THE KANSAS CITY STAR

RE-ENACTED BATTLE, AFTERMATH TURN OUT TO BE GRIPPING EVENT

Saturday, June 17, 2000
Section: NATIONAL
Page: A10

By OSCAR AVILA
THE KANSAS CITY STAR

They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Yeah, right. That's little comfort when you've stepped onto a battlefield armed with a Bic.

Invited by a Confederate general, I joined the field of battle Friday afternoon at the Wilson's Creek 2000 re-enactment. Civil War leaders often invited journalists as a way to take their message to the people. Unlike those reporters, I didn't fear for my life. Only blanks were shot.

The re-enactors thrive on authenticity. I was outfitted with a ragged white shirt, powder-blue wool pants, a black vest and black boots. Our photographer, Joe Ledford, was forced to hide his cameras in burlap sacks with holes cut out. One re-enactor groaned when a wayward spectator cut across the field. With those distractions, I didn't expect the feel of a real battle.

We took cover in a thicket of trees and tall grass as Union troops massed at the bottom of the hill.

Out of nowhere, about 15 Confederates on horseback surfaced behind us. They were scouting. Several had pistols beside their ears, pointing upward. In a low voice, the leader asked, "Ready?"

Now it was getting interesting.

The Rebels rode down, guns firing. The Union Cavalry rode back in even greater numbers. The battle was on.

The chaos of battle was clear, even from my short stint. A flurry of gunfire filled the gap between both lines of soldiers, almost 200 men long. Artillery boomed behind us, location unknown. Soldiers seemed to appear from the trees or on hilltops.

We were escorted by Mike Bolley, the general's aide-de-camp. We were never in any danger except for galloping horses. They certainly didn't know this wasn't real. The booms of gunfire would send their heads jerking.

Re-enactors talk of the "magic moment" of each event when the present day disappears and one is completely in the 1860s.

I'm not sure I ever felt that. The closest I came, perhaps, was late in the battle when Union soldiers cut through our trees about 15 feet from us. An officer shouted: "Go, go, go! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Get up there, (expletive)! Load and go! Load and go!" The men scampered to fill in the line, hoping to catch the Confederates from the side.

I met eyes with a boy, probably no more than 13, who was serving as the unit's drummer. I detected something. Not fear, exactly. But he seemed to be feeling his "magic moment."

At battle's end, the men returned to camp. A heavy rain was starting to fall. The general lined up his men - in real life, teachers, accountants, firefighters. "You fought like the demons you are!" he shouted. They roared back their approval with gusto. This sure beat sitting at my desk. I could finally understand Bolley's line: "A bad re-enactment beats a good day at the office any time

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