by everyone. Two two hundred foot trenches were ready for the battle reenactment though a bit soggy from showers and rail fences were set up to be taken down during the battle to add to the trenches. Confederate artillery fired to open the battle. During the battlethat ebbed and flowed between the trench lines, Jay was a casualty near the Confederate trench. When the public was allowed to go out on the field to get the wounded back to the field hospital, Jay who lay unmoving was surrounded by about a dozen kids that ranged from kindergarden to third grade. Now Jay has to be over six feet tall. The action that followed reminded me of a bunch of ants trying to carry off a grasshopper. The kids surrounded him grabbing legs, arms, canteen strap and worked it out to drag him yelling, “One … Two … Three… Heave!” He remained limp through the whole thing, eyes closed yet alert to what they were doing with the canteen strap around his neck. The kids had dragged him about a hundred feet toward the hospital leaving a rut in the field before our nurse came to his rescue. Much to their disappointment, she pronounced Jay dead. One third grade boy protested, “But I took his pulse and he was alive.” Another boy about the same age chimed in, “We went through all that trouble dragging him over hear and now you say he’s dead. Man!” They went off to the hospital to help others. Jay got up once they were occupied, his back coated with dirt. He was quite impressed by their team work and enthusiasm as we all were.

Saturday evening Clover Hill had a meal of pulled pork with all the fixings for all the living historians and reenactors. We had to rush through supper as a thunder storm was on the way. It kept both the talent show and night firing from going on, which was unfortunate. All in all we had a great time educating the public and though we had more living historians than reenactors on both sides, it was considered a successful event with a good public turnout and we all hope more reenactors will show next year in April for the Battle of Five Forks in the Long Road Home series.

For more information on the events or to register for next year check the website: www.longroadhome150.com

Nick Korolev