"On the morning of Feb. 22, 1864 in Hillsborough, Ohio, a crowd gathered for a celebration of Washington's Birthday. "The usual monotony of our peaceful and quiet town was agreeably broken," wrote the local newspaper, the Highland Weekly News, when three cavalry companies forming the 24th Battalion of the Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, armed and equipped with sabres and carbines, paraded in front of the public square. No one but the officers knew what would happen. In short time, "the 4-pounder known as ‘Old Red' was brought out, and a gun-squad formed of a number of veteran volunteers." Then the cavalry galloped off to the outskirts of town, the artillery took position and the infantry began building breastworks.
Finally, "the secret was out," the paper reported. There was to be a sham battle, and once the crowd realized what was coming, the "excitement rose to fever heat," and "expectation stood on tip-toe." With the crack of pistols and carbines, hand-to-hand combat and "the sulphurous smoke of powder" — not to mention women screaming, boys yelling in delight and men and horses mingled in an inextricable mess, the scene is reported to have portrayed "a vivid imitation of the stern realities of war."
We tend to think of Civil War reenactment as a modern phenomenon, a way for people in the 20th and 21st centuries to experience a taste of what the conflict was like. But in fact, staged battles began while the war was still underway. Known as "sham battles," "mock battles" or "mimic battles," these battles were enacted for a variety of reasons: entertainment, practice and to demonstrate to civilians back home what happened during the war…"
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