The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864

the shenandoah valley for three years of the american civil war its fertility had supplied robert e lee's confederate army of northern virginia with bountiful harvests and thankfully so the northern sea blockade was putting the south in an ever increasing stranglehold the valley was integral to the confederacy's success in 1862 rebel general stonewall jackson and his legendary foot calvary had owned it two years later confederates under general jubal early were back to maintain it it's the summer of 1864. early's rebels had snaked their way through the valley briefly threatening washington d.c now they're headed back into the valley but there's a new player there he wears the blue and he won't back down like so many of his predecessors his name is phil sheridan [Music] oh [Music] by 1864 the united states of america not yet 100 years old was experiencing tremendous changes since 1861 a civil war had been raging on the countryside many battles had been fought many were maimed many were dead the fledgling confederacy was meeting its demise in the western theater of the war the mississippi river was controlled by northern gunboats the south was split in half but robert e lee's depleted army was holding their own in the east but the introduction of ulysses s grant as commander-in-chief of all the northern armies would change all this very soon grant was the same man who'd secured the mississippi now his aim was to destroy lee's army of northern virginia despite the bloodshed and horror that three years of war had brought by 1864 some positive changes had occurred for both sides in the manufacturing arena the war effort was costing the u.s government nearly a million dollars a day by 1864. union soldiers were well equipped and typically well fed recent evidence also suggests that confederate soldiers were by 1864 as well uniformed and equipped as they'd ever been thanks to the growth of uniform depots throughout the south yet what the confederate soldier might have had in clothing and equipment never offset his daily lack of food by 1864 the northern sea blockade enveloped the south southern blockade runners profiteers and speculators prospered johnny reb didn't for the past year the standard daily ration for a confederate soldier was a quarter pound of bacon and a pint of cornmeal per man per day for lee's army of northern virginia the shenandoah valley was integral in providing this ration as scat as it might have been consequently the valley had remained in confederate possession for much of the war but things had recently changed the developments in manufacturing economics and culture brought along some baggage namely new developments in the way war was waged this new type of warfare shed the old customs of romanticism and honor it focused instead on the vitals of a government not only their army but their civilians northern general sherman was beginning his example of this new warfare in georgia but one of the great authors of modern warfare and a man who realized its effectiveness while it was in its infancy was u.s grant with lee under stalemate at petersburg grant found a new target for his new type of warfare and that target was lee's food line the shenandoah valley he was short and stocky one journalist wrote that he had duck legs his quick temper almost ruined his west point education but he had been regular army ever since graduating and he could fight one subordinate claimed he was the only commander i ever met whose personal appearance in the field was an immediate positive stimulus to battle phil sheridan quickly rose to the top out west during the early years of the war at murfreesboro late in 1862 his division fended off repeated mass confederate attacks while the entire right wing of the federal army beat a huge retreat at missionary ridge a year later it was again phil sheridan's troops who broke the confederate defenses once thought impregnable so when u.s grant assumed general in chief of all northern armies in 1864 he wanted one man to come with him that man was phil sheridan sprinkled amongst jubal early's confederate second core were remnants of a famed military unit stonewall jackson's old command under the legendary leader these men had made forced marches of over 20 miles a day sometimes marching 24 hours at a time they were infamous throughout the union army and they knew it stonewall had been dead for over a year but the pride he instilled in his men would linger throughout the war these men had fought in the valley under stonewall back in 1862 they would gladly fight again this time under jubal early old jube chewed tobacco his obscenities would allegedly be appalling in our century but his ambition drove him relentlessly a division commander in the 1863 gettysburg campaign now he commanded a core but his current core is the size of a division he'll need to borrow some of stonewall spirit and legacy to succeed this time [Music] in the spring of 1864 the shenandoah valley again became a major battlefield federal forces under general fran siegel were defeated at newmarket virginia in may again a federal threat had been stopped four days later new federal commander general david hunter ordered such widespread burning of property in farmland in the valley that it earned in the nickname black dave but like siegel before him hunter would fail militarily in the valley and for the first two months of the summer 1864 residents of washington d.c would live in fear with northern forces in the valley on their heels lee acted quickly to capitalize jubal early's undersized core were sent in stretching lee's thin line of defenses around petersburg virginia even thinner early soldiers marching roughly 20 miles a day easily defeated hunter and continued into maryland winning a battle at monastery on july 9 before reaching the complex defense system