Still Fighting the Civil War

My neighbor, Cottontop, is 75 years old, owns nine guns and is a proud Virginian of the Confederate persuasion.  (That's him below in the straw hat).  Not unnaturally, he happens to be a Civil War buff and has visited hundreds of battlefields from Virginia to Texas.

His great-grand daddy, James Calvin Smith, fought with the 50th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment.  He was wounded, captured and exchanged twice in the early stages of the War.  However, he still managed to fight in the disastrous Battle of the Wilderness and then at Gettysburg on Culp's Hill.  Old Cottontop and I tend to differ on the origins of the Civil War but usually agree to disagree without coming to blows.  And, as an ex-Brit, I have to be a bit careful with Cottontop when bemoaning the sad outcome of the Revolutionary War.

A little while ago, Cottontop asked me if I wanted to go see a Civil War "re-enactment" at New Market, a historic Virginian town in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.   I had been reading a history of the Civil War (Battle Cry of Freedom) and thought it might be instructive to witness a re-play of an actual battle.

At best it would be quaint; and at worst it would be boring.  Boy, was I wrong on both counts.  We left at 5AM in order to miss the traffic.  On the way down we argued about the causes of the Civil War and continued arguing over a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and amazing cheese grits in a rambling old country store in New Market.

As soon as we got to the battlefield, Cottontop wandered over to a group of soldiers and persuaded them to pose for the photo to the right. (I have "antiqued" it).  He then proceeded to tell them that I thought the whole Civil War was about slavery.  

All eyes turned towards me in a most unfriendly manner. "No sir," one of them said quite politely but a little too firmly, "the War of Northern Aggression was about our state rights and freedoms".  It is not that I was persuaded by his argument but I felt it might be inappropriate to argue with a bunch of Confederates in full dress uniform brandishing muskets with evil-looking bayonets.  I quickly retreated to the Union lines and did not hook up with Cottontop again until the end of the day.

The re-enactment took place around the Bushong Farm where the original battle took place.  The re-enactment forces were positioned in exactly the same way as their forefathers had been on May 15, 1864.  The Confederates (under General John C. Breckinridge) were encamped around the farm which is flanked on two sides by a gently sloping hill.

On the hill behind the farm, some 257 cadets (aged from as young as 15) from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) were being kept in reserve.  On the hill to the right of the farm, the Union army (under General Franz Sigel) were lined up with artillery, infantry and a cavalry brigade.

The "audience" (not present at the original battle) were lined up along the road facing the farm and battlefield.  There must have been over 1500 people in attendance.  A very thin red rope along the side of the road separated the onlookers from the battlefield.

The battle commenced with a deafening roar of cannon and musket fire from the Confederate lines from behind the picket lines.  This was answered by a barrage of artillery fire from the Union Army on the opposing hill.  I don't know what they use in these cannon but the earth trembles underfoot and you feel like you are in the middle of the battle.  In fact, you are in the middle of a battle!

Next, the Union infantry advanced down the hill towards the Confederate picket lines.  Soon, there are muskets firing on both sides and a constant pounding of artillery.  The battlefield begins to fill up with smoke and the phrase "fog of war" takes on a new meaning.  How on earth did they know what was going on when the battlefield is engulfed in smoke?  The Confederates marched out to meet the Union infantry.

Not only are the sounds of gunfire very convincing but the "Rebel Yell" and the screams from the Union infantry are pretty terrifying as well.  This was not just a "re-enactment" but pretty close to the real thing--including soldiers falling over and the "dead" and wounded being dragged away by their comrades.  This was out of control.  The onlookers are also screaming and egging on "their" armies. 
I was very careful not to lend support to the Yankees in case I was surrounded by modern-day Confederates with concealed weapons--a perfectly legal practice in Virginia, if you have a proper license.

Then all hell broke loose.  The Confederate cavalry charged out onto the field and attacked the Union infantrymen.  This brought the Union cavalry thundering down the hill right along the roadside.  I was beginning to think that the thin red rope (The Thin Red Line?) might not be enough to protect us from the oncoming horde.  I was right.

Those in the front line, including me with my little Lumix camera, were being pushed onto the grass and into battle.  Cannon continued to fire and the shouts and screams were all too real. You could smell the battle.  Holy Mackerel, I was going to get slaughtered by the Union cavalry.  The bitter irony--I would be a victim of Northern Aggression!

Then the big bay war horse rears up right in front of me.  I can see its bulging eyes.  I am being jostled from behind as the crowd surges forward to get a better view.  What?  This isn't  a bloody Redskins game.  With all the pushing and shoving,  I fail to get the above photo properly framed.  Curses, I am not getting good shots and I am right in the middle of the action.  War is hell.

At this point in the original battle, the Union cavalry forced the Confederates to fall back and a gap opened up in the Confederate lines.  General Breckinridge saw what was happening and determined to call in the VMI cadets from the hill behind the farm.  He had promised not to call upon them (they were just kids, after all) but the situation was dire.  "Put the boys in," Breckinridge ordered, "and may God forgive me for the order ..."

The cadets came pouring down the hill screaming madly.  The Union soldiers feared that it was a much bigger force and that they were going to be side-swiped, a favorite Rebel tactic.  I couldn't get a photo of the cadets charging down the hill because I was fighting off Union horses.  In the original battle, the cadets saved the day.  Six were killed and over 40 were wounded but their bravery has gone down in history and they are commemorated every year.  One of the cadets killed was Thomas Garland Jefferson, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson.  General Sigel and the Union army were later pushed out of the Shenandoah Valley.  This is what Virginians remember best.  They won!

If you want to read about the whole battle, have a look at the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Market

After it was all over (it went on for a good hour or so), I was wandering back to the car park looking for Cottontop.  Had he been trampled on or wounded?  I caught up with a Union soldier walking along the road leading his huge war horse to the car park and campsite.  I congratulated him on a good fight.  Then he took off his hat and long raven black hair fell out onto his shoulders.  Yikes, he was a she.  A beautiful woman Union soldier!  "Whoa," I said, somewhat confused, "how many women are there out there?"

She laughed and told me that she was probably the only woman on the field but that a number of women had fought in the Civil war on both sides--in disguise, of course.  She was from upstate New York and had driven all the way down to Virginia for the battle.  She told me that her Dad had never missed a re-enactment at New Market because his great-grandfather had fought there (and survived).  Her Dad had passed away a couple of years back so she was carrying on the family tradition.  I was so entranced that I forgot to take a photo of her--but her name was Jenny and she was somewhere from the Finger Lakes region of New York.  Hmmm....maybe I should become a Civil War re-enactment guy too?  No, horses are costly--even more so than women!

So that was my first Civil War re-enactment.  Cottontop had had a good battle experience as well.  He was thrilled because he had been allowed into the Confederate lines during the battle and had actually fired a musket--a true Virginian comrade in arms.  While I might have witnessed the Battle of New Market in a rather realistic fashion, old Cottontop had been fighting the battle.  He is still fighting the damned Civil War and shows no signs of giving up any time soon.