When my brother and I were young my dad would take us on these weekend excursions to Civil War battlefields.  Never really sure if this was a hobby of his or just something he thought would be cool to do with his two sons.  For whatever reason we went to many battle fields over the years and it stuck with me.  Not so much the love of the Civil War but the love of traveling and getting the most out of a vacation.  A vacation should be relaxing but it can also be educational as well.  These trips I think help sparked my curiosity and love of learning.

When I was traveling down to Asheville for The New Mastersounds and beer I found a few spots on the side of the road that looked interesting.  One of them was the Virginia Museum of the Civil War in New Market.  When I finally got around to checking out their website I noticed they had their annual reenactment later in May.  I asked my brother initially on Mother’s Day if he wanted to go.  I thought it would be something cool to do with him and the kids.  He initially said no but by late in the week he was on board but keeping the kids at home.

The park had activities all day but we only cared about the reenactment which was happening at 1 in the open field.  Almost on the dot we hear the loud boom of the cannons signaling the start of the battle.  It was really cool how they played it all out.  They stated way off to the left of the field and battled initially with little forces right in the middle of the tall grass.  The battle progressed just like they would have in the real battle, just on a smaller scale.

Different phases of the battle raged around the structures, the orchard, open field and tree line.  Eventually the Confederates charge the Union line breaking it and winning the battle.  This is certainly over simplified but the end result is the same. It was really cool seeing all the people firing the guns and acting in real life what could have happened all those years ago.

All in all it was a solid hour of reenacting which was great.  With the black powder guns and the humidity in the air the smoke would just hang covering the field of battle. I can’t imagine a humid summer day wearing a heavy wool uniform with thousands of guns firing. In the end the VMI cadets make a valiant charge to capture a Union artillery battlement.

It was a long drive out the museum so after the battle we didn’t stay long.  We went up to the museum for a few minutes to walk around.  Saw part of a documentary about the battle while we cooled off.  We were so tired from standing outside and me double so because of the previous late night before.

As an adult I have never been in to reenactments.  Seeing one now not much has changed from when I was a kid.  Now the crowds are smaller and I think the participants are becoming older and fewer.  If you haven’t been, I recommend going at least once before they themselves fade away into history.