One hundred and fifty years ago, our country was divided and
fighting in a Civil War. There may be no
more popular event in American history than the Civil War. It was a very important time in our history
during which many events happened that changed our country and
continue to have an impact on us even today.
Today, many men, women, and families take up the hobby of Civil War
reenacting because of their love of exploring and experiencing history in a
tangible way, as well as a desire to educate the public. They participate in living history
encampments and commemorate battles fought by Union and Confederate
soldiers. Civil War reenacting actually began about fifty years after the Civil War ended.
Mrs. Rizzo’s brother,
John Nash, has been a Civil War reenactor for over twenty years. His love for the Civil War began when he was
in high school at which time he began purchasing Civil War things at
auctions. He studied about the people
and events of the time and visited Civil War parks. When he got older he began reenacting and
joined an artillery group which meant he got to be a part of a group that fires
cannons. Over the years, he and his wife
have collected, purchased, or made all of the things they need to be authentic
reenactors. This includes not only the
cannon and limber (the gun carriage that holds the ammunition boxes), but all
their clothing and accessories, tents, cooking supplies and much, much
more.
I joined Mrs. Rizzo
and her brother’s artillery group, Pulaski Battery, for the 150th
anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
For six days, we roughed it in a Civil War era encampment without
electricity or running water. Our tent
was one of several in our group and was quite comfortable. Everyone pitched in
helping unpack the truck and pitch tents.
Our tent had front and back flaps that could be tied open to let air
flow through. We put a large tarp and
canvas on the ground that worked like a carpet.
We slept on cots that were actually very comfortable. Because tourists
might come by to see how we live, we did our best to make the inside of our
tent look authentic by covering up anything that didn’t look like it was from
Civil War times. It was home for six days!
Cooking our meals had
to look authentic too. They were cooked
over a fire using cast iron pots and pans.
We had bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee each morning and some type of stew
in the evening. We really liked the campfire
food! During the day, when in camp, we
sat shaded under a tent fly, but in the evening we liked to sit around the
campfire, and even roasted marshmallows.
The main purpose for
our trip was to participate in reenactments of battles. There were
approximately 11,000 reenactors from all fifty states and several foreign
countries. In addition to all the
people, there were 140 cannons and 400 horses.
There were several battles each day.
Some were just for infantry and cavalry troops, but most included the
artillery. We participated in one to two
battles each day from July 4 to 7 culminating in the reenactment of Pickett’s
Charge on the afternoon of the last day.
Sixty thousand spectators came out over those four days to watch the
battles and visit the Union and Confederate encampments.
Though Mrs. Rizzo had planned on dressing in Civil War era gowns and spending most of her time around the camp, her brother thought she might enjoy being part of the cannon crew. To do so, she had to dress as a boy. She did her best to try to disguise herself as a boy! Though the other men in her artillery group wore the standard wool pants, Mrs. Rizzo borrowed a uniform that altered to fit her. Her pants were a white cotton like those that would have been worn by men in the Navy or Marines. Her shirt was blue. She also had to shorten the suspenders used to hold up her pants. When out on the battlefield, she also put on a wool vest. The heavy cotton pants, long sleeve shirt, and wool vest on a hot summer day gave her an appreciation for how difficult life was for men during the Civil War. She, and all the men, wore a brimmed hat to keep the sun off their faces. In her canvas haversack she carried her camera and water.
We drove to the assigned location on the battlefield and then the cannon and limber were offloaded from the truck. Artillery units, during Civil War times, used a variety of cannons. Ours was a three inch ordnance rifle. Once unloaded, the truck was driven away out of sight. All of the men in the group knew exactly what to do and in no time they began drilling. It takes several crew members (cannoneers) to prepare, load, and fire the cannon and each man practiced his assigned position. Because the cannons fire a blank that is made from gunpowder (inside aluminum foil), to ensure that it is done safely, it is very important that the men practice, especially when someone wants to learn a new position.
While we were setting up and practicing, and the battle had not yet begun, and because the spectators were far away and could not see me, I could come out and watch the men practice. There are usually six or seven cannoneers in an artillery group and person performs a specific job. It was necessary, during Civil War times, for all men to practice all positions on the cannon in case someone became injured and needed to be replaced. The men in our group follow this same practice and everyone learns how to perform each job.
Mrs. Rizzo took my
picture in front of the cannon while the cannoneers practiced. Since I was not dressed appropriately for
battle, I knew I would have to hide when the reenactment began.
After watching and asking questions over the next four days, and reading a little on the Internet, I learned a little about cannons and what you have to do to safely fire one.
The #1 cannoneer gets the rammer sponge and wets the sponge end in a water pail. #2 man steps inside and waits to receive the round of ammunition. Because the cannon is hot after it is fired, #3 man has a special piece of leather on his thumb, called a thumbstall, that he places over the vent hole at the back end of the cannon. With the vent covered to prevent any remaining gunpowder from igniting, #1 pushes the rammer sponge into the cannon. This is done to extinguish any fire that may still be in the barrel from the last firing.
