Since our hobby has been sidelined here in Michigan (nearly all of the reenactments are being cancelled, even after our state is opening back up), a number of us decided to take matters into our own hands over Memorial Day Weekend and found ourselves in period clothing, even without an official reenactment event.
Now, with this being a holiday honoring the military soldiers who have passed on, there were a number of our Civil War reenactors who spent Memorial Day Monday in the many cemeteries dotting our area that have Civil War soldiers buried in them. You see, normally we would have been at Civil War Remembrance at Greenfield Village - and my colonial friends would have been at Feast of the Ste. Claire in Port Huron - for the three-day weekend, but, alas, it was not to be for this year.
Instead we did other things rooted in the past:
Lorna and Russ Paul are two such reenactors.
Yes, they went to the Woodland Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan to lay flowers on the graves of Civil War soldiers.
(The following four photos were taken by Brian James Egen):
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| Lorna and Russ honoring the memories of those who fought to preserve the Union. |
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| During Civil War Remembrance at Greenfield Village, Lorna normally organizes the ladies who post the wreaths and lay the flowers at the Memorial Day Monday ceremony which honors the service men & women who have passed on, and now here she is, doing it herself. Wonderful! |
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| Founded in 1810, the Woodland Cemetery in Monroe is one of Michigan's oldest public cemeteries. |
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| "Keeping the Greenfield Village Tradition alive." |
Now let's follow the mother-daughter team of Sheri and Cora Giffin.
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| Sheri Giffin and her daughter, Cora. Even though the Greenfield Village Civil War Remembrance weekend was cancelled, the ladies decided to not let their Memorial Day observance be deterred. |
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| "We missed doing it at Greenfield Village, however, it was good to teach again to the few visitors I met when laying flowers." |
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| All of the soldiers were from Vermontville, Michigan, a little town west of Lansing. Though she did not write all of the names down, all soldiers they honored fought in the Civil War. |
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| Sheri said, "I wonder if 'our boys' were smiling from heaven to recognize us in the dress of their mothers, sisters, wives, and sweethearts." |
Guy Purdue was another one who paid his respects to Michigan's fallen heroes of the Civil War.
On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, he visited Redford Cemetery (also known as Bell Branch
Cemetery or Old Pioneer Cemetery) in Dearborn. This cemetery was established in 1831. He also visited Newburgh Cemetery in Livonia, which was established in 1832. Both of these cemeteries contain Civil War graves, along with graves from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Newburgh Cemetery has over 50 Civil War graves!
And then on Monday, Mr. Purdue visited Riverside Cemetery in Plymouth and Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit. Riverside was established in 1880 after a smaller cemetery in Plymouth reached capacity. It now covers 12 acres. He visited several Civil War soldiers' graves, including members of the 24th
Michigan, which is the reenacting unit he belongs to. The 24th Michigan's Company C was established in Plymouth in 1862.
Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery is on the site of the Battle of Bloody Run, a conflict between the British Army and Native Americans (under Chief Pontiac). The battle took place on July 31, 1763.
Elmwood was established by an Act of the Michigan State Legislature in 1849.
It was there that Guy found an entire section of Civil War graves, with men from the 1st Michigan, the 13th, the 17th, the 24th, the 9th U.S. Cavalry, and the 102 U.S. Colored Troops.
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| Fortunately, there are gravestones marked with the war the soldier had fought in. |
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| The 1st Michigan was sponsored by Ebenezer J. Penniman. |
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| An entire section of Civil War veterans' graves at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit. |
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| Grave of James H. McCoy, a soldier of the 7th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, forever resting in the Redford Cemetery. |
Now we'll visit the Schroeders, who sort of did a reenactment of a reenactment.
As J. R. wrote, "We're tired of modern clothes. We want a weekend of wool, lantern light, and campfire food. We're having our own reenactment in the yard. Welcome to the Green Field Civil War Remembrance."
