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 report by our correspondent, Matt Gillespie, is the first in a series of impressions on last week’s Rowlesburg WWII living history weekend.
Not many would know or even believe that tucked away in the mountains of Rowlesburg, WV would be such a high quality museum as well as a high quality living history.  The people of the small community of Rowelsburg do their part to honor our veterans.    Artist Jef Verswyvel, a native of Belgium, has created a Smithsonian quality museum in the Szilagyi Center, formerly Rowlesburg High School.  Just down the road from the Szilagyi Center a sizable World War II living history was in place.  World War I reenactors were also involved to help show the connection between the two wars.

The living history included; reenactors representing WWI and WWII and many countries, a WWII era dance, a 1940s fashion show, a wreath laying ceremony, demonstrations, the Andrews Sisters singing and the opportunity to meet and speak with some of the remaining individuals from the Greatest Generation.

My son and I, who attended the event as WWI reenactors, had the privilege of conversing with a veteran of the 82nd Airborne that landed behind the lines at Normandy.  We also spoke with a member of the 14th Armored Division who fought to the German border via Italy and Southern France.  We met several reenactors and talked history with them and with many members of the general public who attended the event.

One of the things I enjoy about such events is the opportunity to discuss and learn history without the fear of anyone getting bored.  For more information on Rowlesburg’s WWII museum go to: http://www.rowlesburg.info/world_war_2_museum.php

The following is a report filed by our correspondent, Matt Gillespie:

Saturday I traveled to Weston, WV to take part in the Mountaineer Military Museum’s Memorial Weekend Vet-together.  There were several reenactors and veterans present who took part in the cook-out in front of the museum.  The cook-out was sponsored by the VFW Auxiliary.  There were some of our few remaining WWII veterans on hand.  Guest speaker, Psychologist Dr. Greenbrier R. Almond  shared his experiences in working at the V.A. Hospital and counseling veterans suffering from PTSD.  Dr. Almond has studied PTSD for 30 years and has helped thousands of veterans.  His work has lead to his creating a DVD to assist other doctors in the treatment of PTSD.  He donated 100 DVDs to the museum that can now be sold to help raise funds for maintaining facilities.

In all, about 200 people attended the cook-out, toured the museum, spoke with veterans and shared history.  Mr. & Mrs. McVaney of Buckhannon maintain the Mountaineer Military Museum.  Mr. McVaney does so to honor his best friend who lost his life in Vietnam.  This was the third annual such Vet-together and a fourth is planned for Memorial Day weekend in 2012.  I encourage all veterans and reenactors to take part in this rewarding day.

Thanks to the McVaneys for their work in producing this worth-while activity!  I have attached several pictures.

-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.

Another post that is a ‘little’ late. It has been a very busy Fall.

On the weekend of September 11-12, the PA Trolley Museum near Washington, PA hosted the annual Antique Truck Show. As is customary,28th Division, 110th RCT, K Company,set up a WWII living history display as part of the show. As I have noted before, this is a nice venue for a living history display, particularly for our purposes. During WWII, trolleys were an important part of the urban landscape and the primary means for a lot of people to get around. The museum has a variety of very nice old trolley cars, including some that are beautifully restored.

The annual antique truck show adds another element as well, since many of these vehicles were in use on the homefront during WWII. We saw a number of very nicely restored examples over the weekend. Also, in the visitor’s center, there was also a very nice HO scale model of the Southpointe area (Pittsburgh vicinity) which featured trolleys run from overhead wires, just like the real thing.

The museum is very reenactor-friendly and makes a point of making us feel welcome. The location is also very close to any number of stores and eating establishments, which makes it convenient to grab a bite when the crowd is gone.  The only downside to the event was that it was only a one-day affair. Last year was an all-weekend show, but that was due to the fact that it was the museum’s 50th anniversary. This year nothing much was going on Saturday and we spent a lot of down time. Sunday made up for that, however, and we had good, enthusiastic crowds.

Another interesting feature was a birthday party for a WWII veteran in the picnic area beside our camp. According to his daughter, this gentleman, Mr. Bill Smith, had been assigned to General Eisenhower’s headquarters during WWII, and had seen many interesting things as a result. This included the liberation of a Nazi death camp and, in a separate instance, the rescue of a five-year old boy. In the latter, the young boy took Mr. Smith to see his dying father, who was apparently a German officer. The dying man asked Mr. Smith to find a home for his son, who was about to be orphaned. Mr. Smith did so and the German gave him his Luger for his kindness. The family still has the pistol.

