Civil War soldiers prepare for battle

By Jenny Davis

Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 | midnight

William Prescott is prepared for the upcoming Civil War battle. He has his Union uniform hanging in the closet, ready to put on. He has the marching and military drills memorized, and for weeks he has been making 80 rounds of blank ammunition, made of black powder, for his rifle.

For Prescott, his way of learning about history is to live it.

He is one of about 40 local re-enactors who will participate in the third annual Civil War Days in the Battle Born State, presented by The American Civil War Society Inc. in partnership with the Southern Nevada Living History Association.

The Civil War re-enactment will be open to the public on Nov. 1 and 2 at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. The price for admission includes a $5 fee to enter the park per vehicle and a $5 charge for the event per person.

"It's one thing to see history shows on television or learn about it in school," Prescott said. "It's another thing to live it: to touch a uniform, to live a soldier's life for a weekend."

Four battles are re-enacted during the two-day event. Usually, both the Union soldiers and the Confederate soldiers win a battle a day, but the participating soldiers don't start the battle knowing which side is going to win. Only the officers running the units know.

"You have no idea," said Jason Coffey, president of the Southern Nevada Living History Association, who also participates in battles. "You just follow the commands from the officers. If a cannon blast from the other side goes off, you'll hear the officer yell, 'Four soldiers need to die from that cannon blast,' and that's when you find out."

The battles last about 20 minutes, so the "dead" soldiers aren't down on the ground for too long, Coffey said. About 100 combatants are on each side. Re-enactors from surrounding states also participate. About 60 soldiers have rifles while other combatants are on horseback or man the cannons.

Also, youth participate in the battles.

Because Nicholas Weatherman, 13, a student at Ernest Becker Middle School, isn't 14 yet, he can't have a weapon to be a soldier. Instead, children participating are flag bearers, runners or drummers. Weatherman will be a runner carrying messages from officer to officer. However, just because he's a child doesn't mean he might not get "shot" during the re-enactment.

"If I run too slow, and I get tired, I could be shot," Weatherman said.

His commanding officer could yell at him to "die" if he feels he "didn't make it on time."

One of the more fun parts of the battles is dying, said Steve Fields, a local who has participated in Civil War re-enactments across the country.

"It's a blast," he said. "The fun part is dying, but then you get to get up when someone comes along and says, 'OK, you're not dead anymore.'"

Besides the battles, other activities, like an 1860-style baseball game, will go on. Also, civilians dressed in appropriate Civil War style clothes will be on the grounds participating.

Civilian director for the Southern Nevada Living History Association, Lisa Coffey, Jason Coffey's wife, has been making dresses for the event along with other women re-enactors.

The dresses will be typical of the 1860 fashion, which Lisa Coffey described as upside-down funnels. They will have large, puffy sleeves and big hoop skirts.

"The fashion did not do anything to help the war effort," Coffey said with a smile.

Part of Coffey's role as a participant in the event is to know her history so that anyone attending the re-enactment can ask questions about clothes, culture, military routines or anything else about the time.

"I know Civil War history backwards, forwards and every which way," she said. "I can answer questions for anyone who walks by."

She won't be speaking in an accent, however, because she says she's a "Union girl."

Some of the women participating also cook things like potatoes and beef stew in the same fashion that the soldiers would make on the battle field in old cast-iron skillets to make the experience as authentic as possible.

Lisa Coffey added that all the cookware is kept clean and they use fresh water for cooking.

"There are some things we don't want to re-enact, like disease," she said.

Many of the re-enactors stay in the tents over the weekend, stay in their uniforms, eat the traditional Civil War food and sing songs like "Dixie" around campfires while telling 19th century jokes and stories. There is no bug spray, no air conditioning and little outside influence. During the night, soldiers march around with muskets in hand, similar to what happened on a Civil War campground.

"We live what really happened," Prescott said. "It's like a time warp. It's like you went back in time with Michael J. Fox."

Little things like digital cameras and bottled water are around but are not used for re-enactments and are usually hidden when photos are taken, he said.

Cimarron-Memorial High School student Nathan Johnson is participating in the event.

"It's pretty hectic on the battle field. Everything is happening so fast with lots of adrenaline," Johnson said. "I have to be fast in loading my rifle. If I'm not fast in loading when they give the command to shoot, I get confused."

The participants buy or borrow their own uniforms, including the large leather belts and box for ammunition, which costs about $200. They also purchase their own old-fashioned weapons — usually rifles or pistols — which cost about $600.

Arbor View High School student Niall St. John, 17, has been participating in the event for three years and said it teaches him about history in a way he never learns in school.

"After wearing the uniform and carrying around the weight of the weapons, I have gained a greater appreciation for how much they would march in one day in the heat and in horrible conditions," he said.

Jenny Davis can be reached at 990-8921 or [email protected].