Civil War campers spend 18 hours in 1865

THE enemy stood at the other edge of a rain-soaked field, a misshapen line of Johnny Rebs marching into battle.

We waited until they stopped, their front line sizing up our front line of blue uniforms across the grass. Our commander, Union Army Lt. Jefferson Spilman, drew his sword and ordered us to advance with a loud Billy Yank “Hooray.” Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

Our boots and sneakers slogged through the field as the soldiers in front pulled their forage caps lower and steadied their weapons.

I could think of only one thing: Man, this gun was heavy. I was carrying a model 9-pound .57-caliber Enfield musket that was almost as tall as I. When the musket is held properly, the weight rests almost solely on the index and middle finger of the right hand. Mine throbbed with pain.

Spilman yanked me mentally back to the battlefield with another barking command to load muskets. I had marked my man earlier, and now I aimed just above his gray cap. He was probably 10, didn’t like to follow orders and darted around using his wooden musket like a sword. And he wouldn’t settle down after taps last night.

In Civil War parlance, this Sunday boy, this butternut, was mine.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

We shouted our shots in a pretend fury, as the soldiers across the field fixed their muskets on us and began to shoot back. Each time we fired, we had to reload our pretend ammunition. A good soldier could get off three shots in a minute, we were told.

The hardships

I came to Civil War Adventure Camp last summer in Petersburg with a greater-than-average appreciation of the war and American history. I had memorized the Gettysburg Address as a child and as an adult had occasionally stopped at Civil War sites. But I wasn’t a die-hard. I have never been to a reenactment. I was a little fuzzy on my dates and numbers.

This was a unique chance to check out of modern life for 18 hours and live as a common soldier at the Pamplin Historical Park, a 422-acre historical site about 2 1/2 hours south of Washington, D.C.

OK, it seemed a little hokey. But I figured at least I’d get a chance to work through my post-traumatic stress disorder. I had just returned home from a nine-month reporting assignment in Iraq, and the sound of the toaster popping still made me jump.

Fortunately, what is often described as the world’s first modern war was, in 1861, nothing like warfare in 2005. In some ways, the Civil War seemed far worse for a soldier. Your chance of dying was greater. You often went without food, particularly if you were a Confederate soldier. And your enlistment, if you survived the diseases that claimed more lives than battle wounds, could last three years. It was a messy, ugly, uncomfortable war, and that is precisely the message the visionaries behind the Civil War Adventure Camp want to emphasize.

To complete the experience, we were issued reproduction uniforms. (I honored my Illinois heritage and fought for the North.) We were given a jacket, cap, canteen and haversack. The heat and humidity were unbearable, so, with the blessing of the organizers, I stayed in my Marine-green shorts, though they were hardly of the period.

Otherwise we were not supposed to bring any 21st century creature comforts. That meant no wristwatches, no computers, no mobile phones, no video games, no cameras and, sacrifice of all sacrifices, no iPods. We could not bring our own snacks, and our haversacks could be searched at any time.

If you’re really into the Civil War, this is totally your thing. But even if it isn’t, if you can be a good sport, you can still have a great time and learn something.

This is the first year that Pamplin has put on the Civil War camp, which costs $70 per person. Individuals and families can register for general recruitment sessions like the one I attended, which starts at 4 p.m. and ends around 10 a.m. the next day, when campers are formally discharged. Groups of 20 or more can register as a platoon for their own private session. Campers must be at least 8 years old and should be instructed well in advance that complaining about the elements or demanding to go to the bathroom in the middle of a drill is really not cool. After all, this was war.

My fellow recruits were an eclectic mix of kids and adults. Around the campfire, 10-year-old Jake Walker, of Mechanicsville, Va., rattled off statistics about the war and patiently explained the difference between field officers and general officers.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Jake, wearing a Union uniform. Asked why he chose to fight for the North, he explained, “Well, I’m a Southern boy, but I just don’t think war is the way to solve things. The war wasn’t even declared properly.”

