A blog about reenacting and living history.
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2016 – A Retrospective
This is a month late, but better late than never. The following is a quick summary of events we attended last year: Our first event of the year was at Fort Indiantown Gap for the annual Battle of the Bulge Reenactment, sponsored by the WWII Historical Association. We take part in the Axis hospital…
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Events – January – May 2017
Below are the events on which we currently have information. More to follow. January 2017 WWII – Battle of the Bulge Reenactment, January 25- 29. Ft. Indiantown Gap PA. Contact: http://www.wwiiha.org/new/index.php/fig February 2017 WWII – Elbe River Event, February 18, Old Bedford Village, Bedford, PA. regardless of the weather as usual. They still have…
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75th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
The USS Arizona during the attack* Today is the 75th Anniversary of the “Day of Infamy,” as President Roosevelt described it. During a period in which our country and it’s history are beset with enemies from without and within, it is important those Americans who lost their lives in this attack and the brave response…
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Reading Airshow June 2-5, 2016
This year’s Reading event was blessed with reasonably good weather for the first couple of days. The third was another story – more on that later. The 193rd was again out in the farthest reaches of the airport grounds, with a US group largely hiding us from view, but we still got a good…
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Grafton Lantern Tour 2016
The Grafton Lantern Tour is a memorial to the hundreds of Civil War soldiers buried in the Grafton National Cemetery located in Grafton, Taylor County, W.Va. This cemetery is a particularly appropriate location for such a memorial. “In 1867, Maj. R. C. Bates was ordered by the War Department to locate a permanent burial site…
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Fort Frederick Market Fair 2016
Fort Frederick State Park is a Maryland State Park surrounding the restored Fort Frederick, a star fort active in the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and the American Revolution (1775-1783). The fort served as a refuge for settlers and was originally garrisoned by the 60th Regiment of foot and local militia. It was never directly…
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Memorial Day
There are numerous stories and legends about the origin of Memorial Day that have grown up over the last 150-odd years. From the freedmen of Charleston, SC, who cleaned up and landscaped the burial grounds of 257 Union prisoners of war buried at the Hampton Park Race course and then held a memorial service for…
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School of the Longhunter 2016
Prickett’s Fort, near Fairmont, WV, held its annual School of the Longhunter once again this year and as usual, it was an excellent event. According to the official website, “Pricketts Fort, constructed in 1774, provided a place of refuge from American Indian attack for early settlers. It was built at the confluence of Pricketts Creek…
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Fort Indiantown Gap 2016
This year, The Battle of the Bulge Reenactment was held from January 27-31. On the way up on Friday, we had a harrowing drive through a white-out in western Maryland and, having been in one fender-bender already this winter, the thought of turning around and going home did cross my mind. But we toughed it…
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2016 Events
The following is starter calendar for the 2016 Reenacting season. More to follow. January 2016 WWII – Battle of the Bulge Reenactment, January 27 – 31. Ft. Indiantown Gap PA. Contact: http://www.wwiiha.org/new/index.php/fig February 2016 WWII – Elbe River Event, February 27, Old Bedford Village, Bedford, PA. regardless of the weather as usual. They still have…
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School of the Longhunter 2015
The School of the Longhunter, held at Prickett’s Fort State Park, Fairmont, WV, is a two-day seminar which takes in a variety of subjects relevant to anyone who participates in 18th Century living history or even just has an interest in that time period. This year, the event was held on April 9th and 10th…
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Grafton Lantern Tour
Grafton, West Virginia – Grafton National Cemetery Lantern Tour On Friday evening, May 22, at 8:30 p.m. There will again be a living history tour of the Grafton National Cemetery. Tour leader Mark Tennant will lead the tour of Civil War graves in the cemetery. Mark and reenactor assistants dressed in Civil War period…
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FIG 2015
Occuring as usual during the last week of January, this year’s FIG event was a particularly cold one. Once again, Linda and I joined the folks at the German hospital to assist with the living history. I am not sure what the standing temperatures were for the weekend, but the wind chill was impressive. To…
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Upcoming 2015 Events – January through April
The following is what I have so far for our general region. Some events have not yet released their 2015 event information. Check back for updates and additions. January 2015 WWII – Battle of the Bulge Reenactment, January 27 – February 1. Ft. Indiantown Gap PA. Contact: http://www.wwiifederation.org February 2015 Civil War – February 20-22,…
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Old Bedford Village 2014
This year the annual battle between Grossdeutschland and their invited units and the 193rd Rifle Division, their comrades the 9th Guards and other gallant Red Army units, took place on the weekend of November 7-9, 2014. This year, the scenario involved the Red Army’s advance into Poland. As has been the case for the last…
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Veterans Day
A sincere thanks to all veterans out there!
