Civil War encampment, re-enactment is set for June in Michigan

History will come alive in Northern Michigan this summer. Wellington Farm, a 60-acre living history museum in Grayling, will open for the season on Friday, May 27.  The complex typically provides visitors the opportunity to experience farm life during the Great Depression, along with hosting events. One such event, a Civil War reenactment, is scheduled to take place June 3-5. During the weekend, an artillery battery, as well as infantry units, will be encamped throughout the farm. -- Article

Battle of Selma may return in 2019

One of Selma’s largest annual tourist events could soon be back in the Alabama city next year, Alabamanews.com reports. Battle of Selma organizers are hopeful that a policy change concerning city fees means the event will be back in 2019. “The details are very important,” said James Hammonds of the April 1865 Society. This year’s event has already been canceled. • Article

Fresno re-enactment to go on this weekend

Organizers of a re-enactment in Fresno, California, say they aren’t planning on doing anything different in the wake of a national outcry against Confederate symbols. Ruth Lang, executive director of Fresno Historical Society, which is organizing the event with the American Civil War Association, said the society is not a political organization. • Article

South Carolina re-enactment canceled

An annual Civil War-era skirmish in South Carolina, presented for about three decades at York County’s Historic Brattonsville, has been canceled because of concerns about safety and potential protests. Officials with the Culture & Heritage Museums, which oversees Historic Brattonsville and the Museum of York County, discussed their concerns about “if something did happen” after protests in other parts of the country over Confederate monuments and symbols, said one official. • Article

Re-enactment group meets with police

Representatives of an Ohio organization planning a Civil War reenactment said they have been meeting with police to discuss safety concerns about next month's event after the deadly rally and protests in Charlottesville, Va. • Article

Selma re-enactment canceled in fee dispute

A three-decade tradition is in danger in Selma, Alabama, where a dispute over city fees is prompting organizers to cancel a major Civil War re-enactment that brings tourists to town each spring. Organizers of the Battle of Selma battle re-enactment said the four-day event won’t be held this year because municipal officials wanted to impose new fees. • Article

Confederates' last great offensive

It was the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on North Carolina soil. On Saturday and Sunday, more than 40,000 people are expected to watch more than 2,500 Civil War re-enactors refight the Battle of Bentonville on its 150th anniversary. Commanding the remnants of four battered armies, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston tried to ambush one wing of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s army. • Article 

Fort McAllister's 150th was a 'great way' to end the year's events

Members of Confederate gun section  (Courtesy Armory Guards)

Last weekend’s winter muster and battle re-enactment at Fort McAllister State Park in Georgia had an unexpected bonus.

“The most amazing aspect was that there was a meteor shower Saturday night, and we all stood on the parade ground in the fort and watched,” said Herb Coats, a member of the Armory Guards living historian group based in metro Atlanta.

An estimated 1,200 visitors witnessed sesquicentennial events at the site, timed to the day a Union force on the March to the Sea captured the earthen fortifications and opened a vital sea supply line for the army as it lay siege to Savannah.

Armory Guards U.S. contingent before attack along river wall

The Armory Guards portrayed both Confederate and Union soldiers. While Jordan Roberts commanded the former’s Clinch Rifles section, Coats and others re-enacted as members of Company A, 70^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

“We started the skirmish portion of the fort at the exact time it happened in 1864 -- 11 am,” Coats told the Picket. “Also, we made the advance along the river trench line, which hasn't been done since 1864.”

A post on the Armory Guard’s Facebook page said, “It was a successful event for the park, and for the participants. All in all, a great way to end the 2014 season of events.”

Clinch Rifles under fire inside fort (Courtesy Armory Guards)

Park manager Jason Carter said there were nearly 300 re-enactors at the event.

“I just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone that attended the event. It went off almost perfectly, other than the Union pulling off the victory again!” he said in a statement. “I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and maybe got a small glimpse into the past and the history you have right here in your backyard.”

Battle of Resaca re-enactment: New activities and parks for major Georgia event in May

Ken Padgett was a young North Georgia boy at the time, but he still remembers the first re-enactment of the Battle of Resaca.

“There were men in overalls carrying modern shotguns and with some horses,” he said.

What the event lacked in numbers and authenticity was compensated by an interest in remembering the bloody clash, one of the early battles in the Atlanta Campaign, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s eventually successful bid to take the key Georgia city.