With just 18 hours to get a feel for life as a soldier, there isn’t much time for sitting around. You march. You drill. You learn how to use flags to signal the cavalry to retreat.

You eat a Civil War-era supper of beef (or vegetarian) stew and dried hardtack biscuit. You even have to pull guard duty.

Doing battle

AS the light faded into night, I found myself pacing back and forth across a mowed path on the perimeter of camp. Theresa Layman, 50, a resource manager for Virginia State Parks, had brought her 13-year-old daughter, Tory Dandridge.

Layman guarded a 100-foot stretch on one side of me. Earlier, we had muddled through a musket drill. “I never would have survived the first battle,” she observed with a laugh.

It was quiet, and although there wasn’t really anything to guard, I imagined myself back in time, a young farmer who had never seen war up close, now facing it head on.

On April 2, 1865, Union forces assaulted the Confederate line here, overpowering the weakened Southern troops. Seven days later, Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va.

I was giving this a good ponder when Spilman appeared from the shadows.

“What are you supposed to say, private?” he demanded.

“Oh, yeah. Halt. Who goes there?”

“The commander of the watch,” he barked.

At this rate, I was never going to be promoted past private.

Spilman was an excellent leader for Civil War camp. A former Marine, he knew how to keep us in line. He was tough, but we were paying customers, so he was not rigid. Because it was so hot, he allowed us to ditch our wool uniforms if we got overheated. I kept mine on through dinner and then chucked it, as most of my fellow campers did.

We bunked down later that night in a combination of reproduction tents and more modern wooden huts and lodges. As I tried to make myself comfortable in the stale, hot air of the tent, I could hear someone whistling “Oh, Susannah” outside the tent, the tune broken up by the chatter of camp: “Come on, guys, settle down!” “I am too a Yankee!”

The next morning, the bugle sounded at 5:45. As a cloudburst sent sheets of rain down on us, we dragged ourselves to a row of straw bales, waiting to line up for battle.

“Worst night of sleep I’ve had in years,” a man grumbled.

“Those wool blankets,” someone added.

“Can you imagine these guys doing this for four or five years?” said a man. “They’re lice-ridden and tick-ridden living outside like this. That must have been really tough.”

Civil War camp, mission accomplished.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Grab your muskets

GETTING THERE:

From LAX to Dulles International Airport, American and United offer nonstops. Delta also has direct flights (stop, no change of plane). American, America West, AirTran, United, Continental, Delta and US Airways have connecting flights (change of plane).

To Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Alaska flies nonstop. America West flies direct, and America West, US Airways, Continental, Northwest, American and AirTran have connecting flights. To both airports, restricted round-trip fares begin at $198.

From Washington, D.C., take Interstate 95 south to Interstate 85 south, past Richmond, Va. Take Exit 63A (Route 1). Turn left on Route 670 (Duncan Road). Go 1.1 miles past the entrance to Pamplin Historical Park to the sign for the Civil War Adventure Camp.

CIVIL WAR CAMPS:

Pamplin Historical Park & the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, 6125 Boydton Plank Road, Petersburg; (877) PAMPLIN (726-7546) www.civilwaradventurecamp.org. The cost is $70 per person, which includes admission to the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier. Campers must be at least 8 years old. Only those 14 and older carry the reproduction weapons. Anyone younger will be issued wooden toy muskets. Adventure camps are scheduled for Oct. 1-2, Oct. 22-23 and Oct. 29-30; in 2006, May 27-28 (Memorial Day weekend), June 10-11, July 1-2 (Fourth of July weekend), Aug. 5-6, Sept. 2-3 (Labor Day weekend), Sept. 23-24 and Oct. 14-15.

Camp admission includes accommodations, dinner and breakfast rations made from Civil War-era recipes.

TO LEARN MORE:

Petersburg Visitors Center, 425 Cockade Alley, Petersburg, Va.; (800) 368-3595, www.petersburg-va.org.

-- Jackie Spinner