Civil War Days

Saturday was a beautiful day for a trip to the annual Civil War Days at Naper Settlement in Naperville, Illinois. As we entered the Civil War era camp, we noticed the crude replica tents the re-enactors set up to sleep in, as well as the wonderful aroma of around 50 campfires (most with meat hanging above). Hundreds of re-enactors were busy with their rustic way of life; some brought their babies swaddled in 1800 cloth.


The battle re-enactment was great. We were forced to stand behind five or six rows of people, but we were able to see just fine. The battle used black powder muskets and era cannons which filled the air with light gray smoke. I couldn't imagine how smoke-filled a civil war battlefield would have been given the huge amount of smoke these few guns put out in such a small period of time. It must have been almost impossible to see anything. During the larger battles of the Civil War, it has been said that so much sulfur was released into the air that after a few days of fighting, the sulfur would seed the clouds and rain would begin to fall.

Here's a shot of a single Union soldier - notice the fire exiting the barrel of the musket (but please don't notice the guy taking his picture in the background)!