There are one to two
other men back behind the cannon, in our case at the limber where the
ammunition box was stored, who hand the round specified by the gunner to
#5. When instructed and inspected by the
gunner, #5 advances the round to #2. #2
would keep his back to the enemy so that a bullet could not strike the
round. He loads the round into the
barrel and then steps outside the wheel base.
#1 rams the round into the muzzle and seats the charge by pushing the cartridge
to the breach of the cannon directly under the vent. The vent hole is still being covered by #3. When finished, #1 steps away followed by #3.
All during this time
the gunner has been sighting the cannon and its target and would instruct for
the barrel to be raised, lowered or the cannon moved if necessary.
At the ‘ready’ command, #3 and #4 step inside the wheel base. #1 and #2 step back and make their bodies flat against the end of the barrel. #3 takes out a vent pick and pokes a hole through the vent into the powder bag. #4 has prepared a friction primer and attaches it to a lanyard. The friction primer is put into the vent hole. #3 places his hand over the lanyard and #4 steps to the side far enough to stretch the lanyard. Once #4 is in position with the lanyard taut, #3 steps away.
When given the order
to fire from the gunner, #4 yanks the lanyard and turns his body away from the
cannon to protect himself from the snapping lanyard. The wire pulls through the primer and sends a
flame down into the powder bag. The
explosion would send a projectile down the battlefield, however, we did not
have a projectile (cannon ball), just the powder bag. Fire and smoke, however, did come out of the
end of the cannon and a puff a smoke comes out of the vent. Over the course of the four days of battles,
Mrs. Rizzo took hundreds of pictures trying to get one good one that showed
fire coming out of the cannon.
Cannoneers wore wool
jackets when working on the cannon as the wool offered some protection. When firing the cannon, the lanyard can snap
back and hit the body with surprising force. Also for protection, everyone wears ear plugs
because the cannon blasts are very loud.
Because there is so much noise on the battlefield, many of commands are
done by hand signals as well as being shouted.
Once fired, #2 uses a
tool called a worm that would remind you of a cork screw. Spinning it down the barrel, he pulls out any
debris left in the cannon, which in our case, was the aluminum foil used to
make our rounds. It is necessary to
clean out the barrel before loading another round. During the Civil War when firing live rounds,
this step would not need to be done unless the round did not fire. Once the barrel is clear, the process starts
all over again with the rammer sponge.
After participating
in the first battle, Mrs. Rizzo decided she wanted to do it again because she
had so much fun. Even though she had planned
to mostly participate as a Civil War lady, she decided to continue pretending
to be a boy so she could go back out on the battlefield and be a part of the
cannon crew. She didn’t want to stay in
camp and miss all the fun!
Most of the time Mrs. Rizzo just took pictures so she’d have them for this story and could share them with the other men in the artillery group. However, she did get to participate as a cannoneer twice. She was in the #4 position once and got to fire the cannon. She was amazed at how hard she had to yank the lanyard. She was also glad she was wearing a wool jacket because the lanyard snapped back and hooked itself into the jacket. On another day, she was #5 cannoneer and received the round of ammunition and advanced it to the cannon. The round is placed and carried in a leather haversack to prevent accidents while the cartridge is being transported.
After each battle, we loaded the cannon and limber back onto the truck and drove it back to camp, until it was time to go to battle again. Mrs. Rizzo enjoyed riding on the cannon on the way back. Passing the spectators on the road, it felt kind of like being in a parade.
Over the four days of
reenactments, the Pulaski Battery group participated in six battles in front of
sixty thousand spectators. Sometimes we
were way far away, and once we were right below them. If the spectators came all four days, they
would have been able to see Union and Confederate artillery, cavalry and infantry
up close participating in the battles.
Mrs. Rizzo really enjoyed her experience and would like to do it again
some day.
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| Infantry troops in battle |
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| Signal flags were used to communicate |
The members of the Pulaski Battery are a very special group of men. They take their hobby very seriously and are dedicated to teaching others about the Civil War. They welcomed me and Mrs. Rizzo into their group, and wouldn't even allow us to do dishes!
Though Mrs. Rizzo didn’t dress as a lady at Gettysburg, she did the previous weekend in Roswell, GA at a living history event at Barrington Hall, an antebellum home built before the Civil War. Her brother brought his cannon and her sister-in-law played the dulcimer with her friends. They also danced the Virginia Reel. Mrs. Rizzo learned she had to be very careful when she sat down in her hoop skirt!
We spent most of our time on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, visiting family and friends. Even though it was winter in Australia, the weather was very warm and we had a lot of fun swimming at the beach. Luckily there were no sharks or crocodiles!
We visited the Australia Zoo, home of The Crocodile Hunter. We saw lots of interesting animals, including koalas, emus, wombats, kookaburras, crocodiles and more. We even got to feed the kangaroos!
We also spent a week in Cairns, which is in far north Australia and the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. We went on a catamaran out to Green Island, where we snorkeled to see the reef. We saw lots of pretty coral, as well as colorful fish, an eel or two and even a reef shark!
Another highlight of our trip was a visit to the Tjapukai Aboriginal cultural park. We learned a lot about Australian Aboriginal culture and history there. We had a lot of fun learning to throw boomerangs and spears and tried playing a didgeridoo. It’s a lot harder than it looks!