ringing washington's perimeter early's brief threat here would have more repercussions in new york though on july 11 with a confederate army at the gate to the northern capital wall street reacted the federal dollar reached 39 cents its lowest value of the war though early affected the dollar his small force wasn't successful at penetrating the tough d.c defenses early had caused havoc and again embarrassed northern generals and their armies he must be stopped so on august first with early heading back to the sanctity of the valley grant made his best move yet a new consolidated command of every federal force from west virginia to washington would be formed the army of the shenandoah its commander phil sheridan his orders from grant were simple get early out of the valley and follow him to the death grant also put in a sidebar the valley should never again be a resource to lee's army crows flying over it for the balance of the season will have to carry their provender wrote grant the lincoln administration had achieved nothing but humiliation in the shenandoah valley since the war began and abraham lincoln could little suffer another failure there next fall he was up for re-election peace democrats in the north were calling for surrender terms with a confederacy and they were pointing all the blame at one man abraham lincoln the president desperately needed a victory and with grant in a stalemate at petersburg and sherman and georgia beyond communication lines it was up to phil sheridan to make it happen three years of disease battle enlistment termination and basically hard army life had permanently ended the soldiering careers of many of the original 1861 volunteers of both armies the eager young men who in the war's infancy had flocked to recruiting stations by the tens of thousands were rare in the ranks those that had stayed on through three years of war had sacrificed careers family life and their health in a commitment to their respective causes these veterans may still remember their original reasons for joining they would still stand fast and fight for those reasons but by 1864 all most hoped for was a speedy end to the war by 1864 both governments had implemented a draft the north's huge population kept its armies typically at full strength in all theaters of the war yet the south's young male population had been severely tapped it's important to note that over 75 percent of the south's white male military aged population served at one time or another in the confederate army the confederacy even expanded the draft age from 35 to 45. the draft had helped transform the character of the opposing armies new recruits fresh fish according to the veterans by 1864 knew what they were in for bloody battles like shiloh gettysburg and antietam had ensured that the romanticized spring days of 1861 when innocent unknowing young men left their farms or their counties for the first time were over the new recruit of 1864 hoped only for a warm blanket a full stomach and the ability to escape the war with his life [Music] sheridan's new command numbered 37 000 the army of the shenandoah was a consolidation of four military departments in early august it was set in motion and from that moment on the shenandoah valley would never again be the same for most of the war the valley had its own elite military unit its leader had reached legendary status john singleton mosby a lawyer who taught himself the craft partly while in jail for shooting a classmate mosby's partisan rangers had dominated the valley throughout the war wreaking havoc on every major federal force who'd passed through it the great ghost as he was known moved quickly to protect his valley sheridan's army had been advancing cautiously probing early's weaknesses he'd also been advancing slowly burning miles of valued farmland and every outbuilding that had the misfortune to lie in their path on august 13th mosby's partisan rangers hit them destroying a large federal wagon train at berryville virginia the wagon train had contained much of sheridan's food supply in the face of limited rations enough for two days in the field sheridan opts to pull back the action draws hot criticism from washington even confederate general early writes that sheridan is without enterprise and possessed with excessive caution which amounted to timidity but the jabs fall on deaf ears sheridan is unfazed and ignores the claims the new valley commander points out that he wants to draw early into the open thinking sheridan will back off early takes the bait on august 25 1864 the rebels attacked sheridan's front but it's a diversion the main body of confederates with early at their lead attempt to move around sheridan's flank warily sheridan sends two divisions of federal cavalry to probe roads to his flank the blue troopers quickly hit two confederate infantry divisions of early's core the fight is brief some elements of sheridan's cavalry barely escape but phil sheridan knows one thing early is on the move and most importantly he is divided but not for long the next day fearing destruction of one half of his divided army early halts his advance the same day to the southwest at petersburg something changes after furious northern assaults on lee's defenses grant telegraphed sheridan that lee's army had suffered ten thousand irreplaceable casualties early's reinforcements two divisions will probably be recalled to assist lee grant continued in early september as if scripted by grant himself anderson and kershaw's divisions early's reinforcements from the army of northern virginia were in route to rejoin lee at petersburg the withdrawal brought about a potential major battle as the confederate divisions bumbled into crooks federal eighth core after a heated dusk skirmish crooks federals had pushed the confederate divisions back to a new defensive line in winchester early with the rest of his command