Okla-homey
9/28/2008, 10:04 AM
ugh.
CHECOTAH — The Confederates retreated across a field littered with corpses as Union forces fired on them through gun smoke. When the rebels fell farther back and the fighting had moved to another field across a stream, the casualties of war began rising from the dead.
This re-enactment of the Battle of Honey Springs was the 21st that the Oklahoma Historical Society has held since the 125th anniversary of the battle in 1988. About 600 re-enactors and 400 spectators met Saturday at the Honey Springs Battlefield near Checotah to remember and commemorate the events of July 17, 1863.
For some, the re-enactment serves an educational purpose. Blane Ward, 14, of Pocola, has been to several re-enactments with his dad. "My dad was wanting me to do it because he thinks it's something important I should learn," Ward said.
Others came to pay homage to those who fought at Honey Springs more than a century ago.
Curtis Ogle, 28, of Antlers, portrays a lieutenant in the Confederate Army.
"If you look around, you just get a feel for this ground. If you feel the energy, you know it's hallowed ground," he said.
Ogle, who has been to more than 250 re-enactments and identifies himself as a military veteran of the Confederate States Army, takes his role in the re-enactment seriously. [which is frankly...whacked]
"We look at it as the Confederate Army never really surrendered. It just went into submission," said Ogle, sporting the full Confederate regalia down to an undershirt stained with the dirt and sweat of battle. [again, this ya-hoo is advancing his warped version of history to folks who may never take the time to learn the truth]
At the Battle of Honey Springs, a regiment of African-American soldiers, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, fought with particularly distinguished valor. For Sharon Fisher, of Oklahoma City, the re-enactment is about remembering the bravery of that unit, the first of its kind in the Union Army.
"This is a pretty historical event in terms of African-American soldiers in the Civil War. We like to honor them," said Fisher, whose husband portrays a soldier in the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. "We celebrate our history and this is just a part of that celebration."
Over the weekend, the re-enactors camp out at the battleground in white tents arranged as a military encampment, cooking over fires and using period-appropriate tools.
Jan Sanders, curator of education with the Oklahoma Historical Society, portrays a civilian who came out to watch the battle.
"It gives the public a feel of what the Civil War was like," she said. [what she should have said is; "it gives the public a sense of what the Civil War was like if the combatants had brought along their families, slept in wall tents on cots, had air mattresses, coolers, ice, fried chicken from the Checotah Wal-Marts, Marlboro's and Bud Light"]
Sanders said people came from throughout Oklahoma and surrounding states to take part in the re-enactment.
Sunday, the group will re-enact the Battle of Greenleaf Prairie at the same site, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080928_12_A11_Agunis27732 0
CHECOTAH — The Confederates retreated across a field littered with corpses as Union forces fired on them through gun smoke. When the rebels fell farther back and the fighting had moved to another field across a stream, the casualties of war began rising from the dead.
This re-enactment of the Battle of Honey Springs was the 21st that the Oklahoma Historical Society has held since the 125th anniversary of the battle in 1988. About 600 re-enactors and 400 spectators met Saturday at the Honey Springs Battlefield near Checotah to remember and commemorate the events of July 17, 1863.
For some, the re-enactment serves an educational purpose. Blane Ward, 14, of Pocola, has been to several re-enactments with his dad. "My dad was wanting me to do it because he thinks it's something important I should learn," Ward said.
Others came to pay homage to those who fought at Honey Springs more than a century ago.
Curtis Ogle, 28, of Antlers, portrays a lieutenant in the Confederate Army.
"If you look around, you just get a feel for this ground. If you feel the energy, you know it's hallowed ground," he said.
Ogle, who has been to more than 250 re-enactments and identifies himself as a military veteran of the Confederate States Army, takes his role in the re-enactment seriously. [which is frankly...whacked]
"We look at it as the Confederate Army never really surrendered. It just went into submission," said Ogle, sporting the full Confederate regalia down to an undershirt stained with the dirt and sweat of battle. [again, this ya-hoo is advancing his warped version of history to folks who may never take the time to learn the truth]
At the Battle of Honey Springs, a regiment of African-American soldiers, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, fought with particularly distinguished valor. For Sharon Fisher, of Oklahoma City, the re-enactment is about remembering the bravery of that unit, the first of its kind in the Union Army.
"This is a pretty historical event in terms of African-American soldiers in the Civil War. We like to honor them," said Fisher, whose husband portrays a soldier in the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. "We celebrate our history and this is just a part of that celebration."
Over the weekend, the re-enactors camp out at the battleground in white tents arranged as a military encampment, cooking over fires and using period-appropriate tools.
Jan Sanders, curator of education with the Oklahoma Historical Society, portrays a civilian who came out to watch the battle.
"It gives the public a feel of what the Civil War was like," she said. [what she should have said is; "it gives the public a sense of what the Civil War was like if the combatants had brought along their families, slept in wall tents on cots, had air mattresses, coolers, ice, fried chicken from the Checotah Wal-Marts, Marlboro's and Bud Light"]
Sanders said people came from throughout Oklahoma and surrounding states to take part in the re-enactment.
Sunday, the group will re-enact the Battle of Greenleaf Prairie at the same site, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080928_12_A11_Agunis27732 0