Gettysburg 139th Dress Rehearsal for the "Big One"
Gettysburg 139th Comes Off with a Bang as Dress Rehearsal for the "Big One"
July 11, 2002--Pickett's Charge took place this year with around 4000 soldiers participating on the 139th anniversary of the actual event (allowing for a few day's slippage due to the calendar.) Unlike the real thing, a pretty good time was had by all.
But even as the weekend reenactment was concluding, nearly everyone involved appeared to be looking forward to next year. Anniversaries divisible by five always seem to bring out the crowds, organizers said.
“(The re-enactment) will be a different animal next year,” said Gettysburg Anniversary Committee member Paul Lomas. “You can’t even to begin to imagine the amount of troops. You may see a Pickett’s Charge that will be close to full scale.”
Lomas said the committee has already received requests for applications for next summer from re-enactors as far away as Texas and California. While the anniversary committee is still not disclosing the precise site of next year's field, Lomas said the location is about three miles from Gettysburg.
Among the subjects under negotiation, Lomas said, are possible restrictions on the number of reenactors who will be allowed to participate in next year's event. The 135th anniversary, which was held at the Bushey Farm, was limited to 15,000 re-enactors by Freedom Township, according to Lomas.
That was the largest Civil War re-enactment ever, Lomas said. At this point, the committee does not know how many re-enactors will be permitted next year.
Patrick Hoye, age 9, is already thinking ahead to his next Gettysburg re-enactment. The Crawford County, PA boy is a flag bearer now, but this time next year he might be a full-fledged physician’s assistant, tending to the wounded, the Hanover Evening Sun reported.
About 10,000 to 12,000 spectators attended each of the event’s three days, according to press and Public Relations Coordinator Andrea DiMartino. The visitors cars bore license plates from a multitude of states, including California, Alabama, Illinois and Maine.
In a third category, not soldiers but not mere spectators either, are those who come to reenactments yet never fire, or even touch, a gun. Often the wives and children of reenactors, others come for the enjoyment, and profit, of portraying 19th century life and occupations.
Those looking for profit are known as sutlers, a group of traveling merchants who supplied soldiers with everything from supplements to army rations to unofficial identification tags.
The only difficulties reported at the 139th event by local media was one arrest of a man who was described by state police as "irate and unruly" and a number of small grass fires started by sparks from simulated artillery fire.
Several years of drought in much of the Northeast has led to considerable caution any time fire is a possibility, organizers said. Fire crews were standing by, observers on towers watched for any signs of smoke, and on a couple of occasions battle scenarios hit the "pause" button while small fires were put out.
