Gettysburg re-enactment, Bath Ohio

Four Fifers of  Camp Chase Fifes & Drums

It is one hundred and fifty years since the Battle of Gettysburg. It is being commemorated several places in the country. This weekend, ending to-day, it was re-enacted at Bath Ohio's Hale Farm and Village. The contrast between the cheerfulness of these actors, and the reality of the event is great. In the simulated battle, it took a long time for anyone to fall as a casualty. These people enjoy playing the role, and if you die, you play no more.

And i really enjoyed the musicians. One very funny line was said by a performer concerning the uniform of the drum major, "no weaponry is as useless as a musician's sword". This event was very heavy in picture taking, the winnowing took some time, and several fotos i can use later.

 marching Confederate infantry

Rare it must have been for rebel soldiers in a four square bayonet defensive stance to pet a Union cavalryman's mount.

 Cavalry Sabre Charge. Some of the riders are women.

 young folk chat

 Union Camp

 Confederate Camp

 children play soldier

Paul Goebbel plays an invented, exuberant, talkative reporter for the New York Herald. The actor, on the right, portrays the era's famous entertainer and clown, Dan Rice.

bugler calls orders

Many of the spectators were seated on a long line of benches, to watch Day one of the battle compressed into less than an hour. The battle moved from west to east, as the Confederates took the town of Gettysburg. The spectators were encouraged to follow the soldiers into town (Hale village).

 cannon smoke ring

The First of July 1863 nearly 50,000 men were engaged in battle. There were 15,000 casualties. It has to be realised that war brings death. At the end, Taps was played. This was a performance, a show, as was the actor portraying Lincoln reciting the famous address (which was done before the show battle began). Here there was no blood, no stench, and everyone was free to come home.