by David Flint
When the scheduled speaker ran into difficulties and was unable to show up at the Stephentown Historical Society meeting Monday evening, two Civil War reenactors saved the day.
[private]Mac McEvilly, co-founder of Morgan’s Artillery Reenactors Group and Bob Shuey of the 125th NY Regimental Association were both in attendance to hear the talk by Lance Ingmire on “The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln as seen through the camera lens of F. W. Ingmire,” When it became apparent that Ingmire could not make it, the two of them filled in with a lively and interesting presentation on Civil War reenactment.
The Largest Reenactment In The World
McEvilly noted that the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg is coming up in July and the reenactment will likely be one of the largest the world has ever seen. Pickett’s Charge against Union positions on Cemetery Ridge was composed of about 12,500 men. The reenactment will have about the same number. And if you have never seen an artillery battery moving six cannons down a dusty road at top speed, each gun pulled by six horses and accompanied by outriders, he guaranteed it’s a sight to behold.
McEvilly said some might find it curious that he, an Irish kid from South Troy, plays the role of a staff artillery officer in the Army of Northern Virginia. In any case, at Gettysburg he will be leading the Confederate artillery battery onto the field of battle.
The Gettysburg reenactment, McEvilly said, will have been super organized down to the last detail. A lot of organizing work goes into most such military history shows, and there are all kinds of directions, schedules and charts to make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be – but in the heat of battle, so to speak, “None of it works right.” A crowd of 150,000 at the very least is expected to attend as spectators. Tickets to the event can be had online at gettysburgreenactment.com – or you could join Morgan’s Artillery.
Bob Shuey said most reenactors are unusual characters because who else would be willing to put up with the hardships involved. He recalled the first big reenactment he was involved in, the 125th anniversary of Gettysburg in 1988. They ate and slept in the field and everything was just like in the army including guard duty, reveille and sick call. They ate a lot of cheese, dried beef and hardtack, experienced a lot of pain, a lot of discomfort and at the end were totally exhausted. It certainly wasn’t really war but did give one a little bit better understanding of what it must have been like.
A lot of people cannot understand why General Meade did not pursue Lee after the battle in 1863 and instead allowed the rebel army to cross the Potomac and extend the war for almost another two years. But the fact is, Shuey believes, after three days of fighting they were all just totally exhausted. And not only that, but it was hot; it was miserable, and all of the junior officers had been killed so that corporals had now become captains. Meade just did not feel it was a good idea to pursue.
But as for reenactment, Shuey said, despite the hardships, no bathing for days and drinking out of the same hole that the horses drink from, “It’s just fun!” It’s not only fun of course. Reenactors have a passion also for learning and for teaching others about our history, Shuey said.
Shuey gave a brief synopsis of the New York 125th Regiment of which Company E was basically a Stephentown unit. (Records compiled by Town Historian Pat Flint show at least 56 men from Stephentown, out of 152 known Stephentown Civil War veterans, were in the 125th.) It was formed in Troy in the summer of 1862 upon Lincoln’s second call for troops. Over 1,200 men enlisted. Since that was more than a full regiment, some of them were assigned to the 169th NY Regiment. The 125th was sent south that summer and immediately became engaged in the battle of Harpers Ferry. After a brief firefight with experienced Virginia troops they were all captured, along with all of the troops of the NY 126th and the NY 39th Regiments. Most of the men never had a chance to fire their brand new Enfield muskets, which the rebels were delighted to relieve them of. The men were put in parole detention at Camp Douglas in Chicago to await their exchange. This was in the early part of the war before prisoner of war camps had been set up by both sides. In 1862 captured troops were kept on parole until they were “exchanged” by trading for an equal number and rank of captured troops on the other side. They were supposed to not fight again, but in practice they usually returned to the war.
The 125th were back in garrison duty in Virginia when they were summoned north to join General Meade who was preparing to attack Lee’s army that was marching down from Harrisburg. At Gettysburg they were sent along with the 126th and 39th NY Regiments by General Hancock to plug a hole left by General Sickles in the Union line on Cemetery Ridge that Mississippi troops were about to take advantage of. In this fighting Brigade Commander Colonel Willard of Troy, who had originally formed the 125th unit, was killed. But the attack was stymied, and killed also was the rebel commander, General William Barksdale, the very same general who had led the same Mississippi boys who had captured the New Yorkers at Harpers Ferry.
The 125th went on to fight with distinction in many of the toughest engagements all through the war right up to the end – and they were present at Appomattox when Lee surrendered.
Shuey was intrigued with a Union officer’s coat and saber that the Historical Society had on display and was able to give a detailed explanation of the makeup and purposes of both. Some Civil War medals were also on display, and Shuey pointed out two of particular interest. One was given out to the 125th veterans on the Gettysburg battlefield some time after the War. The other was also awarded to the veterans of the 125th, along with a book on the history of the Regiment, in 1889 at the time of the dedication of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Troy.
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