PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 10, 2015
History aplenty at Civil War reenactment
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Don Benson was one of the
Civil War reenactors last week-
end at Willamette Mission
State Park north of Keizer.
But you could say he was
reenacting family history.
For the 25th time, the
Northwest Civil War Council
had its Civil War reenactment
on the 4th of July weekend.
Nearly 1,000 reenactors came
out, taking visitors back to
what it was like 150 years ago.
Benson was on hand for the
ninth time.
“It’s a family affair,” said
Benson, who was participat-
ing with wife Julie and their
children.
That wasn’t the only fam-
ily affair aspect. Benson had
four grandfathers and eight of
their brothers who fought in
the bloody 1860s battle. When
Benson started doing the re-
enactments, he didn’t realize
the family connection.
“Then I started research-
ing it and found out about one
uncle,” he said. “It expanded
from there.”
Back in January, Benson
learned an uncle had been
killed during the battle at Pe-
tersburg, which started in June
1864 and concluded the fol-
lowing April. It’s estimated a
total of 70,000 troops were
killed during the long battle.
Benson said his uncle was
among the 6,500 killed in the
initial Petersburg battle – June
17, 1864 to be precise.
“I went to see it in April,”
Benson said. “My uncle’s in an
unknown grave. There were
4,500 soldiers who were never
identifi ed.”
Union soldiers like Ben-
son’s uncle were buried at the
site.
“It was weird to walk
through the cemetery and
see rows of unknown tombs,”
Benson said. “It took 100
men three years to clean the
battlefi eld of union soldiers.
Petersburg was a big battle-
fi eld. It was a pretty moving
experience. My family has
been serving the country a
A
B
KEIZER CLASSIFIEDS
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
C
A: Confederate soldiers move
a cannon into place during a
morning parade at the Civil
War reenactments July 3 at
Willamette Mission State Park
just north of Keizer.
B: Makenna, Melissa and
Justine Colby try to stay cool
on July 3.
C: Cooper Tom Harper
demonstrates an 1860s job.
For more photos, check out
Keizertimes on Facebook and
watch video of a battle on our
YouTube page.
long time. My uncle was in
the Wisconsin infantry and
told family he joined the army
to save the Union. That was in
my great-grandma’s notes.”
Learning the history and
seeing the site in Virginia had
an impact on Benson.
“It was moving to know
my uncle died there,” said
Benson, a resident of Yamhill.
“It gives extra meaning for
doing this.”
During the reenactments,
Benson is a captain in the 7th
Michigan Calvary. During
the war, Gen. George Cluster
oversaw the entire Michigan
Calvary Brigade.
“They were known as
Custer’s Brigade or the Wol-
verines,” Benson said. “ Custer
was given the command of
the entire brigade. They got
the nickname Wolverine be-
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They had the best record of
any regiment in the war.”
Benson said Civil War re-
enactments need to continue
being done.
“It’s very important,” he
said. “We’ve got to keep our
history alive. It’s not taught
well in our public schools, so
we have to go out here and do
it. It’s for both sides, because
both sides fought for what
they felt was right.”
The family history of serv-
ing in Benson’s family has
continued through the gen-
erations and includes Benson
himself, who has served for 26
years, including the last 12 as a
member of the Oregon Army
National Guard.
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