The Civil War Comes To Brunswick Community Library
By Amy Modesti
Town of Brunswick residents and Civil War buffs attended the first ever Civil War living history event on Saturday, July 13 at the Brunswick Community Library. Despite the intense humidity, residents enjoyed learning about the personal life and journey of the men, women, and children who lived through the Civil War era.
The NYS Third Light Artillery and Champlain Rifles from Dover, VT, took part in this event in partnership. Residents learned how to shoot a musket and a cannon, watched a drummer boy perform a solo on a snare drum, and learned how muskets and farming tools were used. Attendees also learned how injured soldiers were cared for during the Civil War, and about the women’s roles both as housewives and as members of the artillery.
For most of the afternoon, patrons watched demonstrations for loading and shooting of muskets and battle cannon. Young children took part in playing a stick and hoop toss game outdoors with Civil War females dressed in long, hooped, old fashioned dresses.
The NYS Third Light Artillery and Champlain Rifles will be taking part in a timeline event during the weekend of July 27 as part of the Blueberry Festival in Dover, VT. The groups, along with other re-enactors from the Romans, French and Indian War, World War One and Two, and Vietnam War will re-enact battles and relive those moments of war time.
In the third weekend of August, the groups will also take part in another timeline event held at Schuyler Flats in Menands.