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Cedar Creek 150th Anniversary Reenactment
The 150th Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek took place on the weekend of Octorber 17-19, 2014.I had not attended this event for some time and was looking forward to going back. It also promised to be the largest Civil War reenactment that Linda had experienced. We went down Thursday in order…
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Chief Logan Civil War Reenactment 2014
News Flash! The following is a report from our correspondent, Bill Donegan from the field in the Southern Mountains: Federal Battalion wiped out! A Federal Battalion led by Captain Steve Allen was wiped out to a man at Chief Logan State Park on Saturday September 27, 2014. The Federal objective was to capture…
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Old West Weekend, Old Bedford Village, 2014
OBV’s Old West Weekend is always a real hoot and this year, Linda and I got to take my granddaughters to share in the fun. We made this a day trip, so I can’t address the whole weekend, but there was a lot going on while we were there. Starting off on Saturday morning, we…
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Reading Airshow 2014
The following is part of a group of reports that are regretably late due to several months of intermittent illness and other projects which demanded my attention. Anyway, here goes: On the first week of June, we made our annual trip to the Reading Airshow. The 193rd was once again as far back in the…
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Philippi Blue-Gray Reunion May 31, 2014
This event usually occurs at the end of May or the first week in June. Often it happens on the same weekend as the Reading Airshow, so I have rarely attended. The last two years, these events have occurred on different weekends, so that hasn’t been a problem. The reenactment commemorates the “Philippi Races”…
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New Market Pt. II
The following is Captain Chuck Critchfield’s AAR from New Market: This year’s reenactment at New Market, Virginia, marked the 150th anniversary of the battle fought in a thunderstorm and made famous thanks to the Virginia Military Institute. But it was also a milestone for member of the 1st West Virginia who participated in the 125th…
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Battle of New Market Reenactment 2014
The 125th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of New Market, Virginia, was my first experience in Reenacting in May of 1989. So it was fitting that I made it back for the 150th this year, also the 25th year in the hobby for myself and Mark Tennant, 1st Sgt. of our unit, Co. A, First…
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Memorial Day
Please remember the real American heroes… (from Wikipedia)
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Fort Frederick Market Fair
This year, Linda and I attended our first Market Fair at Fort Frederick in Maryland. I have been hearing about this event for years, but have never gone. I am glad that we finally did so. Located just off I-70 near Clear Springs, MD, Fort Frederick is in and of itself worthy of a visit.…
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School of the Longhunter
This year, for the first time, I attended the annual School of the Longhunter at Prickett’s Fort, (April 3-4) accompanied by my wife, Linda. The School is pretty much a symposium on 18th Century frontier life and covers a variety of subjects and activities. For example, the program started with an in-depth discussion of tumplines…
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MTA 2014
For a change of pace for me this year, Linda and I attended MTA at the Jamestown Settlement as mere tourists, rather than participants. Because of this, we were able to actually take our time and look at every exhibit in depth and at our leisure. Certainly a different feeling than the usual ‘stealing a…
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The GAP 2014
The reenacting/living history season, for many of us, begins at Fort Indiantown Gap during the Battle of the Bulge reenactment week. (Last week of the month). This year was no exception, as Linda and I once again were part of the German hospital display hosted by Pete and Kate Gentry. As usual, I portrayed a…
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After action report: OBV/Elbe Tactical, Bedford, Pa. 2014
The following is a report from our correspondent, Bill Donegan, just back from the front: For those who don’t know or who have never been, you can time travel back to Germany 1945 via Old Bedford Village (OBV). OBV is located 1 minute from the Pa. Turnpike off exit 146 Bedford, 220 Sawblade…
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Raise a Glass of Vodka to Sergei Mosin and Leon Nagant
The following is a reprint of a wonderful bit of philosophy from my good friend, Patricia: The Mosin Nagant is truly a manly piece of hardware. Let’s discuss why. 1: First, the Poison Maggot is a time proven design. Dating from 1891, all the bugs have been worked out. This assumes there were any bugs…
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Burning Springs Documentary Filming
Here is the latest dispatch from our correspondent, Bill Donegan: Thanks to Jack and Tonya Daft I was able to participate in the making of a documentary about the oil and gas history in the Kanawha Valley area. “Burning Springs” is a documentary produced by Motion Masters, a Charleston, W.Va. company that has produced…
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Ukraine 1944 – Old Bedford Village Fall event 2013