The re-enactments weren’t a mainstay until the early 1980s. This year’s May 16-18 event at Chitwood Farm is a big one -- given it is officially the 30^th re-enactment and comes on the 150^th anniversary of the battle.

And where the 1964 affair, 100 years after the battle, had only a few participants, Padgett said he expects perhaps 2,000 to 2,500 re-enactors on the field, twice as much as most years.

“We have units coming in from California. With all our preservation work going on nationwide, and people’s interest in Resaca, the excitement of the sesquicentennial seems to be drawing people,” said Padgett, 58, who is head of the Georgia Division Reenactors Association, which is putting on the re-enactment.

Local officials also tout two venues where visitors can go before or after taking in the reenactment: 

The Gordon County-owned Fort Wayne Civil War Historic Site and Resaca Battlefield State Historic Site, along a stretch of Interstate 75 on the western part of the battlefield. Although the latter may not be officially completed by May 16, it will be open for visitors to walk interpretive trails.

Re-enactment organizers expect more artillery pieces to be on the field this year. They also are touting an old-style baseball game, a Civil War medicine tent and a cavalry competition.

But the marquee events remain the two 2 p.m. battle re-enactments (Saturday and Sunday).

The clashes will recall outnumbered Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s determined effort to hold off Federals on May 14-15, 1864, after he had withdrawn from Rocky Face. There was no clear winner on the field at Resaca, but a Union flanking move forced the Army of Tennessee to retire.

Joe Johnston

Johnston had begun what historian Shelby Foote referred to as the “Red Clay Minuet” with Sherman, giving up ground grudgingly.

Michael Shaffer, assistant director of Kennesaw State University’s Civil War Center, cited the comments of one Federal soldier after the Battle of Resaca: “Brave men were falling on every hand. This was one of the days that will occupy a conspicuous page in our country’s history.”

“Visitors to the re-enactment will catch a glimpse of the action after the initial fighting of the campaign along Rocky Face Ridge, have the chance to inspect earthworks and inspect the Western & Atlantic Railroad, the lifeline of both forces as the campaign unfolded,” Shaffer told the Picket.

Tickets are $5 for adults; $2 for children 6 to 12, and admission is free for children 5 and under. A shuttle service will carry visitors from the parking area. Vendors will sell period and contemporary food and offer various wares. Military and civilian camps will be open to visitors at certain times. The event will be held rain or shine.

Remembering the dead

As is customary at the re-enactment, a memorial service will be held, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 17, at the picturesque Confederate Cemetery in nearby Resaca. According to the National Park Service, the battle casualties totaled 5,547 (US 2,747; CS 2,800).

Mary and Pyatt Green, daughters of Col. John F. Green, were shocked to see the bodies of Confederate dead lying in the rolling fields of Resaca or in shallow graves. In 1866, they and their African-American cook began relocating bodies to a 2.5 acre site provided by their father.

James Lay, president of the Gordon County Historical Society in Calhoun, said the Green sisters established the first Confederate cemetery in Georgia. It contains about 400 remains.

“The women put the boys as far as they could determine by states with wooden markers.” Markers and a wall eventually were added, and memorial services became a community mainstay.

Flagmaker Robert Banks at Resaca Cemetery

The historial society, which sponsored the first re-enactments, currently leads the re-enactment’s memorial service and ladies’ tea.

“That is the reason we held the whole battle (re-enactment), because of the cemetery, in appreciation of what they did before they even knew what their dreams were,” said Lay.

The historical society is a co-sponsor of the re-enactment, which is getting special attention this year because of the 150^th anniversary and the new parks. Gordon County also is hoping for an economic boost.

Sarah Husser of the Gordon County Convention & Visitors Bureau said the promotion effort includes a billboard on I-75 north a few miles below Exit 320, flyers, a re-enactment program and new lamppost banners (below) in downtown Calhoun, the county seat.

“We are encouraging the local stores to decorate their windows and hope to have a couple of volunteers in period attire walk around downtown Calhoun during lunch time the week of the re-enactment,” she said. “We hope to build interest for locals and visitors.”

Calhoun lamppost banner

What visitors will see

The event kicks off Friday, May 16, with visits from school groups.

“It is letting them to look and see the guns fire and hope when they get to that point in American history school, they will say, ‘Wow I went to Resaca. I went to that and they showed me that,’” said Padgett.

Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if a few decided to take up re-enacting when they become older.

“It is getting the young people interested to do it. You will see a lot of gray heads in the field,” he said. “We have young people coming into the hobby, but it does not seem as many as it used to be. The impact of the war is not taught in the school like when I was taught.”

Organizers said they could see 10,000 spectators over the weekend. “It all depends on the weather,” said Padgett. In 2013, six inches of rain slammed attendance.

He and others in the Georgia Division have spent several months preparing the site, assembling massive quantities of firewood for soldier camps, doing electrical work for vendors and gathering hay and bedding straw for horses and mules.

This year’s re-enactment will probably be the largest in Georgia and Padgett is excited about the increase in re-enactors.

Most years, there are 12-16 artillery pieces. This year will have at least 21.

“We have four so far that have been horse-drawn, maneuver, unlimber and hitch. As the battle progresses, they will change positions,” said Padgett.

One of three original cannons on site will be a Noble gun, forged at a foundry in Rome, Georgia, in 1861. “It makes a sound like no other gun in the field. It is a bronze cannon. Even the spectators turn to look because of a distinctive ring.”

1864 Battle of Resaca (Library of Congress)

He said he did not have an exact number of re-enactors who have registered, but it appears 2,000 to 2,500 could take the field. “It is so seldom they get to re-enact on an original battlefield.”

Among the units coming are the S.C.A.R. Battalion, the 125^th Ohio, the Georgia Division and Rambo’s battalion from Alabama.

New this year is a display and discussion of period medical instruments.

After a nondenominational service Sunday morning, organizers will have a period baseball game.

“We are using 1860s rules and period-correct instruments (rawhide ball and sticks),” said Padgett. “We hope to have a friendly game between the Rebs and Yanks.”

“(Also) after the church service, spectators can go on the main field and watch the cavalry competition, where they take their sabers and ride through, in demonstration of precision.” 

Terre Lawson at Chitwood Farm in 2010

Meanwhile, back at Interstate 75

Resaca Battlefield State Historic site, built by the state and to be operated by Gordon County once open, will have loop trails, interpretive signs, pulloff areas, picnic tables and a comfort station, though no museum, due to budgetary limitations.

Construction, which has seen delays, continues on the site, said Kim Hatcher, public affairs coordinator with the parks division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. 

“Hopefully, most will be done in May. There are plans to allow visitors into the site for a 150^th event May 16-18, even if it’s not completely finished,” she said.

Padgett said he expects the new site will be nearly complete by May 16.

“I am very pleased. We knew there were going to be snags,” he said. “You cannot go into a site that large and not have some problems. We had wet areas and different things like that. The trail system goes down one ridge and up another ridge.”

An elevated roadway will keep traffic above flood-prone areas on the south part of the site and the six miles of interpretive trails are on high ground, he said. “They will be able to go through nearly 100% of it,” he said about May visitors.

Portrait time at Chitwood Farm

The state also has been widening a road that goes above I-75 and doing bridge work adjacent to the new site, at times limiting or slowing access to the site.

Charlie Crawford, head of the Georgia Battlefields Association, was dismayed all work may not be complete before the Resaca re-enactment and associated events.

“If the state cared enough, the agencies involved would have arranged for the road work to be complete and the park to be finished in time for the event, rather than having to make an exception and then finishing the work after,” he told the Picket.

The Fort Wayne site, which opened last summer, is also just off I-75 Exit 320, on Taylor Ridge Road.

It was built in 1862-1863 by the Confederate militia to protect the railroad and bridges over the Oostanaula River, said Crawford. For much of the war, Fort Wayne was used as a staging area for reinforcements there were sent north by rail.

Artillery in the fort fired the first round toward Federals advancing on Resaca.

‘Camps stirring to life’

Riders in 2010

Padgett said he will be stepping down as leader of the Georgia Division in the coming months and will become an adviser, rather than a primary organizer, of the annual re-enactment.

He said he is pleased there are nearly 600 acres protected at Chitwood Farm through various preservation and conservation efforts.

“I don’t think anything is more pleasant than walking through the campfires at night, talking to the troops and exchanging a few kind words.”

Padgett, who has been Georgia Division commander for nearly 15 years, said he will continue to research the battle and educate the public.

And he will savor just being there.

