Story Photos
 The South surrenders to the North after a 45-minute battle Saturday between Civil War re-enactors at Lewis and Clark State Park near Toledo. Roger Werth / The Daily News
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History re-enacts itself; North wins
Saturday, September 27, 2008 11:34 PM PDT
By Erik Olson
eolson@tdn.com
Printable version
E-mail this articleTOLEDO - The South rose again, albeit briefly, before the Union troops flexed their muscle in Lewis County to the delight of hundreds at a Civil War battle re-enactment Saturday.
The Washington Civil War Association kicked off its two-day re-enactment at Lewis and Clark State Park just north of Toledo.
It's the group's fifth and final event this year, said Peter Jensen, a longtime re-enactor who announces battles play-by-play over loudspeakers.
"There's something about the American Civil War that really resonates with people," said Jensen, a 75-year-old retired teacher from Everett.
For two days, the park's wide-open plains are transformed into a Civil War-era encampment. White canvas tents are lined up in different groups, separated into the Union and Confederacy, while history buffs display their wares. Some have authentic Springfield muskets affixed with bayonets - the preferred firearm of the North.
Others show off swords once used in hand-to-hand combat, while women in period dress gave visitors a glimpse of life during the 1860s.
But the main events are the battles, held twice daily throughout the weekend.
About 200 spectators watched Saturday's encounters.
The battlefield is about 300 yards long, with booming cannons at either end. The re-enactors fire black powder, which leaves a smoky haze drifting through the air to mimic real conditions.
The re-enactors, about 100 total, march stiffly in lines to the cadence of the commander. For safety reasons, they rarely get within 60 feet of each other as the small regiments attempt to outflank each other to gain advantage. Three calvary riders on each side also darted in and out of the fray, popping off pistol shots at the advancing soldiers.
Most of the men and women of all ages on the battlefield have practiced different formations, but they don't plan their exact movements in advance, Jensen said.
"We don't choreograph it. We sort of react to it," Jensen said. "We try to display the tactics that would be used in the Civil War."
On Saturday afternoon, after a nifty flank maneuver by the North, the Confederates were surrounded and soundly defeated.
The groups often trade off who wins battles. The overall goal is to educate people on how the war was fought, said R. Bruce Smith, a chief bugler for the Union army.
Smith, a retired juvenile probation officer from Woodinville, Wash., said he first became interested in the Civil War reading about it in middle school. A friend convinced him to attend a re-enactment about 10 years ago, and he was so excited to see the past come alive that he joined the group.
"It brought home everything I've studied and read," Smith said.
cherokee wrote on Sep 28, 2008 7:51 PM:
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