CIVIL WAR COMES TO LIFE IN MOORPARK; STUDENTS GET LESSON FROM PAST.

Byline: Angela Randazzo Daily News Staff Writer

There was cannon fire in Moorpark on Tuesday as students at Mesa Verde Middle School watched a Civil War re-enactment that brought history-book pages to life.

There was period weaponry, Johnny Reb on horseback and even a glimpse of Abraham Lincoln as Civil War enthusiasts shared their knowledge of those turbulent times and what life was like in the 1860s.

``We're here today to take you back on a journey of 138 years, to a time when our country was greatly divided,'' said Roger Knox, who portrayed a Union soldier and is the coordinator of the Santa Barbara Civil War Council, which staged the event in the school's multipurpose room.

Also taking part in the demonstration was the Richmond Howitzers Civil War Re-enactment Team from Fort Tejon, Calif., which set up camp outside.

The school's eighth-graders played along, having been divided into two groups that were able to exchange places to take part in both demonstrations.

Teacher Dylis Becker, chairman of the school's history department, arranged for the demonstrations to augment what the students are learning in the classroom and to give them hands-on experience.

``It helps us to understand things better,'' said Amber Hanson, 14. ``We're learning how life was, what they wore and how they fired guns.''

In a grassy area, one group of students was gathered around a Union soldier as he explained everyday life behind the lines. His tent was pitched, his fire ready for cooking and his long johns strung on a line for drying.

Then a Confederate soldier on horseback explained the fighting tactics of the cavalry. Next came the demonstration of how the cannon works and the big boom as it was fired - leading many students to put their fingers in their ears to soften the thunderous sound.

Meanwhile, the other group of eighth-graders was in the multipurpose room hearing an address by Abraham Lincoln, a Union soldier, a Confederate soldier and a Civil War-era woman, wearing a hoop-skirted dress of the period, and her two children. The characters took their turns and told about their lives, from daily chores to the losses of family members in the war, to their hopes for peace.

``We become a person of the time and speak in `first person,' '' said Dave Douglas, a member of the Santa Barbara Civil War Council. ``It can be a fictitious character or a real person. Some of our members have researched their genealogy and based their characters on family members.''

Douglas, who portrays a Union captain but bears a resemblance to Gen. Ulysses Grant, has been with the group for 15 years. In the afternoon, Douglas ran the eighth-graders through a military drill to demonstrate what it was like to work as a Civil War soldier.

``What happened during the Civil War has a bearing on what our country is today,'' said Knox in his address to the students. ``That should never be forgotten.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Members of the Richmond Howitzers Civil War Re-enactment Team prepare for a demonstration for eighth-graders at Mesa Verde Middle School, where the group's cannon was fired.

(2) Mike Foxworth is ready to explain the fighting tactics of the Confederate cavalry to Mesa Verde's eighth-graders.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News