“My favorite time is to get up at dawn and just look down at all the campfires from the hill and the camps stirring to life,” he said. “It is always so quiet. Sometimes there are deer. It is strange knowing anything that beautiful and peaceful could have had so much carnage during that period.”

• Schedule of events for Resaca re-enactment

Re-enactments this weekend near Knoxville

The 150th anniversary of the Civil War battles of Fort Sanders and Campbell's Station is being marked this week near Knoxville, Tenn. A brass band will play Civil War-era instruments, and Dan Paterson, the great-grandson of the Confederate commander during the battle, is expected to attend. Battles will take place Saturday and Sunday near Corryton. • Details

Twitter adds new dimension to re-enactment

Deliver the breaking news of the Battle of Gettysburg to the world in 140 characters or fewer. That's the goal of the first live team-tweeting effort by journalists covering this weekend's annual reenactment of the epic battle - or at least one pivotal skirmish. • Article

Photos: Scenes from 2012 Battle of Resaca

Several hundred re-enactors clad in blue and gray participated in weekend battles at Chitwood Farm near Resaca, Ga. I'm grateful to Greg Yount of Snellville, Ga., for sharing these photos of the action and camps on Saturday. The actual battle occurred in May 1864 during the Atlanta Campaign as the Union Army maneuvered and clashed with Confederates under Joseph E. Johnston. • Photo gallery

Resaca re-enactment celebrates land buy

More than 1,000 re-enactors are expected at the Battle of Resaca in north Georgia this weekend (May 19-20), maneuvering near Civil War property that recently got a preservation boost.

The Civil War Trust, along with the Georgia Battlefields Association and the Friends of Resaca Battlefield, last month closed on the $153,000 purchase of 51 acres near Chitwood Farm, site of the re-enactment.

The parcel contains the site of the battery led by Capt. Max van den Corput, whose four guns were captured by the Federals on May 15, 1864. The Trust for Public Land was instrumental in the preservation.

The 28th annual event, hosted by the Georgia Division Reenactors Association, features battle re-enactments at 2 p.m. Saturday and Saturday.

"The spectator line is closer to the battles allowing spectators to better view the battles while seeing the smoke and hearing the thunder of history unfold," said event spokesman Ken Padgett.

On May 13-15, 1864, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s army and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate Army of Tennessee bloodied each other at Resaca. There was no clear winner. Sherman continued his march toward Atlanta, which he took several months later. ( Battle summary)

The fighting at Resaca demonstrated that the outnumbered Confederate army could only slow, but not stop, the advance of Union forces, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

The event is located on the historic Chitwood Farm just north of Resaca off U.S. 41.

Camps open to the public each day at 9 a.m. A Saturday memorial service and Sunday church service are planned. Period sutlers and food vendors will provide services.

Battle of Resaca. Admission: $5 adults, $2 children under 12, free for infants. Parking is free. The Gordon County Antique Engine and Tractor Club will provide free transportation from the spectator parking area to the battle site each day. Visitors are encouraged to bring portable chairs and dress for warm weather.

• Click here for directions and schedule.

Second Antietam event organized

A living history group is announcing plans for a second re-enactment of the Battle of Antietam in western Maryland next September to mark the 150th anniversary of the bloodiest day of the Civil War. Events will be held on private land. • Article

Walking the fields at Perryville

His failure to chase Braxton Bragg's army after the Oct. 8, 1862, Battle of Perryville in Kentucky cost Union Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell his job. While brave and organized, Buell was cautious and lacked the ingenuity to overcome unexpected circumstances.

Last month, I finally was able to visit Perryville, stopping at the visitors center for exhibits and a movie, before taking a self-guided tour over much of the battlefied.

It was a beautiful late summer afternoon, puffs of clouds hovering over the green rolling fields. With the exception of one couple, we had Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site to ourselves.

Bragg’s autumn 1862 invasion of Kentucky had reached the outskirts of Louisville and Cincinnati, but his far-outnumbered army was forced to retreat and regroup.

According to a National Park Service summary of the battle, Buell's army, numbering nearly 55,000, converged on the small crossroads town of Perryville in three columns.

The undulating hills in the area had a strange effect, we had learned, making it difficult to hear the din of battle from portions of the battlefield. Buell, who wasn't aware of the fierce fighting until late in the day, failed to send a large number of reserves to stem the Confederate assaults.

