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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian Publisher/Editor David Pero forms ranks with the 4th Texas Regiment during the annual Civil War re-enactment Saturday at Fort Stevens State Park. RE-ENACTMENT PROVIDES GLIMPSE OF CIVIL WAR LIFE By DAVID PERO The Daily Astorian T he bullet would have killed me — had it been real instead of imaginary. Fortunately, it was imaginary, a part of a fun- and work-illed Civil War re-enactment this past weekend at Fort Stevens State Park. The three-day event was spon- sored by the Northwest Civil War Council, and for a day I joined as a irst-time re-enactor. The event featured 556 re-enac- tors including Union and Confed- erate soldiers, calvary and artillery, a medical corps, musicians and a large civilian camp. It all depicted life during the Civil War with re-en- actors each in appropriate period dress, including myself. It started with an invitation from our pressroom manager, Jim Sta- novich. Jim is a longtime re-enactor and heads the NCWC’s Confeder- ate forces as battalion commander. His wife, Sharon, their daughter and grandson also participate, and he knew I’m a history buff with an interest in the Civil War period. I gladly accepted, but had to limit my participation to a single day rather than the full weekend. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian David Pero, publisher and editor of The Daily Astorian, remains on the battlefield after suffering a pretend wound during the annual Civil War re-enactment Saturday at Fort Stevens State Park. Learning the ropes First, I registered and became a member of the council to partic- ipate, and then I needed outitting. To participate, I studied the coun- cil’s 18-page guide with its safety rules, which is required reading, and it included a test that all re-enac- tors must pass. The council stresses safety above all else. I headed to Fort Stevens Friday afternoon. Re-enactors were busy setting up their camps prior to open- ing day and I quickly found the Confederate forces with their rows of white canvas tents. No modern camping or cars are allowed in the re-enactment area. Jim introduced me to Ryan McGee, the irst sergeant of Com- pany H of the 4th Texas Regiment, my home for the re-enactment. Ryan, who is from Oregon City, took me under his wing and outit- ted me with loaner gear from the regiment all in the dress of the day for Confederates: baggy pants with suspenders; a long-sleeve, over- sized, light cotton shirt; a heavier jacket; a cartridge box and cap Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian During the annual Civil War re-enactment on Saturday at Fort Ste- vens State Park, David Pero, publisher and editor of The Daily As- torian, stands with the 4th Texas Regiment. pouch; a belt with a “CS” buckle; a haversack to carry rations and other personal items; and a pair of bro- gans. The brogans are ankle-high hard leather boots with hard leather slick soles. In the Civil War days, the leather soles wore out quickly, and Confederate soldiers often found themselves marching into battle barefoot. I later noticed some of the re-enactors did just that. I also had a choice between the “forage” hat, which was the traditional gray- styled short-bill cap that many sol- diers were issued, or a “slouch” hat, which were soft with wide brims that many soldiers brought from home. I chose the slouch hat. Preparations Saturday morning I showed up early and was issued a loaner mus- ket — an 1853 .58-caliber Enield. I was also shown how to roll my own black-powder cartridges and was given percussion caps that are used to set off the black powder in the musket. Fellow re-enactors helped me inish getting ready for inspection, the traditional start of the day after revelry and breakfast. I was shown how to salute and how to stand at attention with my musket as Col. Stanovich, Major Matt Bishop, and several other oficers passed down our gray line. All could tell I was enjoying the day. Then it was on to drill, where I was introduced to the regiment’s formations and marches along with the commands of how to carry my musket in the various formations. We drilled with other regiments, The event featured 556 re-enactors including Union and Confederate soldiers. including several who joined from a re-enactors’ council in Washing- ton. It was tough to keep up with the veterans in the maneuvers, but they all helped and encouraged me as I slowly learned. After drill, we headed back to camp and prepared for the upcom- ing public battle. Everyone drank water, rolled more cartridges and made sure our uniforms were com- plete and our muskets were clean. I was shown how to load and ire my musket by ripping open a car- tridge and letting the black pow- der fall into it. In the Civil War, sol- diers would also insert a Minié ball bullet into the musket and use the weapon’s ramrod to force it down into the powder before putting on the cap, aiming and iring. But for safety in the re-enactment, ramrods are never used and there are abso- lutely no projectiles allowed in the muskets or cannons. The battles The trumpet sounded, the regi- ments formed. The colonel told us in a lashy Southern style that we were off to battle and to make our loved ones proud. It would be a glo- rious day, he shouted to the assem- bled regiments. We marched to the sound of the booming cannons and entered the battleield. Yankee re-enactors were across the way. We marched toward them in our battle line and saw the smoke puffs and heard the loud pops from their muskets. We responded with several savage volleys of our own. Our assault moved quickly forward, forcing the Yankees to retreat. At that point I saw a musket aiming for me and I went down with a pre- tend wound. Our medical oficer, C.B. Zohn, was quick to reach me and bandaged my arm with a cloth with a red stain on it. Minutes later I rejoined the battle in enough time to see our victory. A lone trumpet played taps. We stood and saluted the crowd, Yankees and Confederates alike, and turned away to ire a vol- ley in appreciation. With smiles we returned to camp for lunch and interacted with the public. There were also calvary and artil- lery demonstrations and the civil- ian camp was bustling with activ- ity that ranged from a ladies tea to shopkeepers peddling their wares. We used a little of the time to rest before the afternoon battle. In the afternoon, the tide turned. Confederate regiments assembled and marched into an ambush with a crossire. Again we ired volleys of black powder at the Yankees but their ierce ire from two sides was too much. We retreated. As we did, we were outlanked and that was where I “died” on the battleield with most of the rest of our troops. The Yankees won a clear victory. Shoutouts Afterward, I learned how to thor- oughly clean the musket and turned in my uniform before saying good- bye to the new friends I made. Spe- cial shoutouts go to veteran re-enac- tors Ryan McGee, Mike Schroder, Mike Lewis, Joe and Chris Burns, Nate and Nick Woods, Tim and Nick Rentz and Troy Haslem, who were all beside and behind me in our formations and helped me at every turn. My takeaways from the event were how hard the re-enactors work to make it as authentic as safely possible, and how much it made me think of what Civil War life was really like. The soldiers who fought that war were incredibly brave, ighting in a style that almost ensured casualties and death. They fought gallantly and without hesi- tation for their beliefs and for their honor. Earlier in the day Col. Stanovich said it would be “a glorious day.” Yes, Jim, it wholeheartedly was. DAVID F. PERO, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Founded in 1873
