Civil War Encampment slated

By BETTY J. POKAS, Times Leader Area Editor
    CANNONS will boom, and blue and gray will be popular colors May 31 and June 1 in Woodsfield when nearly 100 Civil War reenactors from the Midwest will illustrate life more than a century ago when battles raged between the North and the South.


   Activities at the third annual Civil War Encampment at the Monroe County Fairgrounds on Ohio 26 in Woodsfield will be both entertaining and educational, according to a spokesperson.


  The event and parking are free, and the May 31 activities will be from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and the hours for June 1 will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.


    Cannons will be fired during the encampment, and there’ll be more genteel activities such as a ladies’ tea. Those attending the activities will have an opportunity to meet individuals impersonating President Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.


     Guests also may stroll through Union and Confederate camps to see how the soldiers lived during that long-ago war. Sometimes, they will be cooking over campfires.


    Fortunately, they won’t have to eat hardtack, which was part of the daily rations for the soldiers during the war. Those hard biscuits often were called “tooth dullers” or “sheet iron crackers” by the soldiers. Sometimes, hardtack became infested by weevils with the unappealing food then gaining the reputation as “worm castles.”


    Tours of the camps are only part of the activities. Also featured during the weekend will be talks by professional reenactors, a ladies’ tea planned May 31 at noon with a special presentation by “Mrs. Lincoln” and a Sunday church service at 9 a.m.


    The resounding of several cannons will be included in the reenactments planned each of the two days at 2 p.m. Battery A, 1st Ohio Statehouse Light Artillery, will join in the event.


   Referring to that artillery, the spokesperson noted, “This accomplished living history education group is one of the best Civil War artillery units in the United States. The unit’s original cannons were manufactured at the Miles Greenwood Foundry in 1864 in Cincinnati.”


     A new feature of the encampment will be a children’s mock battle, scheduled May 31 at 1 p.m.


      The two days of activities, geared to recall life in the early 1860s, will feature demonstrations by blacksmiths and leatherers ongoing each day.


     A “sutlers’ row,” a period marketplace, will have reproduction wares and clothing for sale. Food vendors also will be at the reenactment.


     A grant from The Ohio Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities helped to make possible this special view of a crucial time in the nation’s history. Special grant support was provided by Susan Pollock of the Jerusalem area and The 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Co. B.


    The encampment, according to the spokesperson, “is the brainchild of reenactor and Monroe Central High School senior Kyle Yoho. Kyle wanted other Civil War enthusiasts to experience Monroe County and for Monroe County to experience history through the unique reenactment process.”


     Yoho, a 2008 graduate of Monroe Central, plans to attend Marietta College. It isn’t too surprising that he plans to major in history.


    Pokas can be reached at timesleader@timesleaderonline.com