I, along with six of my pards from Company B, 4th. Texas, participated in the "Lincoln 200 Bicentennial Event" at the Independence National Park, in Philadelphia, over the 4th. of July weekend. We portrayed a small group of Confederate POW's waiting to be transported to Fort Delaware. We had a ball all weekend.

The "Military" camp was set up on the lawn in front of the National Constitution Center. Most of the Federal Units had static displays, which IMHO are outstanding for discribing the Civil War to people with very little knowledge of the period. We POW's, in contrast, were "camping" with nothing but what the soldiers would have had on campaign, less our weapons and accouterments. It made for quite a contrast. We spent most of the weekend making pests of ourselves to our Yankee guards. The "Good Sport" award goes to Bill Hardy, who allowed himself to be shackled and marched around the camp, under guard. By Sunday morning, after we ended the Federal's morning dress parade, with a cheer for Jeff Davis and Texas, the Yankees had enough. They marched us around the corner of the building, out of sight of the spectators, and "shot" us! (There was no actual shooting of any kind this weekend.)

From time to time, the Yankees would march us around the entire event site, under guard. A three block walk would take about an hour, since we would be stopped for picture taking with the kids every ten feet. We kept track, and we had folks from thirty-seven different countries visit our camp. Most of them left with a photo of them wearing a Confederate jacket and slouch hat. I'd love to know what they'll tell the folks at home about those photos.

One ongoing activity was trying to talk the Yankees out of their guns. From time to time it worked. There was a big parade on  Saturday, that we didn't participate in. Seemed pretty silly to have a few unarmed Confederates in a parade to honor Lincoln, so we volunteered to guard the camp. One unit left an un attended Enfield rifle when they marched off, so for a while I was the only armed person in camp. (The NPS would not have been happy if they saw that rifle before I did!)

It's been a long time since I've had so much fun wearing wool in July.

Bill,

Saw you and your pards on television. It looked like a nice encampment and many spectators. The National Constitution Center (which I join each year) is a great place to visit as they usually have a revolving display on various topics. I encourage anyone who plans to visit the area to visit the National Constitution Center.

Marc,

The displays were outstanding. The Engineers, the Medical Corps, USCT, and Naval displays were especially good. The shackles that Bill Harding wore came from the USCT display.

You're right, the Constitution Center is interesting. Eighteen dollars to visit, is a little much, especially in today's economy.  

Bill

Sounds like a fun weekend.  We did a local parade on the 4th and did a small talk with some scouts before the parade.  They wanted to know about an event to come visit to watch, so I suggested they come watch Ridley Creek.

Sometimes, it these types of moments that the next batch of reenactors are created from..

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The displays were outstanding. The Engineers, the Medical Corps, USCT, and Naval displays were especially good.

Bill:
 Thanks for the kind comments. Although I did not attend this event, our Naval personnel, the USS Lehigh Crew, was there with some of their display. I'll pass along your compliments to them.
Respectfully,  

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BobWerner wrote : the USS Lehigh Crew, was there with some of their display. I'll pass along your compliments to them. Respectfully,

Bob,

Please do. The crew of the USS Lehigh were set up right next to us. They had a great display of mines and torpedos. That awning they have is really impressive. (It's a copy of the awning used over the turret on the USS Lehigh) You can also thank them for the donuts, both Saturday and Sunday mornings!    

--Last edited by Bill on 2009-07-06 22:35:22 --

Funny,

When I woke up on Saturday morning, my stomach muscles were sore as the devil. I couldn't think of anything I'd done to work my muscles that hard, and then it dawned on me. I had my picture taken about a bizillion times on Friday and sucked in my gut for every photo!

All those nice tourists gave me a great work-out!    

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Bill wrote : Funny, When I woke up on Saturday morning, my stomach muscles were sore as the devil. I couldn't think of anything I'd done to work my muscles that hard, and then it dawned on me. I had my picture taken about a bizillion times on Friday and sucked in my gut for every photo! All those nice tourists gave me a great work-out!

Bill

I hear you on that.. I saw some of the photos from our parade on Saturday.  And I realize I need to truly hit the trail more and drop some more weight.