Sonya's Blog - Day 300 - Civil War Re-enactment

Sonya’s Blog - Day 300 - April 17th - Civil War Re-enactment

When we were driving up yesterday, we saw signs for a Civil War re-enactment. We checked out the website and decided to go check it out. The big events were for Saturday, but since we drove all day yesterday, we had to go today. They had one battle scheduled for today, at 1 PM. If we wanted to check out the camps, we needed to do that before 12:30. We thought it was pretty funny that we had to wait to get to California to see a Civil War re-enactment. I would never have guessed that it would be big out here. We looked when we were in the Southern States, but there were none going on in any of the areas we were in, well not when we were there.

Off we went, it was about 1/2 hour away from where we were camping. We had to leave Kizmet back at camp, as no dogs were allowed. She wouldn’t like all the gun fire, so we wouldn’t have brought her anyhow. When we were driving down the road, there were signs showing us the area we were now entering as somewhere in Kentucky.

I guess this group sets up here every year, always on the 3rd weekend in April. The guy that owned the land, John Charles Freemont, and had fought in the Civil War for the Union Army. There were two distinct camps set up, one for the Confederate Soldiers and one for the Union Soldiers. There was also an area where you could buy supplies, these tended to follow around the troops and set up makeshift stores. This market sold souvenirs and Civil War era relics, including full uniforms and lovely dresses for the ladies. Natasha wasn’t so interested. There was also a concession area.

We went to check out the camps first. We wandered into the Confederate camp and had a look around. The guys were happy to tell us about their operations and the one guy, who was a major, showed how to pack powder for his gun (it was a 5-shooter).

We then looked at the Union camp, but just quickly because it was getting close to 12:30 (we spent too much time chatting in the Confederate camp). It was set up exactly the same, except they were flying the US flag.

We grabbed some lunch and found a rock to perch on, which was in the shade, while we waited for the battle to start. First, we got a little abbreviated history lesson from the narrator. We had learned a lot of the info, when we learned about the Civil War while we were in the South. I guess the biggest take away was that it was rarely referred to as the Civil War, when the war was happening. Depending on which side you were fighting for, depended on what the war was called. The Union soldiers often referred to it as War of Rebellion or the Great Rebellion. The Confederate soldiers would call it the War for Southern Independence or the War of Northern Aggression. When the war ended it was then referred to as The War between the States or the Civil War, although European historians often referred to it as The War of Succession. So there you have it.

The battle was good, very loud, with lots of gunfire and cannons going off. The Confederates ended up winning this battle. We got some good pictures, but they make it look like we were farther away than we were. Sometimes that happens with distance shots.

After the battle was over we headed back to the RV. We rescued Kizmet and Blake and I took her for a stroll through the golf course. It was lovely and peaceful. After that we just hung out at the campsite and had supper.

Sonya