CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. - During this week's lessons at Civil War Camp, 14-year-old Charlie Bright learned one major bummer of living in the 1860s.
"The girls had to wear like 10 layers," the Chickamauga teenager said, sparking a discussion about corsets with fellow camper Austin Fuquea.
"I feel bad for them," Austin, 12, said during the discussion.
"If they could come to this century like for a day, they would be amazed," Charlie said.
And not just by women's fashion.
Camp New Dawn in Walker County launched its first week of Civil War Camp on Monday, aiming to give children and teenagers a better idea of life during the War Between the States.
"Running a summer camp in an area that's full of Civil War history, it was just a given," said Carrie Chandler, program director for the camp.
Campers got lessons on Civil War clothing, church on the battlefield and historic preservation, and they participated in marching drills. They also had a brief lesson in 1860s music and dances such as the Virginia reel.
Surprisingly, the dancing went better than the marching, according to the campers.
"We couldn't turn," Charlie said of the group's drill performance.
On Thursday morning, campers got a lesson from relic collector Jake Everett, of Flintstone, Ga. Students were given a chance to touch cannon balls, bullets, spurs and belt buckles that Mr. Everett had found across the South.
"That would hurt," said camp leader Alan Chandler as he picked up a metal sphere the size of a walnut that was fired in a cluster from a canon.
Students were taught the advantages between rifles and smooth-bore guns - rifles are more accurate - before heading to a program on slavery and the Underground Railroad.
"We've been busy," Mrs. Chandler said.
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