Civil War re-enactors bring history to life at Calico Ghost Town

Nevada association offers living history programs for schools

photos by david becker/viewClockwise from top left, Doug Carroll, left, and Sam Frankl, far right, both from Southern California, lead a Union Army cannon up a small incline during the mock battle during the annual President?s Day weekend Civil War re-enactment at Calico Ghost Town in California, Feb. 16. Members of the Nevada Civil War History Association participated in the event. The group is dedicated to presenting living history programs to schoolchildren throughout Clark County. Las Vegas resident Steve Fields raises his hat while posing as a Union soldier with the rest of his company. Confederate soldiers take a glance back at a fallen soldier. President Abraham Lincoln, also known as Don Ancell of Oxnard, Calif., reviews the Union soldiers. photos by david becker/viewClockwise from top left, Doug Carroll, left, and Sam Frankl, far right, both from Southern California, lead a Union Army cannon up a small incline during the mock battle during the annual President?s Day weekend Civil War re-enactment at Calico Ghost Town in California, Feb. 16. Members of the Nevada Civil War History Association participated in the event. The group is dedicated to presenting living history programs to schoolchildren throughout Clark County. Las Vegas resident Steve Fields raises his hat while posing as a Union soldier with the rest of his company. Confederate soldiers take a glance back at a fallen soldier. President Abraham Lincoln, also known as Don Ancell of Oxnard, Calif., reviews the Union soldiers. photos by david becker/viewClockwise from top left, Doug Carroll, left, and Sam Frankl, far right, both from Southern California, lead a Union Army cannon up a small incline during the mock battle during the annual President?s Day weekend Civil War re-enactment at Calico Ghost Town in California, Feb. 16. Members of the Nevada Civil War History Association participated in the event. The group is dedicated to presenting living history programs to schoolchildren throughout Clark County. Las Vegas resident Steve Fields raises his hat while posing as a Union soldier with the rest of his company. Confederate soldiers take a glance back at a fallen soldier. President Abraham Lincoln, also known as Don Ancell of Oxnard, Calif., reviews the Union soldiers. Advertisement

Once you're off the main highway, the long road out is dusty. The walk to the site becomes a trek when you climb the steep hill. At the peak, a battalion of soldiers lined up for inspection dominates the skyline. They intersperse themselves between the buildings, a mix of souvenir shops and snack joints.

Led by President Abraham Lincoln, the Union troops assemble, wearing their red and blue uniforms. Canteens and sabers are slung from the men's hips and rifles are at the ready. A U.S. flag stands tall in the middle of the crowd, flapping in time with the breeze. On an officer's command, the entire unit shoots off a round.

Tourists walking past the formations gathered at the Calico Ghost Town, located some 145 miles south of Las Vegas in Yermo, Calif., stop to gaze at the soldiers who are not really soldiers at all, but keepers of the flame of U.S. history.

Mingling throughout the group of more than 500 Civil War re-enactors gathered at the California ghost town over President's Day weekend was the Nevada Civil War History Association. The local troupe is made up of eight members who are dedicated to presenting living history programs to schoolchildren throughout Clark County.

"We all like history, and we found out kids in school aren't getting much in the way of history," said Don Hotchkiss, president of the Las Vegas Civil War Roundtable and the Nevada Civil War History Association.

"It's never been determined in a court of law if (the South) had the right to secede," said Hotchkiss. "We make it fun by telling the kids some of the weird facts."

BACK AT THE GHOST TOWN

Fighters from the Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis make their camp. These men, too, wear uniforms, but they seem to be more an assemblage of clothing they had on hand rather than army issue.

These soldiers wear a mix of tans, browns, grays and blues to battle, but carry similar equipment to their Union counterparts. Confederate flags, which surround the men's temporary housing, waves proudly in the wind.

In the crowd can be found ladies draped in elaborate period gowns, while other women wear the traditional camp dresses of the day and rush around to help the Civil War soldiers get ready for battle.

CIVIL WAR 101 -- SILVESTRI MIDDLE SCHOOL

"We try to take the life of a Civil War soldier and bring it to life for the kids," Hotchkiss said during a recent program the troupe performed at Silvestri Middle School, 1055 Silverado Ranch Blvd.

Hotchkiss and his fellow group members each portray a certain character when they are part of a re-enactment, and Hotchkiss represents a man in his own family tree named Ephraim Holbrook, who was captured at Gettysburg on the first day of the battle.

At the Silvestri event, some of the seventh-graders dressed in Union and Confederate uniforms, and, along with three of their teachers, fought in a battle.

Seventh-grade history teacher Julia Heter participated in the skirmish along with her students.

"It was confusing," she said. "The weapons were heavier than I thought they would be, and I was surprised at how hard it was to stay in a line."

During the fight, the kids learned that a hole in their line can make the difference between winning and losing, and why it's important to follow directions. Hotchkiss then told them similar mistakes happened during the actual Civil War.

Seventh-grader Charles LaRocca portrayed a sergeant in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment during the Silvestri School re-enactment at his school.

"That was the first black army," he said. "It taught me a lot about how people had to fight back then. It makes me appreciate the war. The whole nation could have been different."

Charles admitted he learned what it meant to be a soldier back in that time period, and said he thought he might not even have been born if not for the war, because of his mixed heritage.

Seventh-grader Hunter Lee represented a general in the Confederate army, and said, "I'm just glad I wasn't alive back then."

READY, AIM, FIRE!

When it came time for the professionals to take the field at Calico, those representing the Confederacy cued up for inspection as General Robert E. Lee surveyed the line. Near their camp, Union troops gathered in formation before General Ulysses S. Grant and Lincoln.

Now they were ready.

With cannons blasting, troops from both sides of the American Civil War marched in lines. Soldiers awaited commands from their superiors, and when they heard the phrase, "Ready, aim, fire!" they did so in unison. Re-enactors gave the Calico Ghost Town visitors a taste of what life was like in the years of the American Civil War, from 1861 to 1865.

After the battles were finished and the last rifle was shot, Lincoln, dressed head to toe in black and wearing his signature top hat, approached the crowd in Central Calico to speak the words of the Gettysburg Address.

A FULL DAY AT SILVESTRI

As the Nevada Civil War History Association wound down its program at Silvestri, Hotchkiss and his group threw numerous facts at the students and gave them an opportunity to ask questions.

Hotchkiss then filled an ammo box with candy and dispensed the sweet stuff to the young audience when they participated in the discussion.

In addition to battle information, the history group teaches the kids about everyday life during the Civil War era, including food people might have eaten, light sources, causes of death and games soldiers played.

"I like giving the presentation about food," said Bill Brannigan, a member of the Sons of Union Veterans. "It isn't very tasty. They weren't concerned about food."

Brannigan said he feels it's important for the students to take away a sense of what life really was like back in the Civil War, so they have a complete understanding of what they're reading in their history books.

"(The soldiers) took care of each other," Brannigan said. "We try to get the kids to understand what their ancestors look like, what they ate."

Hotchkiss said for him, the best part about helping out in the schools is seeing the smiles on the kids' faces during the presentations.

"Now they're kind of hooked and they want to learn more," he said.

The association has been to 25 schools this year and has a few more scheduled before summer break, including Sawyer Middle School, April 18; Martha P. King Elementary School, April 10; McCall Elementary School, May 9; and Vanderburg Elementary School, May 23.

The group also is presenting a speech by Lincoln at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Las Vegas Library, 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North. There will be a Civil War re-enactment open to the public during Nevada Day weekend, Nov. 1 and 2, at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.

"It all kind of works together," Hotchkiss said.