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| "Registration was a breeze, very short line. We could set up before 5:30. We got to pick our campsite. And best of all - no Model Ts!" |
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| "As we were setting up camp, (son) Michal commented, 'It's good to hear the sound of a hammer on a tent stake again.' " |
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| Getting ready for the ball |
From Wendi: "One of our adult daughters stopped by and we played tourist. We asked ALL the annoying questions. It was tremendous fun."
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| Cooking over the fire, as if... Yeah...the tastiest food - - |
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| J.R. - "The night was cool but dry. I fell asleep to the sounds of peeping frogs, the tent smells of wet grass and wood smoke, I snuggled under scratchy wool blankets." |
Like being at an official reenactment!
A few of us in the colonies also had a sort of 'mini-reenactment,' where we wore our period clothing, did a few period activities, had a fine meal, and commenced with great conversations.
It felt good to be back in our 18th century clothing again, we all agreed.
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| I brought along a couple of my flags, including the Taunton flag. This flag was first adopted on October 21, 1774 after the Sons of Liberty had forced out American Loyalists from Taunton, Massachusetts. |
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| The flag you see here was used originally by a squadron of six cruisers commissioned under George Washington's authority as commander in chief of the Continental Army in October 1775. It was also used by Massachusetts state navy vessels in addition to privateers sailing from Massachusetts. |
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| The above and below pictures show our hosts with the mosts, Joey & Amanda. It was on their land that we gathered.  |
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| If you didn't know any better, you would think we were at an actual "official" reenactment, similar to the Schroeders! |
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| As part of the activities, Joey set up a 'hawk throw target |
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| It is more difficult than one might think. |
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| Young E.J. took a shot. |
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| It took several tries, but he, too, also hit his mark. |
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| Jennifer made butter with her mini-butter churn. It tasted wonderful! |
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| A living legend in the reenacting world. This man has been reenacting since the 1960s! A wealth of knowledge, I always enjoy speaking with Mr. Ken Roberts about history. |
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| Jackie is another who has been reenacting for many years. Not nearly as many as Ken, but enough that she has garnered a wealth of historical knowledge of not only spies of the Rev War and Civil War, but of women's issues as well. |
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| We also have Charlotte who, like Jackie, came over to the 18th century from the 19th and found it much to her liking. Oh, the three of us still do both eras, but the era of our founding opens up an entirely new old world, and there is a bit of excitement in that. |
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| Playing Shut the Box: It's not known for sure where Shut the Box originated. Most theories point to a source in Northern France and give Normandy or the Channel Islands as the specific location. It appears that it has been played in this region for over two hundred years. |
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| I took the opportunity to do some quill & ink writing in my journal. |
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| It's been a while since I've done this so my penmanship was pretty sloppy. By the way---note the table I am sitting at: my next door neighbor was throwing it out with the trash. I snatched it up quickly and it is perfect for this time. |
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| I am finding articles from the replicated 18th century almanacs and re-writing them into my journal. |
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| Enjoying our time in the past. Reenactments may have been cut off from the general public, but that doesn't mean we can't reenact for ourselves. |
Ah...but we ain't done just yet----there's one more stop to make.
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| My beautiful wife and I with the 1789 Trading Post in the background. |
So, my wife and I decided we would take a journey to the beautiful historic city of Monroe, Michigan, where some of the earliest structures of this state of ours are still standing.
No, we didn't dress period this time. It was just a journey to the past to help squelch my thirst for history.
It certainly did help me.
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| The historical marker with a bit of information on where we were heading. |
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| The bridge takes us to some of Michigan's oldest original buildings! |
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| On the left we have the Navarre-Anderson Trading Post from 1789, which is the oldest wooden structure in Michigan. Next to that we have a cook house from 1810. And then on the right is a replicated 1790s barn. |
And that, my friends, was how a few of us celebrated the Memorial Day Weekend holiday. With Civil War Remembrance at Greenfield Village and the Feast of the Ste. Claire in Port Huron both cancelled due to Covid-19, little did any of us fully realize just how much this weekend's reenacting activities affected us.
Methinks there will be more of these pop up reenactments to come.
Until next time, see you in time.
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