joins them there the next morning for the next few weeks of september early and sheridan send out daily cavalry patrols refit their armies and generally glare at each other but no major fight occurs the scenario changes on september 16th sheridan on that day received information that kershaw's division had finally left the valley to join lee early's army of the valley without the division numbered only fourteen thousand the fiery union general is eager to attack but it's early who'll make the first move general early honestly believed sheridan was in the same class of a seagull or a hunter the two previous federal commanders had been defeated miserably in the valley though outnumbered two to one he again divides his army on september 17th early moves out with two divisions leaving the rest of his force at winchester in sheridan's front early's new target is the b and o railroad a major supply hub for the northern army only four thousand confederates are left to face sheridan's thirty thousand the aggressive cavalry patrols sheridan had been using for intelligence and screening purposes paid off learning that early had divided his forces sheridan decides to attack his strategy a double envelopment the federals will hit both ends of the small confederate line at winchester they will hit both ends at once but early was in luck it would take a day for the federals to get into position to attack and on that day september 18th early 20 miles away found telegraph messages that grant had recently visited sheridan the northern commander-in-chief had personally met with sheridan not days ago approving the new federal attack plan for early a visit by grant meant an attack was imminent he quickly turned his weary troops around in a forced march back to winchester they would make it just in time before dawn on september 19th the third and final battle for winchester virginia began initial federal assaults went well but a traffic jam in the federal rear began to bog down the attack it would be hours before sheridan would again have it underway hours that early would use to get his road weary troops into position in front of winchester by noon sheridan was ready the signal gun sounded and the federal army of the shenandoah hit both ends of the confederate army of the valley [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] the federal 19th corps had pounded the confederate left hitting gordon's exhausted division the same men who'd marched all night to get there the federals easily pushed back the rebel offenders but their comrades on the federal left had gotten farther away literally a gap had developed within sheridan's battle line a gap that would nearly cost sheridan the battle confederate generals quickly capitalized on the gap grey soldiers began pouring into the gap confusion reigned amongst the federals retreat and panic swept the blue line [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] the confederates gained much with the counterattack but lost a valued division commander robert rhodes was mortally wounded in the early stage of the attack information of his wound was kept from his troops lest they lose morale rhodes was a talented general the confederacy could not afford to lose [Music] as the confederates advanced federal general david russell's division waited they'd been in reserve all morning and currently were trying to steal their nerves as sheridan's front-line soldiers retreated past them the gray line had closed to within 200 yards then russell's division hit them [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] what night the federal line was restored and the battle was quiet as both sides licked their wounds general early considered the day a splendid victory but sheridan's day wasn't over just yet a federal division had gotten beyond the confederate left flank and they would make the final kidney strike to early's line the new federal attacks went slowly but by mid-afternoon progress was being made on all fronts the rebels on the confederate right began to hear fighting in their rear a bad sign to a soldier the gray line began falling back to winchester some units came under massive federal artillery crossfire many confederate boys wouldn't make it into town with the confederate line in full retreat sheridan played his last card the federal cavalry he'd worked so hard to whip into fighting shape his cavalry with brash commanders like newcomer george custer the cavalry would deliver the final blow one participant described the charge as noble work well done a theme for the poet a scene for the painter another trooper was less romantic during the war the saber has never reaped such a harvest as that day the attack was salt in the wound to the confederate retreat the federals pursued until nightfall the battle of third winchester as it came to be known down south or the battle of opequen creek as it was known up north had ended in a humiliating confederate defeat early had lost 4 000 men over 25 percent of his army sheridan had lost roughly 5 000 a mere 6 percent early would write after the war that sheridan should be cashiered for allowing the confederates to escape grant rejoiced upon hearing the news of the victory one officer wrote he came out of his tent threw his hat in the air and went back in again he knew that was the beginning of the end early's battered soldiers awoke the next morning on an almost impregnable rise called fishers hill it was impregnable with the right amount of troops something early didn't have sheridan was no dummy he knew a frontal assault on fishers hill no matter how many troops he faced would mean heavy casualties using a tactic early had attempted at winchester sheridan would bluff a frontal attack instead on september 22nd as early's confederates began withdrawing in the face of sheridan's bluffing frontal attack a full federal corps swung into view in