The scene is Ukraine in 1944: The Ukrainian people find themselves in the middle of a three-way struggle during what seems like an endless and brutal war. On the weekend of November 9-10, 2013, this scenario played out at Old Bedford Village in the annual fall battle tactical between Grossdeutschland Division and the 193rd Rifle…
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Great War Association Fall event – 2013
On Friday, November 1, I once again made the trip to Newville, PA for the Great War Association’s Fall WWI event. The parking lot was full, indicating a good turnout and the Flea Market was extensive and busy. This year, the weather was quite favorable during the event and although the sky clouded up Saturday…
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Burning Springs
The following is a post from our correspondent, Bill Donegan: Thanks to Jack and Tonya Daft I was able to participate in the making of a documentary about the oil and gas history in the Kanawha Valley area. “Burning Springs” is a documentary produced by Motion Masters, a Charleston, W.Va. company that has produced…
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Droop Mountain 150th
The West Virginia Reenactor’s Association held it’s reenactment commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Droop Mountain on Labor Day weekend this year due to a scheduling conflict later in the fall. While the event lacked the attraction of colorful autumn leaves, which it normally has, the park is still a remarkably beautiful…
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Tank Farm 2013
The weekend of August 21-22, the Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles (http://www.vmmv.org) and the Americans in Wartime Museum ( http://www.nmaw.org), held their annual open house. The weekend offered a little bit of everything. In addition to the usual array of military vehicles and reenactors, there was a diorama of the invasion of peleliu made entirely from…
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Remagen Bridge Reenactment 2013
Here is a report on the event at Tidioute, PA this past weekend, by our correspondent, Bill Donegan: Do you know what God did this year at the Tideoute event? First I have to set this up for you. Mr. Ken Hechler used to be Secretary of State for West Virginia. He was a member…
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Review – Gettysburg Reenactment – Blue Gray Alliance June 27-29
The Following is a report on the Blue-Gray Alliance version of the 150th Gettysburg reenactment from our correspondent, Chuck Critchfield: Greetings Attached is my report on the recent disagreement at the town of Gettysburg Scenarios We started the weekend with McPherson’s Ridge on Friday morning. We were up early and on the road (more about…
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Reading Airshow – June 7,8,9 2013
As some of you know, I have had a very demanding year and this has resulted in the blog being neglected. Hopefully, my health problems have straightened out and now I am getting happily settled into a new marriage and a new home. Hopefully, I will be able to get things in order on this…
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150th Chancellorsville- May 3-5 2013
The following is a report from our correspondent, Nick Korolev: From the Living History Camp The 150th Battle of Chancellorsville on the W. J. Vakos Companies property at Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA presented living history, battle reenactments, plus a huge selection of sutlers, the First Brigade Band from Milwaukee, MI playing period music, the U.…
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THE LONG ROAD HOME EVENT : FALL OF RICHMOND – APRIL 5-7, 2013
The following is a report from our correspondent, Nick Korolev: The third of five annual events in the Long Road Home program leading up to the 150th anniversary of the surrender at Appomattox continued April 5-7, 2013 at Clover Hill Village in Appomattox, VA with the Fall of Richmond. It was hosted by Appomattox…
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Federal Generals’ Corps at the Dr. Samuel Mudd House
The following is a report from our correspondent, Nick Korolev: Federal Generals’ Corps at the Dr. Samuel Mudd House March 22-24 , 2013 the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Society hosted the Boy & Girl Scout encampment and the Battle of Zechiah Swamp activity on the grounds of the historic Dr. Samuel Mudd…
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Mayday, Mayday, Mayday in Connecticut! Part II
Here is an update on the ongoing situation in Connecticut from our friend on the scene: Hello All: Things look very gloomy here in Connecticut. Monday afternoon the Governor and his party just released their bill to punish gun owners in this state for the crimes of an evil man. They have mercilessly exploited…
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16th Annual Scary Creek Battle
Here is a report from our correspondent, Bill Donegan: From March 21 through 24th the Valley Park, Hurricane Civil War Week-end was held as the tribute to the sesquicentennial. The public was invited to visit the campsites, meet President Lincoln (Fritz Klein) as well as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, who gave talks…
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Gun Control III – Mayday, Mayday, Mayday from Connecticut
We got this in today via another of the Reenactor Yahoo! groups: A call to arms for all re-enactors. We are all being affected by the tragic event at Sands Hook. Unfortunately for WW2 and other Re-enactment here in Connecticut our future looks dim. The governor is overriding the Gun Task Force recommendations and…