Civil War Days

We got a chance to go back to the past this weekend to Civil War Days. Not just any Civil War reenactment, but the largest one in Illinois. It is held every year at this time on a pumpkin farm nearby. This year we knew one of the reenactors so it was kind of fun to try and find him in the midst of battle.

One question we had was, if the guns aren't really firing bullets, how do you know when you've been wounded or killed? Our friend told us that you get to fight until you run out of ammunition. Once you run out, you have to fall down as if you've been shot. Sounds fair to me!

The South was outnumbered almost 3 to 1 in this battle, so consequently, the North was able to maneuver around and capture some of the South's cannons and soldiers. I thought that I would share some pictures from this event in case you've never had the chance to see anything like this. From what we've heard, the US Civil War reenactments are very popular in other parts of the world, too.

Here is a picture of one of the soldier's hams that he was cooking for dinner.


Here are some women and girls in period costume.

This is a picture of the Southern soldiers firing their cannon at the Northerners.
This picture shows the fighting. It looks pretty authentic to me. I wonder what it feels like to be a reenactor facing another man and his gun?

Here we see General Lee and General Jackson (in the black) and another unknown officer. They look quite real!

This is an example of the old meeting the new! One of the little boys we were with kept wanting to go see the golf cart!
The graphic descriptions from the medical tent were quite interesting. Miraculously enough, all of their patients are able to walk away after treatment.
Here are some ladies having tea after the battle. Maybe they are discussing the strategies that were used and coming up with ways in which to improve them!

These cannons were actually used during Civil War battles. One of them was named "Lady Molly". Pretty cool, huh?
The afternoon gave some of the girls a chance to dress up, too. How often do you see that many snoods in one place?

Here is a close-up of one of the soldiers. It looks like a lot of fun. Some people travel all over the country doing this.
Hope you enjoyed my tour of Civil War Days.

God Bless!