early's rear the federals quickly set the confederates reeling in retreat over one thousand rebels were taken prisoner as sheridan pushed his troops hard for total annihilation of early's army but confusion abounded in the pursuing federal ranks elements of sheridan's cavalry went into camp leaving the pursuit for the infantry consequently early escaped again the army of the valley was hungry morale was bad and the ranks were thinner than ever the army of the valley was effectively out of the valley early and sheridan would meet again in october at cedar creek and again early would lose but in the meantime sheridan's men would occupy and destroy some of the most fertile acreage in the confederacy five hundred thousand bushels of grain almost two thousand barns and one hundred twenty mills in the valley fell to the torch modern warfare indeed today generations later ask a resident of the lush beautiful shenandoah valley about the autumn of 1864 and they'll remember it it's known as the burning [Music] and [Music] then [Music] mm-hmm [Music] hmm [Music] civil war reenacting everyone has their own definition of what it means and why they do it that list i'm sure is never ending but there are the equalizers what other segment of people put so many miles in their cars indoor extreme heat and cold wait patiently for the inevitable all in wool clothing see these are the byproducts of the simpler time we attempt to recreate but we all know these are small costs indeed costs we gladly pay for the unforgettable times with friends for lessons taught or lessons learned for that guilty pleasure some good old powder burning or for that split second view into the past something i think everyone strives for see we don't limit our hobby to a wall a shelf or a scrapbook we wear it we speak it we breathe it and we feel it like most organizations we go through trends some stay and some don't we disagree we complain but we also rejoice see reenacting is constantly evolving this is what keeps it fresh what keeps us coming back it binds probably one of the most diverse passionate obstinate opinionated segments of people ever to assemble reenacting is a passionate endeavor though admittedly an odd one but one that's definitely not going away anytime soon [Music] i've always been interested and i started going to some of the reenactments and went to the 125th get it right and that got me hooked signed up ever since um my dad and my mom they they had gone to see the movie gettysburg and when they got back they liked it so much and they just signed up for reenacting it's it's like a disease actually once you get started at it you know like most of our friends say it's like getting something in your blood you just can't get it out you just got to go back and go back i try to leave a whole century behind me when i come out here there are no phones there are no modern worries i i'm worried about controlling the squad troops or half of the platoon troops getting folks up and fed making sure they have water making sure they have ammo making sure that they they get where they're supposed to be on time those are my problems that's those are the only problems i have that keeping officers happy which is a full-time job if you're if you're in the army there's no telephones ringing the children are very safe they can come and go pretty much as they please we always know where they are but everyone kind of watches out for each other's children so we don't have to constantly uh run after the kids and we can sit down and have some peace and quiet and sometime for ourselves to talk it's grown quite a bit i've been in it 14 years and over this period when i started it was nothing like this you would go to an event and it would be maybe one settler and you might have 300 people and instead of that now the 125th anniversary 130th anniversaries have increased it quite somewhat to where it's so large and i like them large and small but the smaller events of the past have a special place in my heart probably one of the overre-enacted i started doing this 31 years ago come september my daddy was reading the paper and they wanted volunteers to be in the confederate army for the reenactment battle of little rock and i was sitting there one day in the afternoon he says you want to be a confederate and i said yes i wanted to confess always wanted to be all my life so he said well go down to mcarthur park and little rock there's looking for recruits and so i went down there and i signed up to be in the reenactment and i didn't have a gun i had nothing you do it at your own risk in those days a lot of things have changed we got more authentic in those days a lot of them were using jc penney's work pants and uh most of us didn't have a tent slept on the ground on a blanket you got cold or wet most of the time what's your favorite part oh the dances tell me about them well i don't usually get to dance with mostly anybody but last night i had a really fun time because i danced every dance with a guy this is my second reenactment actually i've been kind of dabbling around the civil war and i've been kind of enthusiasts for a lot of years but this is my second reenactment six months is my second reaction and this is our second real event this is my first reenactment wow what do you think so far it's great tell me what the first timer's reaction is just give me a little a couple of sentences if you would you're sending a video letter home to mom what's what's happening i'm having a good time it's enjoyable being with a lot of people that that share the the same enthusiasm i've been doing this for about two years i guess it's a habit i just love being out here i'm a single parent where else can a grown-up adult female go camping play make-believe and be around 2 000 man i like one own weekend and seriously the guys take good care of my kids they're not with their dad very much the