Attached is an account of the recent reenactment of the Battle of Lewisburg from correspondent, Nick Korolev:
The Battle of Lewisburg Heritage Committee and the Greenbrier Campus of NRCTCpresented their annual Civil War event commemorating the 1862 Battle of Lewisburg May 21-23. This event is one of the best of the small to medium events in the area every year. They have a varied planned program with something for everyone interested in Civil War history that includes lectures at the college as well as a living history camp set up on campus and two battle events fought right in the town that includes infantry, mounted and dismounted cavalry and artillery units. This is not a free event for reenactors, but a modest registration fee pays for two breakfasts and a dinner and port-a-potties. Camping is done on the campus and fire pits are allowed. As usual some Confederates had to “galvanize” to blue, but there was a larger number of boys in blue who showed up this year.
The theme for this year’s 7pm Friday evening debate in the collage auditorium between members of the Federal Generals Corps and Lee’s Lieutenants was “The Uncivil War” – treatment of prisoners & military tactics against civilians. Unfortunately Byrdie and I did not make it due to our late arrival because of work schedules. For us Lewisburg is a three hour drive which put us there at 6:30pm and we had to set up tents before the predicted rain showers hit and just finished in time. However, we heard Grant (Barry Meadows) and Buford (Joe Shafer) held there own and both living history groups proved to the public that both sides of the conflict were equally guilty of abuses. The event program was very full including besides the lectures, a military dress parade, ladies tea, wandering “ladies of the evening”, an invasion by temperance ladies trying to make sure both camps were dry, candlelight tour of the camps with planed scenarios, dance, a period piano music concert, wandering fife & drum band, field hospital with surgical demonstration, tour of the North House museum, a Sunday Civil War church service and of course the Sat. Skirmish on Church St. and Sun. Battle of Lewisburg on Washington St. that included mounted cavalry.
With Byrdie and myself were Cameron Mallow of the 1st WV Cavalry and his friend John Scott of the 22nd NC Infantry, both new high school graduates. John “galvanized” to blue for the skirmish and back to gray for the battle. Byrdie portrayed Col. George Crook, as he was when he commanded the battle and I, as usual, portrayed Gen. William Averell who commanded at the second Battle of Lewisburg in 1863. We camped in our living history area next to Grant and Buford and his wife. The weather was a bit dodgy with intermittent storms rolling around the mountains all weekend. As mentioned, Byrdie and I just managed to get the tents up Friday evening before a light shower hit. During the Saturday morning 10am dress parade we all got half soaked in a sudden downpour but as they say, the show must go on and did. At least wool sheds water and we were not soaked through, just the surface of our uniforms damp after we shook off the water.
Overall we had an enjoyable weekend, however it did not go without two problems one minor and one major, but more on that later. We had a great time talking to the public. One surprise for me was meeting Jon Averill, a distant relative to Gen. Averell. The name spelling changed, Jon was not sure when. He films events and documentaries and plans to do one on Averell’s Salem Raid in the future. He had his camera with him and he talked me into doing a little in and out of character sequence. It was all off the cuff and had I been prepared I would have done better. He gave me his card and we have e-mailed each other at this writing. Don’t know where this will lead but we will stay in contact. Proves you never know who you will run into at events. Rick, Joe and Barry had their surprises too. Only it involved the “soiled doves” and the temperance ladies. Grant paid off the “soiled doves” in gold Herseys kisses and after Buford was told he was so cute he’d get services for free, he retreated with an excuse it was time to saddle up for patrol. Perfect YouTube material but no one caught it on film. These ladies always show up at Lewisburg and make it fun for both the reenactors and public.
The down side of the weekend was a glitch in the reenactment that was wrong historically. The mounted cavalry there split up to blue and gray ignoring the fact that only the Union had mounted cavalry at the battle. If we are doing a historic event, let’s get it right and not mislead the public. A few people brought this up so it is not me being overly picky. That was the minor problem. The major problem was another episode of what we refer to as “yahoos” or “cowboys” doing their own thing. I witnessed part of it, got part of the story verified by John and the rest by other reenactors. Just before the Saturday Candlelight tour started at twilight, a small group of Confederates decided on an unprogramed scenario, and went after a supposed spy near an unsuspecting group of Yankees who happened to be near the college stairs on the edge of the Confederate camp. This happened with the public scattered all over the area, some of whom were gathering for the tour. I was with our FGC group at the opposite end of the area sitting under a fly with Byrdie, Joe and Barry ready for our assigned scenario for the tour. This group of Confederates apparently fired double loads in their muskets that sounded at times more like artillery going off. From close eye witnesses not all muskets were fired at the 45 degree or higher angle. Cameron ran past our tents with several of these rebels chasing him and had to be called back away from the street were none of this was allowed to happen since there were businesses all along the street and parked cars. He said it was not planned and he did not know what was going on, but he wanted no part of it. His buddy, John was upset and embarrassed by it originating among Confederates. There was a 911 complaint by a resident who lived near the cemetery up the street and the police did come resulting in the overall military commander getting into trouble because he did not do much to stop it once it started. How can you stop something that you do not know about that just breaks loose with no warning and spreads like a brush fire out of control? I was told by one of the event planners (did not catch their name or have anything with which to write it down) that this incident will result in a change for next year.
This disturbing incident during an otherwise enjoyable event should drive the lesson home that these few “yahoos” scattered among our hobby had better be reined in before someone gets hurt. Unchecked, it will result in the ending of reenacting events by communities that do not want to take the chance of being sued. Event programs and scenarios must be followed and rules have got to be set down at every event no matter how small forbidding this kind of behavior. As it is, liability insurance is required of units at many events and this rule is increasing. I have reported on this kind of incident recently at another event and I know I am not the only one observing a disturbing trend. Some of my reenactor friends tell me it is not a new problem in the reenacting community. Lets clean it up before it becomes worse during the 150th celebration events. Gun safety should be a #1 concern. This is not the 19th Century when it was considered innocent fun to blow off steam by riding through a western cow town and shooting firearms. That attitude and behavior has no place in a litigious society where law suits are a popular way of getting big bucks with little effort.
I prefer ending upbeat, so I will say, the Battle of Lewisburg is a fun and educational event that should not be missed in a beautiful and historic town.
Nick Korolev
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