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Re-enactors experience for a weekend hardships their ancestors endured for months and years

By: Elizabeth Ryan
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John Culpepper

It was long, hot weekend of sitting in a saddle in wool pants, but re-enacting the Battle of Chickamauga helped Mike Turner, of Decatur, Ala., get a glimpse of what the Civil War would have been like for his ancestor Albert Kyle, who died fighting for the Confederate cause.

On Saturday, Mr. Turner’s cavalry unit dressed as Union soldiers from Eli Lilly’s 18th Indiana Light Artillery to re-create the Battle of Reed’s Bridge and Hood’s Assault at Vinlad’s Farm.

“Sitting in the saddle for eight hours, in the sun and the heat ... the powder taste in your mouth from the cannon smoke ... it was the most realistic thing that I’ve done yet,” said Mr. Turner, who has participated in Civil War re-enactments since 1991.

This weekend’s events marked the 145th anniversary of the 1863 Confederate victory over Union forces and drew re-enactors from as far away as Denmark and Australia. Vice President Dick Cheney also visited the event Friday.

After the battle of Snodgrass Hill on Sunday, the cavalrymen from Alabama hosed down their sweaty horses before stripping down to their brown wool pants and suspenders. They laid their homespun cotton shirts on the hoods of their cars to dry before the ride home.

“That’s just two days,” said Jeff Lea, of Huntsville, Ala. “Imagine (the smell of) those soldiers months in the field without changing clothes.”

About 34,000 men were killed or injured in a series of battles between Sept. 18 and Sept. 20, but the re-enactment also claimed a few casualties of its own. One man overheated, another fell off his horse.

On Saturday, Leland Free, of Moulton, Ala., was riding on the back of a timber — a horse-drawn cannon — when the horses rebelled, tipping the wagon onto two wheels. He jumped off and injured his foot in the fall. On Sunday, he hopped around the camp, supported by a cannon rammer. Mr. Free said he spent the day recuperating in the shade and reflecting on the lessons he hopes people learn from his performances.

“If people can get a feel for what the country was like at the time, hopefully it will make them a little more interested in what their government is doing these days,” he said. “Our ancestors put everything of value on the line for what they believed in. We don’t have the moral courage these days.”

Organizer John Culpepper, city manager for Chickamauga, Ga., said each battle brings a new insight and a renewed thrill.

One highlight of the weekend was his unit’s two-mile march down the railroad tracks Sunday to re-enact the arrival of the northern Virginia army via steam locomotive. After leaving the camp around noon, the 350-man unit walked on the railroad ties for about a mile, when they were ambushed by the Union army.

“That was a surprise to everyone. We didn’t know that was going to happen,” he said. “Everybody had to load their weapons, find a rock to hide behind and start shooting back.”

The 10-minute engagement ended when the Union soldiers disbanded, but the adrenaline of the surprise attack stayed with them.

“Everybody said, ‘Wow, that was great. I love this,’” Mr. Culpepper said.

Helping offer that experience to the soldiers while giving a living history to spectators is what motivated his year of hard work on organizing the battle. He said he’s ready to get back to real life, but will bear his own battle wounds come Monday.

“My feet don’t belong to me,” he said.

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