GUNS Magazine March 1958

REENACTMENTS OF OLD BATTLES.
AND MATCHES PITTING MUSKETS AGAINST GARANDS,
MIX MARKSMANSHIP WITH HISTORY
By WILLIAM B. EDWARDS
S AMERICA nears the centennial
A of the bloodiest war in our history,
it comes as a surprise to some and fun
to others that the Civil War is being
fought again. This is not just talk, this
is action. Across fields where once the
zip! of "Minny balls" kept soldiers'
heads down, bronze field guns still lob
their iron shot into "enemy" ranks,
and Yanks in Blue compete with Rebs
in Gray for the honors of the day.
Muzzle-loading fans, historical and
~ivic restoration groups, are all in the
'fight." But instead of the bitterness
vhich marked the fraternal conflict of
1861, today's Civil War is one happy
get-together as comrades wearing the
Blue and the Gray reunite for another
simulated battle.
Current enthusiasm for fighting the
Civil War over again is hard to "type."
It isn't exactly kid stuff. The arms used
are those once carried in the battles
which dot our history books, but uniforms
are hard to get. The old military
goods firm of Bannerman in New
York, has, they think, been pretty well
cleaned out of Civil War equipment.
Replica uniforms carefully sewn by
wife or sweetheart, are as authentic as
imitations can be of century-old
clothes made when homespun was the
rule. Leather holsters, cartridge boxes,
are either original or accurate copies.
And the refought battle may be planned
with full comprehension of the original
fight.
At Lexington, Missouri, in May,
students of Wentworth Military Acad-
Man of Huron Rangers, in 1861 "Co. E,
Fifth Michigan." fires M I86 1 Special
musket at Greenfield Village shoot.
Detailed replica 2v2" howitzer is loaded
by men of 1st Mich. (Detroit) Volunteer
Artillery. Gun fires cement-filled tin cans.