MUSKET LOVE CIVIL WAR BUFFS HOLD ANNUAL RE-ENACTMENT.Byline: Story by Brent Hopkins Daily News MOORPARK - Citing long-simmering political tension, hundreds of men took up arms against one another on Saturday, fighting toward a bloody finish in a pumpkin patch. The fight dragged on into the night, set to finish today, with the blue suited troops of the Army of the Potomac This article is about the Union army. For the Confederate army of the same name, see Army of the Potomac (Confederate). The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. squaring off against the gray-hued Confederate Army of Northern Virginia Northern Virginia (NoVA) consists of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties and the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, and Manassas Park. . Cannons thundered, rifles cracked and swords clashed, steel on steel. Yet at the end of the first skirmish, not a single soldier lost his life. That was the unusual scene at the usually sedate se·date v. To administer a sedative to; calm or relieve by means of a sedative drug. Tierra Rejada Family Farm. Sponsored by the Moorpark Rotary Club, the fourth annual re- enactment brought hundreds of Civil War buffs, decked out in unusually realistic garb. They parked their sport utility vehicles This page lists sports utility vehicles currently in production (as of April 2007), as well as past models. The list includes crossover SUVs, Mini SUVs, Compact SUVs and other similar vehicles. behind trees and traded them for horses, battling it out to begin a two-day fight amid crushed pumpkins and trampled onions. ``Well, Pa, looks like there's Union boys up on that ridge,'' called one Confederate cavalryman to another, goading his mount onto the field. Replaying the Battle of the Wilderness For the French and Indian War battle, see . The Battle of the Wilderness, fought from May 5 to May 7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. , a fiercely fought contest in May 1864 that racked up 29,800 casualties, the soldiers spent the day enthusiastically living in the past. Toting Lematt revolvers and taking cover under the fire of 6-inch mountain cannons, they killed one another with aplomb a·plomb n. Self-confident assurance; poise. See Synonyms at confidence. [French, from Old French a plomb, perpendicularly : a, according to (from Latin ad-; see . Ed Vargo, a 10-year veteran who once shouldered a gun for the 1st Army of Virginia The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E. Lee. before switching sides to join the 55th Infantry of Ohio, watched the fray from the sidelines, wincing with the roar of the artillery. The Northridge resident retreated with a red-stained bandage on his biceps, though he conceded he'd taken the wound more for his recent case of tendinitis than the need for his unit to suffer historical casualties. ``Don't listen to all the people who tell you the re-enactors are a bunch of NRA NRA (National Rifle Association of America) organization that encourages sharpshooting and use of firearms for hunting. [Am. Pop. Culture: NCE, 1895] See : Hunting , gun-loving nuts,'' he said, breaking character from his reformed drunk Pvt. Sweeney momentarily. ``I'm in banking. We've got attorneys, professionals and even clergy.'' After the troops warily made their way onto the field, revolver shots cracking in the air, the action began. A Union private faked a gut shot, falling to flop on the dirt while a Confederate cavalry officer slumped in his saddle, his loosed horse carrying him off the field. The rebs, under the command of Gen. Robert E. Lee, put up a good fight, repulsing the Union into the woods on the hill, but they found themselves in for a nasty surprise. ``During the battle, they went into the trees and the Confederates didn't know we had so many troops up there,'' said Michael Green There are several people called Michael Green, including:
Joshua Lawrence was born September 10, 1778. Chamberlain of the Union's V Corps. ``Hopefully, they'll fall for the trap and get pushed back.'' And indeed they did, battling to a draw. Unlike previous fights, however, the Union did not retreat, changing the tone for the rest of the war. Detouring from the historical timeline momentarily, the two sides re- enacted Lee's surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse Appomattox Courthouse scene of Lee’s surrender to Grant (1865). [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 22] See : Defeat before re-engaging with the battle of Sayler's Creek The Battle of Sayler's Creek (also known as Sailor's Creek, Hillsman Farm, or Lockett Farm) was fought April 6, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, as part of the Appomattox Campaign, in the final days of the American Civil War. After Lt. Gen. . The Union then trounced the Confederates. Though he believed it would be a hard fight against an entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. enemy, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, played with spot-on accuracy by 57- year-old Anaheim phone company engineer Larry Clowers, promised victory over the rebellious Southern troops. ``When President Lincoln was elected, it was of all these United States, not just the North or the South,'' he said, a fragrant cigar in his teeth. ``It's my solemn duty to bring them back together.'' He denied any political aspirations of his own, appearing surprised when informed that he would go on to become a fairly successful president in his own right. Though the Union troops would end up taking more of the battles in Tierra Rejada, the Confederates seemed to have a whole lot more supporters on hand. Karen Turner, a Huntington Beach substitute teacher, admitted her sympathies lay with the boys in gray, though she was quick to declare that she didn't share their political viewpoint. ``I tend to go with the South,'' she said. ``I find Southern men to be more ... how shall I say it? More chivalrous chiv·al·rous adj. 1. Having the qualities of gallantry and honor attributed to an ideal knight. 2. Of or relating to chivalry. 3. Characterized by consideration and courtesy, especially toward women. .'' The two sides played their roles with deadly seriousness, the Confederates keeping fatalistically stiff upper lips and happily running to their imagined deaths. And though they showed up to recreate events more than 140 years previous, the fight still rang true today. ``This was brother against brother, family against family, not just simple politics,'' said John Tayloe, a Simi Valley resident who works in broadcasting, watching from the sidelines with his sons Shane and Chase. ``It was ideology, just like the last election. People went to war and ripped the country in two. Here, we can understand what happened so it'll never happen again.'' Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO The Moorpark Rotary Club will present a Civil War battle re-enactment today at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Tierra Rejada Ranch, 3370 Sunset Valley Road, Moorpark. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for students. Admission for children under 6 is free. Information: (805) 353-3220. CAPTION(S): 8 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) From left, brothers Pat and John Lewandodski, and Jeff Quessenberry wait for orders to go to battle for the Confederacy Confederacy, name commonly given to the Confederate States of America (1861–65), the government established by the Southern states of the United States after their secession from the Union. . (2 -- color) Charles Henry of Visalia chomps on a cigar as he depicts Confederate General Richard Ewell. (3 -- color) Members of a Confederate cannon company cover their ears as a blast is sounded at the re-enactment at Tierra Rejada Family Farm in Moorpark on Saturday. (4 -- 5) At left, a man playing a Union soldier killed in the mock Civil War battle lies on the ground at the Tierra Rejada Family Farm. Above, Larry Clowers plays Ulysses S. Grant in the re-enactment of the Battle of the Wilderness. (6) Union soldiers fire off their guns while one member of the company falls to the ground after being wounded. (7) From left, Richard Holmes, Dr. Jon Willen and Dave Colley restrain Tim Tomlinson, a wounded Confederate soldier. (8) Confederate soldiers march through a field on the way to a battle at the Moorpark farm on Saturday. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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