April 14, 2012. The Civil War Heritage Foundation and the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association put on a splendid day of reenactment and history telling at the Red Mill Museum Village.
Our first stop was a gun battery. The men described the gun in detail and when the gun was fired, it made a significantly loud noise along with a huge plume of smoke.
Above our location were a number of tents, so we ventured up the hill and came upon The US Topographical Engineers who were sent out ahead of the troops to make maps for the general's next day attack. A very interesting and informative discussion on map making took place to our enjoyment.
A few yards away was the Navy. It was very interesting to learn about submarines, how they worked and their success in the war.
There was quite a bit of activity around the Recruiting Station. A trumpet and drum helped recruits keep in step while being trained.
This talented musician, with excellent tone, showed us his vintage trumpet , which had very different valves than those on today's modern horns.
Having seen Hollywood's rendition of the Civil War, we thought removing limbs was a "bite-the-bullet" no-pain-relief process. Not so, as this doctor explained about Chloroform and Ether and also showed us that a real bullet would have caused broken teeth because it was extremely hard. Some of the troops who lost limbs and who received artificial limbs did not appreciate the fact the while they lost a limb, their life was saved.
We passed a table and saw a sword with the Star Of David embossed on the blade. A most interesting story was told of the best swords in the world from Toledo, Spain by Jewish craftsman. More discussion took place about the Jewish settlements in the southern states and the stories were so interesting that while I did take one photo, I failed to take a photo of the main story teller, to whom I apologize.
Paddy and I took a lunch break at the Clinton House and had an excellent meal ! Upon return, we headed into the upper floors of the museum, where we saw a complete history of rifles and pistols used in the war.
The blacksmith shop was open and we checked out the making of a hand tool.
Re-enactors really looked the part in their period dress, they added significant authentication to the Civil War era theme.
The many tents, troop activities and artifacts provided a wealth of knowledge about the war .
As we were leaving the village, we heard very pleasant music played by two talented musicians on the violin and Hammered Dulcimer. One last village photo of the two musicians and a visiting physician.
We learned much about the Civil War and it was clear that the re-enactors were extremely well versed in their subject matter and were able to present the information in an most interesting way.