Forming up - This was the scene in the back yard of the "Federal Hill" property in Fredericksburg at about 10 AM. There are about four federal companies in this shot, all representing the Irish Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. My pard Spanky and I fell in with the 28th Massachusetts.
Federal Hill - This was an impressive old home built in 1792 situated on Hanover Street. Wings have been added to it over the years, and it sits on a few acres of land. Unfortunately, my daughter's Nikon Coolpix L4 was having problems with the harsh light that day, and exposed the shot for the foreground, consequently the whites of the house are burned out. I hope my new Coolpix S200 does better. (I couldn't use it - it's a Christmas present.) NOTE: Interesting article about Federal Hill here.
Street Wounded - This was Hanover Street next to the house for the 11:30 AM battle - a rolling street fight. As you can see both Yanks and Rebs took hits.
After the battle; the women - At the end of the battle, when bodies were strewn all over Hanover Street, the local female citizenry came and... did what, I'm not entirely sure. Looked for familiar dead, I guess. On the left, you can see one young Yank holding a box. I'm not sure if he's running ammunition to the front or is caught looting. (There was an amusing looting scenario going on during the battle as Yanks were removing silverware and paintings from one house, and being chased by the women - who were doing some bad acting and smiling all the while.) Not to be ungallant, but the woman in front, in brown, is doing a very poor impression of 1862 dress styles as she should be wearing a corset. 1860's fashions for women were tailored and shapely. By the way, an unusual feature of this event was hearing children sing Christmas carols on the Federal Hill property while the wounded were groaning and the dead were laid out on Hanover Street.
Odd tableau - During the battle one young man took a hit and the other (friend? brother? lover? I was never sure) went into prolonged shock and mourning. This went on for almost an hour. He was constantly being comforted by some women. Weird. I have no idea if that Technicolor blanket is authentic.
Marye Street halt - The 3 PM battle was up Marye Street. Here we are, at a halt. As you can see, the boys put boxwood sprigs in their forage caps as the Irish Brigade did.
Garland on the colors - A seasonal touch on the Irish Brigade colors.
The Corporal of Death - I gave him that nickname just for the heck of it.
Wall of Rebs - This is what greeted us at the top of Marye Street, where the Sunken Road park was located. The event sponsors built a plywood wall to resemble - from a distance - the wall in front of the Sunken Road. Not bad. That spikey wooden thing at right is a cheveaux-de-frise, meant to thwart both cavalry and infantry. A couple of Reb cannon were at the top of the ridge. Pretty impressive. Also impressive was a car that was parked on the street across from this park. (All the other cars were moved out of the way.) I guess that person was out of town or refused to move. So the event sponsors threw a canvas tent over it in an attempt to convince living historians doing a first person impression to not see it. (“Say, where are those round black rubber things under that tent?”)
Dead in front of the wall - We took lots of hits in front of the wall. That's the way it was
Reloading - One gallant yank reloads in the face of withering fire!!! You can see the heelplates most of us wear - they make the leather heels last longer and provide somewhat better traction on grass, dirt and mud. On pavement, they can be very slippery. I kept trying to get a shot of the Irish flag when it unfurled, but as it was a still day, it didn't unfurl very often. (The weather was a very pleasant 55 degrees or so, and still and clear.)
Rebs grabbing equipment - I withdrew at one point because it was getting a bit tricky. When we're not aligned in company front, sometimes guys get careless about where their muskets are in relation to one's head. (One guy was about to fire just behind my head and to the side a bit until I stopped him and had him get safely up on line.) I'm not at all a fan of prone firing at reenactments... At any rate, the Rebs looted the Yank dead for rifles, belts, etc. in front of the wall, just as they did 145th years earlier. Taps was blown, all was quiet, and then a Reb gave a cheer. End of battle. It was certainly novel, doing a December event on the original battlefield. I give it an 8.0 on the Event-O-Meter.
Me - I couldn't resist. Merry Christmas!
Traffic mishap - Despite the roar and carnage of battle, by far the worst thing I saw that day was this accident. That's what looks like a fully-restored 1950-something VW Bug ragtop crushed beside a concrete wall by a taxi cab. I don't know if those two rasta-looking guys drove the taxi or the bug. Bizarre accident. If I had to guess, ganja was involved.