Took a Road Trip this weekend with some buds and our kids (4 men and 3 boys) down to Andersonville, GA to visit the site of the notorious Confederate prison camp.
Wow, what a great site. I had not known it was also home to the National POW Museum honoring prisoners of war from all American wars. Brrr, that's a chilling place, but well worth the visit. Very moving. There's also a pretty decent film on the history of Andersonville that's worth seeing.
After trekking around the site, we walked over to the town itself, having learned that by pure chance we had arrived on the weekend of an annual Civil War festival featuring a mock battle by reenactors. We stood behind the Union line as the Confederates advanced down a wooded hillside. The men in butternut and gray briefly drove back a small squadron of Union infantry set to guard the road along the Union right flank, but dismounted Union cavalry armed with repeating carbines showed up to stop that advance, driving the Confederates back into the woods.
In the center, Union skirmishers were also driven back to the Union line, set up behind a low wood fence. At this point the Union cannon opened up, creating great bluster and a good deal of smoke. Confederate cannon answered back, and we could feel the shock waves as they fired in our direction.
A mass of Confederate infantry emerged from the woods, taking position behind another low wooden wall. Fire was exchanged and the Confederates advanced, a significant number achieving the relative safety of a gully that lay before the Union lines. A charge seemed eminent, and when a Union cannon fizzled its shot, we braced for the Confederate charge.
But it was not to be. The Union cavalry commander sent his brave lads with their repeaters around the Confederate left, dispatching the rebels with deadly effect. At the same time, a Union infantry reinforcements arrived on the Confederate right. Caught between these pincers, the Confederates collapsed; fearing envelopment, the center withdrew into the hills, leaving many boys in butternut dead on the field.
The crowd applauded the fine work of the men in blue— though as we made our way back, we heard the definite sounds of a Confederate rally in the distance…
All in all, a most enjoyable weekend, made all the better by the dedication and efforts of those men and women in our sister hobby. Three cheers for the reenactors! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
Man and boy, we had a great time.