It was a pleasure to meet these folks and I made a point of speaking to Mr. Smith and thanking him for his service. I think these kinds of interactions are one of the greatest perks of doing living history. WWII reenactors have been very fortunate to be able to do so over these years, but the brave  men and women of that time are fast passing away. We need to savor the opportunities we still have to speak to and thank them.

And, in this way, I spent another good weekend reenacting. Beats a great day working hands-down.

The following article was originally submitted by Linda Donegan to the Charleston, WV Civil War Roundtable:

Henrietta Fitzhugh Barr

In 1835, Henry Fitzhugh and his wife Henrietta settled in Ravenswood. They had acquired land and built a home on the corner of Walnut and Race Streets. They had come to Ravenswood from Fauquier County Virginia and being of aristocratic stock brought their black servants (slaves) with them. (At this time there were only fifty-five slaves in Jackson County.) It is believed that the Ravenswood property, owned and surveyed by George Washington, was inherited by Henrietta who was a grandniece of his. The Fitzhugh family established a saw mill and a grist mill which more than adequately provided for the needs of the family.

Henry and Henrietta had a daughter whom they also named, Henrietta. Henrietta married David Barr; thus we have Mrs. Henrietta Fitzhugh Barr. The Barrs built a home on the corner of Mulberry and Race Streets and had a daughter named Molly.

Mrs. Barr lost her husband prior to the start of the American Civil War. Her daughter Molly died of diphtheria on December 5, 1860. During the war, her mother and her sister, Ann, lived with Henrietta. Henry Fitzhugh, her father, had died by this time.

Some of the other prominent families of Ravenswood were from the Virginia aristocratic/slave owning class. The Flemings and the Parks are often mentioned in Henrietta’s diary. These families often visited one another for “tea”. Other social contacts were made in the local Episcopal church of which these families were members. Henrietta’s diary mentions attending Sunday school and states that there was “no preaching.” Her sister, Ann, was the Sunday school superintendent. In Ann’s absence, Henrietta filled the position of superintendent. It is uncertain as to the reason for “no preaching”. Perhaps a minister simply wasn’t available.

Henrietta Fitzhugh Barr had a turn of character that made her appear less then congenial to her neighbors. She was an aristocrat and tended to place herself above others. She was easily offended and often referred to her neighbors as “Union Black Republicans.” Any “ill” that came her way she blamed on these Republicans.

During the Civil War, the Union Army took control of the family saw and grist mills to support army needs. This was a substantial financial loss for Henrietta and even more reason to despise her “Union supporting” neighbors. She did maintain a garden and raised pigs and chickens; however, these too were required to supply Union troops in the Ravenswood area. She was not without sustenance but she did resent feeding northern troops. Items such as flour, salt and sugar were in short supply and had to be acquired from Wheeling. When her order would arrive at the Ravenswood wharf, the wharf master would not release her goods to her. He insisted that she first take the oath of allegiance and then pay the eighty cent fee due him. She refused to do both and her goods were returned to Wheeling. Food was scarce to “Southern Sympathizers” and her Northern neighbors had no pity on such a one as Henrietta Fitzhugh Barr.

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Henrietta always described Union troops as being “rude and ruthless”. They were always begging for food; breakfast, lunch and dinner. She had a particular dislike for Union Cavalry Commander Dan Frost. On the other hand, she noted that the Confederate troops, under Jenkins’ command, were “polite and mannerly”.

Henrietta preferred the summer months when the river was low because the Union gunboats could not maneuver and the Confederate troops were more prominent in the area; even then she complained about the “dust”. During the winter months and the return of the rains, the Union gunboats were back in action and the Confederate troops would retreat. Henrietta then complained about the troops and the “knee deep mud”.

The diary of Henrietta Fitzhugh Barr begins at the time of Fort Donelson; February 1862. Four of her five brothers were in the military during the war. Her brothers Theodore and George were at Fort Donelson but were unable to enter combat due to sickness. Nick and Henry were stationed in the Virginia theater of action. Her brother, Burdick (?), had died before the war or during the war’s early months (1862?). Her diary ends abruptly in August of 1863. We know that at that time all of her brothers in the military were still alive. We know that Theodore survived the war because he returned to Ravenswood and built a home there.