guys take good care of my kids they they allow my kids to play they take my kids out on the field they're around men good role models the closeness i've gotten to with my boys and to see them develop into young men and have all these wonderful role models around them that we can't find nowadays in the modern world as readily it's just been a wonderful experience you get to learn a lot about the history a little bit of a feeling of what it might have been like to be back there and the people that you meet and the things that you do it's a lot of fun the good people out here that'd be the best way to sum it up really you know it's it's a more of a way of life if you took the cost of this hobby and compared it over say a five year period with playing golf if you played golf as often as you came out as we come out and reenact golf's more expensive well people definitely open up their arms to people you know that walk up everybody's real friendly and you're made to feel welcome wherever you go where are y'all from england england all right what do you think great where's the tripod but you guys went to rasaka last week that's right yeah how many of them how many uh people you have all together there was 50 of us come over in our group from england and we're the only three that fought union holder with a seventh arkansas with the english party that came over uh especially to take part in the reenactments at risaka and memphis um we're all from different units in the in the uk i started in 88 at the 125th gettysburg and i got the uh got the bug bad then and never looked back really the magic hasn't worn off for the brits we we just love coming over the way people look after us and how friendly people are is uh never ceases to amaze us even the small town that we that i live in now everyone really isn't as friendly as you might think they should be in a small town whereas everybody here seems you know real friendly even if you don't know them you may stop and sit and talk to somebody for half an hour and never find out what their name is you wouldn't think it'd be so fun i think it'd be kind of weird but it's actually fun once you get there and start doing it what better way to learn history than to live history lifestyles the shortage of food we've never known and they got through it they survived it and they came out better and i admire them a great deal and i feel that i can benefit by learning who they were and how they handled it and that's what we try to do is educate people about this period of time in our history one of the most fascinating periods i guess any country could ever have where the country splits into and fights a civil war comes back together to form a great nation i don't even i can't even imagine how many people died in the almost 300 years of slavery we don't even know their names we don't know where they came from we don't know how they lived their lives but something almost i hear voices saying to me remember us and this gives me the opportunity to do that what's the common denominator what do you seem to see on everyone a pride in their american heritage they love their heritage they want to respect their ancestors they want to learn more i think that's what brings people together a big thank you to everyone um it's not our war it was never our war and i just appreciate people being broad-minded enough to allow people from other countries to come and take part and we thank you for that it had never been done on such a grand scale before until memphis four battles fought over 130 years ago across the united states all reenacted in one location in one weekend here's what some reenactors and a few spectators had to say about great moments of the civil war [Music] yeah uh pretty much except when you tell them they're going the wrong way and they kind of get they kind of get a little bit uh issy about it but that's the way it goes you can't please everybody for the north-south lions it was a success the alliance five years ago agreed and put things on the map that did two major events a year i think this is the wave of the future events like this maybe not four or five different battles in a row but a major sponsor sponsoring in a regional location whether it be an east or west or but a big major sponsor in putting on these events i think it's the wave of the future kind of saw this is my opportunity i missed the 130th of gettysburg and i was really disappointed that i missed that and with pickett's charge being here and some of the other battles there's places i haven't been yet things i haven't done i'm kind of looking forward to having the opportunity to to do those things i'm looking forward to the battle of mary's heights the stone wall looks excellent they've put a lot of work into it plus that's a northern virginia battlefield which we in the deep south hardly ever get a chance to go to well i think it's a good idea to sort of compress some of the events that you would normally have to travel several hundred miles to attend when these guys come to a re-enactment they're looking to fight they love a lot of shooting and a lot of action hi there folks uh this is wild bill cooper i'm down here on mission of mission of much missions i'm trying to find three ladies named darcy dorothea and i think one of his name is rodney but i never could fit it out but they got on a yellow dress they got on a camera ready stress and they're kind of long and filled out and we're gonna be dancing tomorrow night if you could put that on the loudspeaker i'd appreciate that the other three meals would be about 45 people but tonight's meal could top 100. are you expecting a lot of men to show up they better if not we'll just have to go outside what's what's the answer what what needs to be done do you have any suggestions more women lots more women yes that's great has graveyard been to an event before no no no never have when