We walked up and down the terrain where Maney's men in gray attacked the Union flank and forced it to fall back. When more Confederate divisions joined the fray, the Union line made a stubborn stand, counterattacked, but finally fell back with some troops routed, according to the NPS.

The Yankees regrouped and were able to push some Confederates back into Perryville.

"Bragg, short of men and supplies, withdrew during the night, and, after pausing at Harrodsburg, continued the Confederate retrograde by way of Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee. The Confederate offensive was over, and the Union controlled Kentucky."

Casualties were estimated at 7,407, 4,211 of them Federal.

The Civil War Trust is trying to purchase a 141-acre tract on the extreme southern portion of the battlefield, where Rebels had smashed into the Union line.

A Louisianian described the fighting on this tract as "the grandest but the most awful sight, ever looked upon ... the enemy stood firm," according to the trust's website.

Despite surprising the Federal forces holding the line near the Squire Henry Bottom house, the fighting had quickly devolved to a bloody, stand-up fight. "All along our front, a solid line of dead and wounded lay, in some places three deep, extending to the right from the barn."

Plans made for Antietam, South Mountain

An estimated 4,000 Civil War re-enactors will stage a public re-enactment of the battles of South Mountain and Antietam on Sept. 8 and 9, 2012, on private land near Boonsboro, Md. • Article

Wilson's Creek re-enactment coming up

Wednesday marks 150 years since Nathaniel Lyon was killed in a battle in southwest Missouri, becoming the first Union general to die in the Civil War. Before the day of fighting was over, he was joined in death by 258 Union soldiers and 277 Confederate and pro-Southern Missouri State Guard soldiers. A re-enactment of the battle is set for Aug. 12-14. • Article

'Fantasy' re-enactments in Germany

Civil War re-enactments are spopular in Germany, where battles are staged outside of Berlin. "There were about 200,000 who had German roots that fought in the Civil War," Tobias Melchurs,21, said. "I think it is important for our history." • Article

Here's one from the archives

I don't fancy myself as much of a photographer, but I do like this one from summer 2009 during the Battle of Atlanta at Nash Farm in Henry County, Ga. Tough these days to get to many such events, but I will try to get to at least one or two this year. To read more about the event, type in "Nash Farm" in the Search This Blog part of this page. Than return to top of the blog to find the articles, photos and videos. Enjoy!

Re-enactment Dec. 11 at fort near Savannah

Fort McAllister near Savannah, Ga., withstood seven Union naval assaults during the Civil War, but a land assault on Dec. 13, 1864, would be the sentinel’s undoing.

Unlike the brick and supposedly impregnable Fort Pulaski on the Savannah River, McAllister had a unique design of earthworks that thwarted the Union navy. Its guns drove off attackers and troops replaced damaged areas with dirt and marsh mud.

Taking the fort on the Ogechee River was a vital part of Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s siege of Savannah. He wanted it eliminated so that ships could resupply his hungry and tired army.

“He thought he was going to have fight his way to Savannah,” said Danny Brown, park manager at Fort McAllister State Park, which is sponsoring a Dec. 11 battle re-enactment.

The winter muster and re-enactment will happen at 5 p.m., “right when the original took place,” said Brown.

The tide was out that day and the vastly outnumbered Rebels were looking into the sun when troops rushed into the fort. The intense fight was over in 15 minutes.

“Federal infantry poured across the narrow causeway linking Genesis Point with the mainland, despite the mining of the approaches to the fort by the Confederates,” according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. “Sherman observed the successful attack from a vantage point atop the rice mill of the Cheves Plantation across the river.”

Confederate Gen. William Hardee evacuated Savannah a few days later.

The site became a prison camp and fell into decay after the war. Auto magnate Henry Ford funded a restoration of Fort McAllister in the 1930s.

About 100 re-enactors will be hand from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at the fort, which is near Richmond Hill, about 20 miles southwest of Savannah. Confederates will be preparing for the assault and Union troops will practice an assault and scaling ladders before the 5 p.m. battle, Brown said.

The re-enactors will explain the battle and the public can witness cannon fire demonstrations. Units will include the Emmett Rifles and 22nd Georgia Heavy Artillery from Savannah. Union units to be represented include the 25th Ohio and Illinois troops.

The cost is $3.50 for children and $5 for adults.

• More info on Fort McAllister State Park