THE KANSAS CITY STAR

CIVIL WAR'S INTENSITY RE-EMERGES SMOKE, FURY FILL WILSON'S CREEK

Saturday, June 17, 2000
Section: NATIONAL
Page: A1

By OSCAR AVILA
THE KANSAS CITY STAR

REPUBLIC, Mo. - As a campfire crackled, Shelby Clement reclined under a canopy of shade trees with other Confederate re-enactors. Only hours before, they had finished a four-day, 55-mile march. They subsisted on the food of the times: salt pork and biscuits hard enough to bust a filling.

Clement wouldn't have it any other way.

"You want to keep alive that memory, and do it right," said Clement, who portrayed a member of the Missouri State Guard. "I want to know what it felt like to be there. I want to dress like them, live like them."

An estimated 5,000 Civil War enthusiasts have taken over a farm field southwest of Springfield this weekend for Wilson's Creek 2000, thought to be the largest re-enactment ever held west of the Mississippi River.

Organizers hoped to bring attention to Missouri's role, often overlooked, as a venue for key battles such as Wilson's Creek.

The event also highlights the thriving subculture of Civil War re-enactors, who crisscross the country with trailers full of equipment, uniforms and weapons. This is no game. Many plunge into their roles by researching the 1860s to get every detail perfect.

"I try to play a good dead guy," said Clement of Hartville, Mo. "I'm not going to sit around resting on my side. I don't want to flop around and make it over-dramatic either. I make it authentic."

The re-enactors' passion for their sides varies. Some re-enactors identify closely with the Union or Confederacy, depending on their family history. Some re-enactors strongly believe in the causes: to the Union, abolition; to the Confederates, states' rights. Other re-enactors have no problems alternating between the two sides out of convenience.

In addition to the battle, the event replicates 1860s life with a village marketplace that some compared to a theme park. Vendors sold root beer made from authentic herbs. Craftsmen hawked period clothing and equipment for soldiers, such as canteens and lanterns.

The three days will be filled with pastimes of the period, such as a revival, camp dance and military dress parade. Organizers did bow to modern needs, situating portable toilets a few hundred yards from food stands that included gyro sandwiches.

Although some complained about the $29 admission, visitors at times filled the back roads to the event site. Rain dampened Friday's attendance, but organizers hoped that more than 80,000 would attend the event, which ends Sunday.

Wilson's Creek 2000 is the only national event by the North-South Alliance, one of the nation's pre-eminent Civil War groups. Re-enactors say the event has generated buzz as far east as Gettysburg.

Julie Fix of the Civil War Preservation Trust said this weekend's event, if everything goes according to plan, could be the largest re-enactment ever west of the Mississippi River.

The weekend's highlight, of course, was the battle. Three skirmishes, one on Friday, another today and a third on Sunday, showcase the Battle of Wilson's Creek of Aug. 10, 1861.

On Friday, black powder boomed from cannons. Fields filled with smoke as the sound of artillery fire rang through the air. Both generals, surveying the scene on horseback, relayed orders from the back line.

The actual battlefield is only a few miles away, but federal law prohibits re-enactments on National Park Service property.

At the time of Wilson's Creek, the war was only 4 months old. Missouri's strategic position made it vital for both sides. A pro-Southern governor had been dislodged, but the Confederates were building a sizable force in southwest Missouri to reclaim the state.

Because Union Gen. Nathaniel Lyon arrived at Wilson's Creek outnumbered, he launched a surprise attack. The Southerners eventually won the battle, but both sides lost more than 1,000 men. The Confederates' momentum was slowed, and Missouri remained in Union hands.

Wilson's Creek was the first major battle west of the Mississippi River. Missouri is third in the nation in the number of Civil War battles and skirmishes.

Jason Bentley of Olathe, portraying a member of the 2nd Kansas volunteer infantry, Company C, said he hopes the event will allow Missourians to appreciate that rich history. He already saw a boost in interest from "Ride With the Devil," a recent Civil War film set in Kansas and Missouri.

"Before that, we'd just be a couple of guys hanging around a tree," Bentley said.

Organizers hope the event will give a boost to preservation efforts, especially near Wilson's Creek. Development threatens battlefields nationwide. Christian County, which includes part of the Wilson's Creek site, is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. Participants in this event, however, didn't need to be convinced about the importance of history. They skipped work, dipped into their savings accounts and often drove hundreds of miles to attend.

The re-enactors organize themselves into units - the same ones with which some of their ancestors fought. When they talk about their unit's history, they make no effort to conceal their pride.

"Did you know," asks a man from Madison, Wis., "that it was our company that captured Jefferson Davis at the end of the war? I bet you didn't know that."

Other re-enactors become experts in the war and the time period. Some leaders study military strategy. Other participants can identify specific types of stitching on uniforms.

Wade Davis of Lenexa paused while marching through a dry creekbed with Jerry Cigich of Kansas City, Kan. The Union soldiers were sweating in the humid, 80-degree weather. Davis anticipated the question he often gets. Why?

"I can tell you one thing," he said. "My wife thinks I'm an idiot."

But Davis said he has a deep appreciation of history. He also loves the outdoors and the camaraderie of his fellow re-enactors. Davis might be on the opposite side from Clement, the Confederate re-enactor who marched 55 miles, but he shares his desire to make the experience authentic. Because Davis' real-life unit was hastily called into Wilson's Creek, they only packed the provisions they could carry. Davis did too. Unlike other re-enactors, they camped outside without tents.

After a few hours, they already had encountered ticks, heat and hunger.

"Maybe there is no real way to duplicate the hardships, privation and horror they experienced. But we try," Davis said. "That way, you get a greater appreciation for what they went through. Both sides. They believed enough in something that they were willing to die for it. "That," he said, "is worth remembering."

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