See You In The Field

Friday, June 22, 2011- Manassas, Va.- We were getting close to Manassas. We had just exited interstate 95 at Dumfries, when it occurred to me that we were near the place the 6th North Carolina State troops camped during the winter of 1861-1862. “Have either of you ever visited Camp Fisher, near Dumfries?”, I asked my mess mates William and Matt. They hadn’t, so I suggested a detour since we were nearby. They agreed. Now all I had to do was recall exactly where it was. I hadn’t visited here myself for 4 or 5 years and I hoped I could recall the exact neighborhood the marker was in. I vaguely recalled a historic marker on the roadside right before the entrance which would give us a clue. “Is that it?” someone yelled. Camp Fisher  Roadside Marker near Dumfries, Virginia  “Yes” I cried  at the last minute and we turned in. I was hoping I remembered this right! We cruised along the divided roadway through a densely populated suburban neighborhood. I started getting a little nervous. It see

6th North Carolina State Troops at Bentonville March 11, 2011 Last Saturday (19 March 2011) I participated, with other members of the 6th North Carolina State Troops, in a living history program at the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site as part of their Civil War Sesquicentennial commemoration. The program was called "TO ARMS! TO ARMS" and featured us reenactors portraying civilians answering the call to duty, to be recruited into the Confederate Army. My previous post describes my experience being recruited. This post will describe what it was like to learn drill for the first time. For this program, the reenactors were instructed to "forget everything" we knew about drilling and pretend we didn't know a thing...not too hard for most of us after a long, idle winter off the drill field.  After taking the oath of allegiance to the Confederate government and then being sworn into Confederate Service, uniformed officers pushed and prodded us into a line fa

  Members of the 6th North Carolina State Troops at the Bentonville Living History on March 19, 2011 Harper House, Bentonville Battlefield, NC-  Throngs of people gathered in small clusters on the lawn of John Harper's farmhouse in Bentonville, NC on the morning of Saturday March 19, 2011. It is the  sesquicentennial  commemoration of the War Between the States. Even at 9 am the brightly shining sun was warm enough to drive people into the dappled shade of the ancient trees in front of the house. Red, white and Blue bunting hung limply from the second story balcony in the stillness of the morning. The air buzzed with excited conversation as dozens of small groups of men and woman talked amongst themselves. Small children played soldier with wooden rifles and chased each other through the crowd. Others clung to the thick spreading lower branches in trees that invited children to climb them.  Rick Starting the day in "civilian" togs I wandered onto the park-like lawn and jo