Civil War Reenactment

This weekend was the Civil War Reenactment event an the Genesee Country Village and Museum.   Doug and I went to the event with cameras in hand.  Due to an injury to her calf muscle while playing pickle ball at the department picnic on Friday, Amy was unable to join us.  We were not the only ones thinking this would be an event worth photographing; one could see cameras of all types hanging from the necks of a large percentage of museum visitors.  

I bumped in to a co-worker with a PentaxK1000 around his neck and several rolls of film attached to the neck strap.  He said he hasn't made the plunge to digital and doesn't plan to until necessary.  I personally thought that time had already arrived.

The first battle was scheduled to take place at 11:00 AM in the south field, giving us time before hand to walk through some of the camps that the soldiers were living in for the weekend.   Given the huge thunderstorms we had Friday night, the fact that these reenactors spent the night in historically accurate accommodations was a sign of serious dedications to their chosen hobby.  Add that to the scorching heat of the day and the wool military garb they wore for battle and one quickly realizes how much the men and women enjoy what they do.

The first battle simulated the Union soldiers attempting to overtake the earthworks held by the Confederate soldiers.  The cannons of the Confederate army were louder and lower pitched than those of the North, at least it seemed that way.  The position we took up to observe the battle had us situated behind the advancing line of the North with the defended earthworks about 100 yards or more off in the distance. 

When the cannons were fired directly at us we could  feel the air compression hit us.  I cannot imagine the energy an actual cannon ball would have once launched from one of these.  The battle lasted about an hour with casualties on both sides.  Young boys served as stretcher carriers and moved fallen soldiers from the front line to the rear.  It was hard work in the heat of the noon sun but the boys seemed to enjoy the assignment.

This battle was followed by another skirmish in the village proper later that afternoon.  This battle simulated similar battles that took place during the final months of the war as Lee's army attempted to hold ground against Grant's overwhelming forces.  We were much closer to this fight than we were with the field battle and I must say those old muskets are very loud.  After one particular volley that took place right in front of us my ears were ringing for a few minutes. 

After this I did take note of the earplugs being worn by most of the actors on the battlefield.

I gave this week's pictures the same washed out sepia/color treatment that I used for the maple syrup blog that was also a Genesee Country Museum event.  Picking a picture to take top billing this week was difficult.  None really stood out as awesome photographic composition and several were good choices for documenting the event.  I thought of using the shot of the Confederate flag for a couple reasons. 

This particular flag was actually flown by the 21st regiment of Georgia during their battles.   The other reason for picking it would have been political and this blog is about photography and not politics so I settled for one of the battle scenes.

Below is a couple of pictures of Dave and Pete, brothers that play basketball with me every Tuesday and Thursday morning.  Dave is marching with sword in hand and Pete gives me a smile and poses for a picture.