150th Gettysburg

 I remember 15 years ago when I attended the 135th Gettysburg Reenactment. It was to that point, the most physically draining 4 days of my life.
Now that I have returned from the 150th Living History, I must admit that it hit me almost as hard.
I suppose that even though I did quite a bit of  walking in the July heat this time, it wasn't as bad as running in the July heat that time.
Back then, I had a small tent and little equipment, but I had to clear some forest to erect it. This time I had much more equipment and larger canvas to erect, but no clearing was required.
So I guess that it comes down to being 15 years older.

I was the first to arrive at our campsite near the Pennsylvania Monument early in the morning on a sunny June 29th. I wasn't sure how long that I would have to wait for someone from the Parks Dept. to arrive with the OK to start setting up. Fortunately by 9:30, someone did drive by with the go ahead.
Not long afterwards, other participants from the artillery and infantry started to arrive at their neighboring campsites.
It took me less than two hours to set up. Within that time, I drank a half gallon of water and a half gallon of Gatorade. I knew then that I should have brought more.

George was the second to arrive at 4pm, followed by our friends, Carol and Larry Foote.
Within the next 24 hours, the majority of participants from The Society of Civil War Surgeons, the US Sanitary Commission, the US Christian Commission, and various Infantry and Artillery units were on site.

 Over the next few days, we talked to thousands of visitors from all over the globe. The weather was a combination of hot sun, cloudy and oppressive humidity, and rain. Fortunately, most of the rain fell at night.
The Chigger population that soldiers wrote home of 150 years ago had not lessened any. I have the scars to prove it.

I had planned to stay until the morning of the 4th, but being unsure of the Independence Day weather, I broke down my kit on the afternoon of the 3rd when the sun came out for a few hours and dried out my tent and fly. Not a good idea to fold up and store canvas when it's wet.

Back in April, I rented some space from a local storage facility. Before I left town, I dropped off most of my furniture, canvas and lumber, as I will be returning there in August for another event. It seemed easier than carrying all of my gear back and forth again.

Now, as I sit here in my air conditioned apartment, still recovering, it is safe to say that this was my last mega-event. It is unlikely that I'll be around for the 175th, but if I am, I'll be viewing it as a spectator with my grandchildren :o)



These are some of the photos that I was able to capture in and around our camp. If and when I get some others from friends, I'll post them.

Cheers.