was your drive why'd you come in the first place i had free tickets a beautiful day you got some rain yeah yeah that's why we came through being that the battles were portraying warren fought in memphis and i happen to be a big fan of elvis presley i figured it won't be fitting if we'd come to memphis with a little tribute to elvis so uh just for this uh occasion we've got a brand new shirt to debut it looks like you got the power of the e uh yes definitely and i i understand he's been seen in the local checkers also [Applause] [Music] you better [Music] those of you that have a blue coat to loan out raise your hand we can play it from both ends that way yeah we can't keep having reenactments with five times as many confederates as yankees it don't look right and it doesn't give glory to our ancestors it's helpful it's happy and helpful that the confederates of course we're always looking for more federal so what do you guys think about galvanizing we galvanize all the time great alabama division galvanizes i think it uh will help make it look good to the public and stuff i'm not offended by it all in fact i think it helps make it look like it's an even steven kind of thing instead of being so one-sided and especially then that shows up then when you are in the south and there are like four to one ratios of confederate to union i know some people who say never on both sides however i'll have to admit i've got my blue uniform in the tent first time it's a little eerie putting it on a little eerie i don't know of any northern ancestors that i had that fought in the war i do know the southern ones and and god rest their souls if they turn over their graves when i put the blue coat on it was it was kind of hard for me to do but uh i'm a reenactor it's what i do we have no problem with i know some in the past have had problems with it but for us it's if you're going to re reenact or portray one particular group you can't have a battle if you only got one side present and obviously you want to honor the people who are also in the federal army as much as confederate army well they did a fine job for rebs it's really been impressive seeing the truth formations and i think the best part about it's been playing for the home crowd it's fun being in tennessee and we're a tennessee unit and everybody's been real supported but it really gives us an idea of what it was like really interesting spectators well i think the biggest thing i learned in this reenactment was when we're out in the woods doing the hornets nest scenario you start realizing you get masses of men out in the trees and they're moving and you can't see what you're shooting at but you hear the fire coming and and you're trying to follow orders but there's a lot of confusion and you start realizing that these guys were groping around the blind trying to grip with fear and trying to grip with just not knowing what's ahead of them and just keep pushing on it's amazing that they did that great wonderful job we'll come all the way from south carolina to see this you did a wonderful job all right south carolina oh i came up by yesterday came up yesterday just for this yes what would make you drive all those miles oh just to see a wonderful show the biggest in the country couldn't miss it and to be fired upon by a thousand muskets at one time it's pretty intense i think just just the reality that uh they're not really shooting at us and we're shooting at us it would have been a pretty pretty rough time that was really really hit home well one of the greatest highlights we had was the saber clash the union forces yesterday afternoon during the battle that we had it was probably the largest number of cavalry that you'll find in this area having a saber fight came across the field yeah always a lot of people taking hits and going down it just looked like a real thing and watching every member of the color guard going down one by one oh man don't worry about it and uh seeing you know what it was like you know to just get slaughtered out there on the field and know you know that this is this is things that really happened and it happened you know pretty much the way we portray them we came because we wanted to see a little bit of what the civil war really was like and we never expected to be as wonderful as it was i almost cried hot exciting boring cold thirsty satiated it's a good weekend over 900 civilian reenactors attended the memphis event out of that 900 our cameras found one group definitely taking that segment of the hobby in positive directions the town came about because of the civilian reenacting that was being done separately by all the individuals you see here we were all at one time another with different units and we came upon the idea of the town because the need for civilian impressions seems to be a growing thing a part of reenacting and so we gathered together one night i think it was billy creek indiana no at arcola arcola illinois we came up with the idea of forming a town where occupations could be portrayed and then we found a diary by manny kenley morgan who was from dekalb missouri yes right near kansas as you guys know and uh in that diary there was a description of the jayhawkers coming through and burning the town as it took the blacks over to kansas and as a result of the town being burned 10 cities were temporarily set up so these people could continue their occupations and uh rebuild their town later on there was so much more to the war than just the battles exactly and i think people need to see that part of life too it was very important there were more civilians than soldiers and in the town i portray a free woman of color i'm the town laundress and i am in the process of earning money to buy myself a small farm experience i simply walked into a reenactment and was very taken with what i saw and the people that i saw and for me this has become