Some things are quintessentially Hoosier in nature.
The Civil War is not one of those things.
It’s true that we were only one vote away from seceding with the Confederacy, but other than that, Indiana does not figure prominently in Civil War History. The folks at Civil War Indiana might disagree, I suppose, but I’d still say that we’re not known for playing a large role in that particular historical period.
However, in looking for new Indiana experiences, there was one irresistible thing: Civil War Days in Hartford City.
I’ve seen the signs for Civil War Days for years. I’ve even contemplated going. During my time at a rural Indiana college, I often drove past the event grounds on my way to my Grandma Ruthie’s house. Still, until yesterday, I had never attended Civil War Days.
My friend Elaine and I decided it was time to fix that.
Elaine is one of my best friends from college. She lives in Chicago, which isn’t too far away from where I am in Indiana, but is obviously very far from where I’ve been living in New Hampshire. The last time we got together, it was for a brief shopping excursion in Fort Wayne while I was home for Christmas. I was super pregnant with Chuck and bought myself some cute redbird earrings. That was almost two years ago.
To celebrate our reunion, we thought we would do something unusual. Civil War Days fit the bill.
We arrived in Hartford City separately. There was ample parking in the grassy field outside of the grounds, and we paid our $6 admission fee. I appreciate that their “kids are free” policy extends all the way up to four years old—I could take Chuck to this thing for free for the next three years!
As we were paying, the admission person asked, “Would you like some gold coins?” I was sad to learn that it wasn’t some sort of special currency you had to purchase to use at the event—she just meant that she had some Grant and Lincoln silver dollars available as change. Elaine took some; I didn’t.
The first thing we encountered were the fair food carts. Tenderloins, funnel cakes, hot dogs—all the usual stuff. We decided to order a baker’s dozen mini-donuts and some mini-corn dogs. I’m not sure that they really needed to advertise by stapling mini-donuts and mini-corn dogs to a board outside the food truck, because I’m pretty sure the description of the food is effective enough on its own, but that’s how they promoted the food.
The mini-donuts, to my surprise, were topped with an assortment of sauces, powders, and sugars. They were delicious. Every fair should have mini-donuts like this. In fact, every restaurant should have mini-donuts like this!
After the food carts, we walked down a little hill into the shopping part of Civil War Days. There were plenty of spectators like us in our street clothes, but also many, many people in full Civil War clothing. Some were walking around, others were on horses, a few were giving presentations, and quite a lot of them were selling stuff. It was a bit like the sort of stuff you might find at any Indiana craft fair or small town festival, but it definitely skewed toward Civil War-era. There were dressmakers, leather workers, blacksmiths, weapons-makers, and people selling stuff like clay marbles (see: unglazed balls of fired ceramic) and antique scissors.
Of course, I loved it.
I didn’t have any money to buy souvenirs, but I did take Chuck to hear a dude who sounded suspiciously like Zach Galifianakis perform as Brigadier General John Buford. He told of his involvement at the Battle of Gettysburg, and then he signed autographs for the children. Chuck carried his portrait with us for the rest of the day. She looked so proud of herself for winning such a great prize!
After the shopping, Elaine and I walked into the Union camp pushing Chuck in her stroller.
Where did all of these people come from? Lines and lines of white tents trailed through the field. All of these people were camping at Civil War Days, and it appeared that all of their camp gear, clothing, furniture, blankets, and everything else were as authentic as they could make them. They were cooking their sausage and griddle cakes in cast iron skillets. They were laying in the shade, napping in big groups. The women wore hoop skirts, and the men carried their rifles.
There were log cabins at the back of the property, where we picked up our “pay” at the pay station (Chuck got another price—a three cent note), peeked into the root beer-serving saloon, ran into a few people I know from childhood and college (spectators, not particpants), and talked to some of the people in costume.
We walked somewhat uncomfortably through the Confederate camp after that, and I wondered what would make a person come to a Civil War reenactment camp and choose to be a Confederate family/soldier.
We left before the 2:00 battle demonstration, but only because Chuck was starving and I was getting close to it. Plus, our friend Lana, who does not care for historical reenactment events, was waiting for us to pick her up for lunch. As we headed out, the Confederate soldiers were starting to make formations and march toward the big open field between their tents and the Union soldiers’ tents.
I’ve got to say, I would go back to this thing. I would love to go back with my nieces and nephews sometime, especially as they get old enough to poke around and ask questions. The only real drawback was that I couldn’t tell who was supposed to be answering questions, and who was just participating. Usually, when I’m camping, I don’t go peering into other people’s campsites, and yet that seemed to be the purpose of this particular event. I don’t imagine myself becoming a Civil War re-enactor, but I will definitely go back next year and try to catch one of the battles!
I was at that event participating as a confederate soilder. I see one of your concerns was you didn’t know who to talk to if you had questions. That’s the great thing about these events. All of us who are participating are willing to answer all of the questions we can. All of us are very knowledgable of the time period and the events that took place during the war. Any questions you have, can be answered by any one of us. I’m glad you had a good time. The battle was the best part, you should stay next time and watch, it really puts perspective on things.
Thanks for the feedback, Mark! I really wish our schedule would have allowed us to stay for a battle–it’s definitely on my To Do list for next fall! I appreciate you taking the time to chime in and share your thoughts. Maybe I’ll see you there!