Henrietta does make mention of her slaves in her diary. She speaks of Rosella and Virginia by name. She reported the escape of many slaves crossing the Ohio River on the “Logan”. We aren’t certain if the Logan was a boat or a train or some other means of transport. But by boarding the Logan the slaves were “bidding adieu to Dixie”. By 1863 all slaves were gone from the area; they remained listed on the census but they were gone.

The war years weren’t all gloom for Henrietta. She recorded trips to Louisville with her sister Ann. They would stop in Cincinnati, Ohio, to shop. It was during one of her trips that she reported of an opportunity to gall her Northern neighbors. She was traveling aboard a sternwheeler. In the dining area, she overheard a conversation regarding Mr. Lincoln’s request for the nation to fast in order to better provide for the Union Army. In defiance, she ate heartily and urged her companions to do the same. She may not have dared to speak aloud her disdain for the North but she could speak ever so noticeably by her actions.

Henrietta believed that the news was biased toward the Union. Her preferred information source was the Cincinnati Inquirer. (Cincinnati: The most disloyal city in the Union). Accurate information was difficult to obtain. No telegraph existed in Ravenswood. Much of the news was passed on by word of mouth. People were often left to fit together the bits of information received as best they could and draw their own conclusions. Needless to say, the conclusions

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drawn were not always precise. In fact, Henrietta’s diary, which ended in 1863, indicated that she believed that Lee had won the day at Gettysburg. It wasn’t until

the Confederate loss at Vicksburg that she realized that “defeat” was the fate of her beloved South.

As stated, Henrietta’s diary comes to an abrupt end in August 1863. At that time, she moved to Charleston to live with her sister, Sara Cotton. Since Charleston has been mentioned, let’s note that Charleston was evacuated in 1862 due to Confederate invasion. In her diary, Henrietta reports seeing a “wagon train six miles long” heading to Ohio from Charleston. It was two days journey from Charleston to Ravenswood at that time. It appears that the normal route would be from Charleston to Ripley. You would rest overnight in Ripley and then complete your journey to Ravenswood and cross the river into Ohio.

Our diarist lived to the age of sixty-nine. You can still see the home of her parents in Ravenswood today. The Barr home was destroyed by fire in 1920. The home of her brother, Theodore, also remains in Ravenswood.

This information was presented at a meeting of the Civil War Roundtable of Charleston, West Virginia, which meets every third Tuesday of the month (September – May) at the South Charleston Library. Meeting hours are from

7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. The review of the Henrietta Fitzhugh Barr Diary was presented by a member of the roundtable–Monty. Thank you sir for a very enjoyable evening.

Respectfully submitted by: Linda Donegan

“Decision in Fate of Justice William Smith House Approaching

MERCERSBURG, PA- One thing is for sure now, the Justice William Smith House has two options: it will be shipped to Ireland or bulldozed to the ground. Mercersberg, Montgomery, Peters and Warren Volunteer Fire Department purchased the home for its land. Their fire house is long overdue for expansion. It all comes down to the MMPW’s fire board. They will pick the bid that decides the fate of the Smith House. Only the Irish bid can save this historic landmark. “We’ve been very successful in saving the history,” says Karen Ramsburg, president of Save The Justice William Smith House committee. The fire board will publicly announce all the bids on Thursday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m. and should also make a final decision that night.”  Read more at: your4state.com

Also:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39804636/from/toolbar

On September 4, 2010, the Reenactorpost and the Sons of Union Veterans drove to Jollytown, PA and cleaned up the Jesse Taylor Civil War memorial and repainted the guns. The SUV commander, Matt Gillespie, had gotten Lowe’s in Buckhannon to knock 50% off the cost of two gallons of Rustoleum. One can was olive drab for the cannon carriage and black for the mortars and the iron parts of the Parrott Rifle. Mark Tennant, Bill Leonard and myself completed the crew.

