MIDDLETOWN — History buffs and those clueless about the Civil War [the War Between the States] that happened April 12, 1861 through May 9, 1865, would have been enlightened, educated and thrilled with ‘Windows to the Civil War’, a reenactment that took place in the field behind the Middletown Mansion over the weekend.
The North and South were divided into camps with tents for sleeping [yes, they stayed overnight on site], the surgeon’s tent, ones for the commanders, telegraph and many others. Each soldier kept in character and knew a profusion of facts about their jobs and the soldiers’ lives.
Lt. Col Doug Erickson, 52, Commander of the Union camp of the 72nd New York volunteers infantry regiment, Company C, part of Excelsior Brigade, told of the 2nd Irish Regiment of Massachusetts Irish Volunteers, that was made up of immigrants fighting for the nation, whose battle cry was Faugh a Ballagh [Clear the Way!].
Capt. Mark Brown, 61, who played the Union Army’s chaplain, went to Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania twice and said, “When I walked onto the battlefield, I realized that the life and death of a nation hung in balance on that ground. Abraham Lincoln came back later and called it hallowed ground in his Gettysburg Address. He was absolutely right.” Brown choked up as he continued, “There’s a sense of that great battle and struggle for a nation that was in the balance and how those people fought for that belief there. One-Hundred-fifty-three years later, that sense of fighting for the truth of a nation still emanates from the ground.” When asked if he was the chaplain for the North, he replied that the work of a chaplain was color-blind. Besides overseeing the spiritual and moral well-being of the troops, chaplains often acted as surrogate fathers to many of the young soldiers who were away from home for the first time. The chaplains kept them on the straight and narrow as the young men were exposed to vices they hadn’t known at home.
His rank only a private but Pvt. Frank Barron, 63, the company cook, was one of the most important men in the camp. Resting next to his tent, he read a newspaper to Corporal Jacob Day, 21, whose character couldn’t read. Pvt. Barron then headed to the outdoor kitchen to fix coffee, beans and hardtack for the men. The hardtack, he explained, was made from flour, water and salt and was hard enough to break teeth, unless soaked in coffee.
First Sargent Alex Madias, 26, a 2nd Regiment United States Sharpshooter-Berdan’s Sharpshooters, aka ‘The Iron Brigade of the East’, was dressed in the green uniform of the sharpshooters. As posted on Burden’s Sharpshooter History online, “No man could be enlisted who could not put 10 bullets in succession within 5-inches from the center at a distance of 600 feet from a rest or 300 feet offhand.”
Doc Tim Brown, head surgeon for the Confederate State Navy. When asked how he got into reenactment, he said, “One of the things we didn’t have in reenactment was medical, and actually medical was one of the most important jobs in the Civil War because most people died of disease not battle injuries. For every three soldiers, two died from diseases such as Chicken Pox, Measles, Typhoid. Dysentery was the number one killer due to poor drinking water.” When asked about medicine, Brown said that the main pain killer was laudanum, which was basically opium. They gave opium to everyone. Once the war was over the South had a great many opium addicts to deal with.”
Col. Mark Price, commander of the Confederate troops, told how his interest began with the Centennial of the Civil War when he was about 6-years old. He went to his first reenactment in Healdsburg 23 years ago and saw the first battle and like what he saw so much that “I joined up between battles and here I am.” As the commander he says, “I’m the head cheerleader and organizer. I try and keep people motivated to show up for events. First and foremost I make sure that they’re safe when they’re here. Since we’re playing with black powder, there’s always the danger of burns if you’re not paying attention. We’ve got cannons and if you get in front of one of those cannons and it goes off, you’re probably not going to make it.” Col. Price then excused himself as he had to inspect his troops before the skirmish.
The Union troops outnumbered the Confederate troops who evened things out with their canon power, during the skirmish. Great plumes of smoke and earth-shaking booms came from the canons. The soldiers loaded their guns three times a minute, each fighting with stubborn resistance. The field became littered with dead bodies. One wounded Union soldier struggled to rise only to be butted unconscious with a Confederate’s musket. The Yankees were down to two men when the Southerners overran them to win the deadly skirmish.
The fallen reenactment soldiers rose covered with dirt as the smoke hovered over the field like a diaphonous blanket, only to fight again in their next reenactment battles of the Civil War, hoping to educate the public about a war that once gripped our Nation in the fight for liberty and truth.
To learn how to participate, contact the American Civil War Association at https://www.acwa.org
