Re-enactors bring Civil War back to life

Civil War re-enactors and history buffs alike converged in Bristow on Saturday at the same spot Union and Confederate troops did just 145 years earlier.

An event to commemorate the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Bristoe gave more than 250 spectators the chance to see one of the last major northern battles of the Civil War brought to life..

Over the weekend more than 100 re-enactors dressed from head to toe in clothing from the era, carried rifles and military field gear, ate fried chicken and other rations and slept on the ground for two nights.

They said it was the way soldiers in 1863 would have done it.

“This is sort of a trial run for the 150th anniversary remembrance of the Civil War; many of those celebrations will take place here,” said David M. Born, site manager for Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park.

The organizers of the two-day, three-night event said the re-enactors are from all walks of life: retired military, national park rangers, white and blue workers, all who like to discuss the research they’ve done on the Civil War.

Bristoe Station park, now surrounded by suburban townhomes and shopping centers, once served as the site of a bloody military engagement where more than 1,300 Confederate soldiers perished, said James Owens, an employee of the U.S. Postal Service in Washington, D.C.

Owens said his job keeps him busy during the week, but with a degree in museum studies and a minor in history, the battlefield is where his love for the past can shine through.

As the story goes, Union and Confederate troops spent much of Oct. 14, 1863 moving heavy equipment and artillery.

As the Confederate soldiers crept closer to the federal city, Union Army soldiers were tasked to protect Washington at all costs, said Owens.

While moving equipment, the Union Army was retreating from another earlier engagement. They were heading toward Washington along railroad tracks, using nearly the same route Virginia Railway Express trains use today.

When Confederate soldiers saw the Union troops, Owens said they mistook them for stragglers from a larger group of enemy troops who passed through the area earlier in the day.

With poor reconnaissance and planning by the Confederates, the Union Army engaged the Confederates and the battle began.

“The federals, behind the railroad, rose up and fired into them and the [Confederate troops] basically met a wall of lead,” said James Owens, Civil War re-enactor.

In addition to the barrage of bullets coming from the tracks, three Union artillery batteries poured heavy fire onto the unsuspecting Confederates. Owens said they were “shot to pieces.”

The re-enactor added it was the last time the Confederates would bring the fight north of the Rappahannock River.

The battle served as a major turning point for the northern army, said Owens.

He and the participants, called living history re-enactors, said they do their best to bring the spirit of that time alive through their dress and actions, so others too can experience another place in history.

Dressed in heavy wool uniforms, strapped with leather belts and armed with swords and muskets, they depict the horrors of what battle might have been like during those bloody years.

“I knew that I needed to get into the Civil War, but at that point I could only tell you who won the war … it’s kindled a pretty wild interest in Civil War history for me,” said Barry Turner of Montclair.

Turner’s 16-year-old son, Michael, was one of the re-enactors on the field Saturday.

He said Michael became a fan of the Civil War at age four, after watching documentaries about it on the History Channel.

“I’m a northerner born in New York and he was born in Virginia, he came to me one day and said your side won and beat my side,” said his mother, Louise, about her young son’s early interest in the war.

This past weekend’s event also captured the minds of a whole new generation of Civil War buffs.

“I liked seeing all the people and all the medics carry all of the [wounded] guys off the field, they were all screaming ‘ooh no! My leg, my leg,’ ” said Mason Edwards, 8, of Bristow.

Mason said he is glad he didn’t have to live during that time.

His parents said they came late to the event, but are glad they live so close to so much history.

“You can read about it, you can write about it and you can learn about it in a book. It’s a whole different story when you can see something,” said Michele Edwards of Bristow.

Uriah A. Kiser is a staff writer at the News & Messenger.