This was something completely new and foreign to me, a battle re-enactment. I am used to getting my history from books and movies...Braveheart anyone? When we read in the local paper that they would be doing a re-enactment of the Battle of Praire Grove, we knew we had to go. Prairie Grove was one of the only 2 Civil War battles fought in Arkansas. (The other was in Pea Ridge in NW Arkansas....and y'all thought we had no interesting history here, huh??)
We started out the day running out to the Fayetteville Farmer's market Christmas show to see what they had and pick up a few things....freshly dried and ground basil (yum!), jams for Christmas presents and handmade soap for my soap stash. Then we had to head back to town (PG) to get in place to watch.
We got out of the truck and I thought oh, it is not too cold.... big mistake! I froze my ass off and my hands for the next 2 hours. It was amazing to see them do the re-enactment. It did move pretty slow, but we in today's fast paced world forget what things were like back then. The first cannon blast, made me...and everyone else jump, I can say I DID not scream like several people around me did!
We watched the south assemble and wait, against a very small union force. Then a larger union force arrived to reinforce the troops already there. Watched them shoot at each other. Watched the south retreat up the hill followed by the union troops, then rally and chase the union troops back down the hill. Lots of cannon fire and shooting. Very clean and probably nothing like the real battle, but it was very interesting.
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| Confederate troops assembling | | | |
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| Continuing to get ready |
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Union cannons shooting back at Confederate troops
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Confederates hunkering down and waiting
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Union reinforcements arrive
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Union troops advance
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| Retreat |
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Union advances farther
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Cavalry retreat
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| Another regiment retreats |
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Union's a comin' to get em
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Union Volley
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| Wounded |
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| Patching up the wounded |
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Union continues to advance up the hill after the confederates
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Union retreating back down the hill
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Confederate troops following the Union back down the hill
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Almost back to where we all started
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End of the battle for the day, several casualties
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As a side note, as I write this, I can here the heavy thumps of cannon fire from today's battle, even miles away. Gives me a tiny hint of how the local residents felt hearing those cannons... confused, curious and probably a bit scared.