There was a certain amount of elbow grease involved in sanding and preparing the surface, but the mortars were easy to paint and that part of the job went very quickly. The rifle was another story. Because we were using two different colors, we had to be a great deal more precise. I am, generally speaking, not too good at that. Bill cut the weeds around the monument and trimmed the flowers, which badly needed done. Overall, the job went well and I think the photos do a good job of showing the ‘before and after’ condition of the memorial. The site looks much better despite the junk trucks which a neighbor has parked around it.

This was a project that we had been talking about for over a year and now have thankfully completed. In a subsequent call to Gary Wise, our contact in the area, I learned that the work was much appreciated and the general feeling was that it couldn’t have been done much better. Hopefully, we have succeeded in increasing the lifespan of the memorial.

Obviously, a more permanent plan needs to be developed for the site. New and younger people need to be involved so that a solid, long-term schedule becomes a reality. Hopefully, this will become a reality. But, one step at a time.  For now, we can enjoy this first step.

In my haste to get this out, I neglected to note that this was submitted by Nick Korolev (Very sorry Nick!) ed.

The Hampshire County Heritage Fest takes place every 2^nd weekend in September. The Civil War living history and reenactment part of this fun festival has only been going on for a few years, but this year was bigger and better than ever. The weather was perfect – cool and sunny with a thunderstorm, thankfully only on Saturday night. This was a free event with water, hay and wood provided and a wonderful free chili dinner on Friday night for all reenactors at the fire station in Romney. The Union was camped out at the historic Fort Mill Ridge and the Confederates at Sitar Farm near the railroad and new bridge construction.

Richard “Byrdie” Byrd with 30 years of experience in reenacting was the reenactor liaison for this event, and outdid himself arranging logistics, setting up the Union camp space, making sure waivers were signed and helped organized the planned scenarios with the historical society and festival planners. This year he also came up with the same rules followed at the big events to insure gun safety and the rigorous following of planned scenarios to keep everyone safe and on the same page to curb any problems with the “yahoo/cowboy” faction that often shows up at small and medium events. These rules were distributed at both camps and strictly enforced by Union commander, Steve Reincke and Confederate commander Jason Studantwalt with the result of a pleasurable safe event for the public and the reenactors alike.

I arrived late Friday morning to help with registration in the Union camp and camped out in my car for the weekend not feeling like setting up my tent after a long previous weekend of working at Lost River State Park as naturalist and major bout during the week of fall cleaning and yard work at my house which I have on the market. For the weekend, I was working on the staff of cavalry commander, John Brindle, with a rank of second lieutenant, doing public crowd control at the first scenario and camp watch for the second scenario so I did not bother with bringing weapons except for a side arm. We had artillery in camp at the fort, but the mounted cavalry never showed for the event. Because of the drought in the area, the Romney Fire Department left a big yellow 2,000 gallon portable open reservoir container at the edge of our camp in the parking lot and each fire pit had to have a bucket of water in reach. There must have been a slow leak in the reservoir for the water kept slowly going down without anyone using it. This became an instant camp joke – we attributed it to the very thirsty invisible cavalry horses. The only real weekend problem for both sides was yellow jackets and hornets which resulted in several people being stung.

At the first morning’s assembly we had a moment of silence to honor those who perished in the 9/11 attack. After weapons inspection, Saturday’s scenario was a recreation of the Confederate attack on the fort and the Union defense. Our troops, that totaled 30, manned the trenches with the artillery firing along side. The scenario of two attacks by the 70 Confederates that showed was done in company groups that was followed by a third and final mass attack with them taking heavy casualties followed by their retreat. It went off very well despite a small fire in the leaves that was quickly extinguished.

Some of the troops left before Sunday’s battle which resulted in an approximate count of 17 Union and 58 Confederates. The Potomac Eagle, with passengers aboard, was a last minute change in a planned scenario to take place at the Sitar Farm. This new scenario, based on a historic incident, had the Union on the train that was raided by the Confederates in an ambush started by artillery followed up by infantry. The Union troops left the train to fight, were defeated and those still left alive ended up prisoners. Though I was watching the Union camp, which was open to the public, I was told the members of the 1^st West Virginia cavalry made a gallant suicide charge in the end and the scenario, though short, went well with no “yahoo/cowboy” incidents.

All units involved were asked back for next year’s festival. It is an enjoyable event in a town that really appreciates the efforts of reenactors to bring local Civil War history alive.

Nick Korolev