Preserving history through reenacting itRico says it's purely a delightful coincidence that the War started and ended on his birthday, but he'll take it...
A small group of Civil War buffs, numbering perhaps a dozen, has decided to honor the memory of their ancestors, many of whom fought in the Civil War, by attending as many reenactments during the years of the 150th anniversary of the War (2011 through 2015) as they can. The idea originated with Mark Seymour, a member of an N-SSA unit, the Delaware Blues, who lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but the group now has members from as far away as California, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Texas. While some members were of an age to attend the Centennial back in the Sixties, most of the group were too young to do so, and most will be too old (or dead, truth be told) when the Bicentennial comes around, so the reenactments of the Sesquicentennial (the years 2011 through 2015 and beyond) will have to suffice.
With the notion of the Civil Wargasm (first expressed by Robert Lee Hodge in Tony Horwitz’ Confederates in the Attic) as their inspiration, a small group of reenactors is gearing up for the next big cycle. The premise is simple: starting with Charleston, South Carolina on 12 April 2011 and the attack on Fort Sumter, they will travel through the reenactment calendar for four years and end up at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia on 12 April 2015, with the intention of attending whatever reenactments come later, as there were many Civil War events after that date. (These include the James & Younger gang’s attempt to rob the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota. Their misguided goal was to punish Adelbert Ames, hero of Gettysburg and governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction, who had deposits in that bank.)
There were hundreds of battles, large and small, during the four years of the War, but not all of them will be reenacted. Nor will all the group will be able to attend every event, but one or more of them will, if possible, show up at each event scheduled during those four historic years.
22 August 2008
You heard it here first
Rico and some of his buddies are planning a Wargasm during the sesquicentennial of the Civil War (thus all the Civil War for the Day images in this blog). It'll be heavily documented at civilwargasm.blogspot.com as well as cwsesquicentennial.blogspot.com, our Civil War blogs, but here's what will be coming out in an upcoming Civil War News:
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