As part of our Civil War history lesson we were treated to two demonstrations of warfare. First was the operation of two types of big guns. The demo took some time but real soldiers could load and shoot these guns about 4 times a minute.
The second demo was of an infantry battle. This is the gray line with the big guns behind them.
Part of the blue line with returning scouts. (Yes, they were kids, but back then kids 12 and up were men.)
The blue line was split into two units, one on the other side of the gazebo. To get a better idea of the conditions, consider the gazebo a hill and ten men for each one here.
To engage the enemy, each side advanced and shot, then advanced and shot until they came within range and somebody went down. The blue line on the far side was fired on by the big guns, while the gray line advanced across the grass (think over a small hill down into a gully then out among the creosote, pallo verde and cactus.)
Meanwhile Union sharpshooters were flanking the big guns to take them out and come up behind the gray line.
It works. A rebel is the first casualty.
A Union man down.
The shooting’s over. Time for the final rush and hand-to-hand combat.
The surviving leaders agree on who won.
There were some people who didn’t think much of this little demo. I guess they didn’t have the imagination to see the rough terrain, the large numbers of soldiers, the smoke, or to hear the constant loud bangs of the weapons or the wild yells of charging soldiers, the moans of the injured and dying.
After the demos, we continued our tour of the village. Some things I thought interesting were the gallows directly across from the sheriff’s office/courtroom/jail.
The church was decked out for a wedding.
From humble roots…
A reminder of our violent past.
Jan looking in, deciding how she’s going to redecorate.
After everyone had enough visiting with each other and touring the village, we said goodbye to Brock and Leola,
mounted up and retraced our route home.
Duane and I enjoyed our visit to the village but thought that with more funding and costumed interpreters it could be first rate.
Louise and Duane
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