more than just a hobby it's an opportunity to talk about some history that a lot of times i think we would rather not talk about some things that we would rather forget but we don't we cannot afford ever to forget and also it gives me an opportunity to honor some people that lived their entire lives in just total anonymity myself the children i accidentally walked up on a reenactment taking place never even heard of it before and i got to watch my boys they have two boys and they were so overwhelmed with what they saw it seemed to be that it was going to be important to them and it has been for the last three years a big part of their life as a novelist i like to be able to at least have a bit of realism in what i'm writing about and if i'm writing about a woman who is trying to navigate in a hoop skirt i now have a little bit of personal information about what that feels like well in the 20th century i work in los angeles in the film industry and i do wardrobe and this is a period that i really enjoy doing but this is the first time that i get to dress myself in the period i'm usually dressing somebody else and uh i'm very comfortable i enjoy it come come you wasp in faith you are too angry if i be waspish west best beware my sting my remedy is then to pluck it out why if the fool could find it where it looks there is a little girl karen gave a piece of silk thread to today i saw this girl for like two hours after that going around just touching the silk thread she was fascinated she had no idea that silk came from water it was just amazing history lesson for this little girl civilian movement and reenacting i think is getting a bigger following if you just take a look around at the huge civilian camp that are here i think was 900 that was registered for this event i'm sure more has come in since then you know another part of the whole idea of civilian reenacting as as linda said was it's another side of history you look at the battles which we've all been a part of it one way or another and that's only one part of the story of the civil war period there were so many things going on during that period of time that people just are unaware of and the history books don't tell us so i think it's our it's our task to do that and so we try to do a good impression of the different kinds of occupations so when the public comes by and the children tap my telegraph key or touch the spinning wheel they get a real flavor for the history of the time at every event you attend there are a few people who've done a bit more research in certain areas than you might have they oftentimes have interesting pieces of equipment or a bit of knowledge you didn't know well at memphis we found one guy who does a little more than roll 40 rounds of ammunition for an event [Music] okay this is typical of how the cartridges would have come to the soldiers in the field they would have been packed in cases like if a thousand rounds per case and 1200 caps per pack each pack would have came contained 10 cartridges wrapped with a cylinder containing 12 of the caps you know contrary to popular belief there was very little field rolling of cartridges most of them came pre-packaged like this and and were usually either packed in sawdust or cotton bunny to uh in a box that was lined with wax and tinfoil paper to keep the moisture out and those are what kind of cartridges you got there these are 58 caliber infield cartridges and also mississippi rifle cartridges there's a lot of different ideas of how they were they came packaged i read some accounts where the boxes were different colors uh and were unmarked but they knew what they were um most common ones that i've seen are the marsh the boxes were marked as to what kind of ammunition there was a wide variety of ammunition used in the confederate army especially looked at them and and you know tried to research as well as i can and to get it as close as you know what the ones they actually used can you unfold that top and show that fold that's a that's very unique and a lot of guys don't fold that yeah well it makes it pretty easy to tear you know if you put it in your teeth and grab it right there it just you know it tears right at the top what does a clover leaf represent uh that's just a uh symbol i used to designate and i'm part of claiborne's and to know that they were cartridges that i made i you know usually sell these at events to the guys in the unit and so forth and i come across them on the field i can identify you know something that i've done so what uh how much do you sell stuff like that for what's average price well it's just it's corn who if it's somebody that i don't know outside i usually get about two dollars and fifty cents a bundle but if it's somebody i know maybe two dollars or maybe just give them to them if they're you know really from the heat of battle or something they they really need something i'm not in it to really make any money it's just uh you know you sit around watching tv or something it's you know keeps your hands busy something to do as you all probably know at reenactment our three camera crews shoot a lot of footage it typically evens out to roughly 30 minutes of raw footage for every minute of finished programming now footage that doesn't make it usually doesn't look good aesthetically is unrealistic or has farbee 20th century anachronisms within it well here's a fun peek at what our programs would look like if we weren't so selective [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] hi [Music] uh [Music]

Channel: Wide Awake Films

Views: 70,286

Keywords: Civil War, American Civil War, Battle, Battlefield, Phil Sheridan, Sheridan, 1864, Military History, US History, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Shenandoah, Cedar Creek, Confederate

Id: cFn90AXFs7I

Length: 58min 21sec (3501 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 02 2021