145th Fort Anderson a Good Event

I've been delayed in posting about the 145th Fort Anderson event due to lots of meetings this week and the head cold I brought home with me from the event. As previously mentioned, our merry little band gave up the navy impression for the weekend and fielded as Union infantry. Though we did have a few experienced ground pounders in our company, we generally looked pretty damn bad, but we had fun doing it. For most of the weekend, our company was paired with the 88th NY, a group from the Myrtle Beach area. Our two companies operated pretty much together on both days. Saturday's Battle of Fort Anderson was good, but I think Sunday's Battle of Town Creek was even more fun. Though we were ragged most of the weekend, our company had a couple of really solid volleys on Sunday; we almost started to look like a real infantry unit. The weather was beautiful all weekend, though cold at night, hence my current illness. The folks at Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson put on a good event that was enjoyed by reenactors and spectators alike.
Our company and the 88th NY (to the right of us) preparing to march toward the battlefield on Sunday.

NC's Latest Public Education Controversy

I've been following this mainly via Facebook, but the group now has a blog through WordPress and I thought I'd provide a link here. I won't go into too much detail, but will allow you to take a look at this website to understand what's going on. Basically, there is a proposal in the Dept. of Public Instruction that would vastly curtail the teaching of US and NC history, especially in the higher grades. This would be a terrible move on the part of DPI and has produced, for lack of a better term, a shitstorm (a favorite idiom of my friends Brandie and James) amongst the academic community. Take a look.

http://realhistoryreform.org/


UPDATE: This issue may have been resolved. We'll have to wait until April to see what they've come up with, but apparently the shitstorm had some effect. Read the article in the Raleigh News & Observer.

Book Review - Waking Giant

Honestly, it's been quite a while since I actually finished a book. I've started many with good intentions and for one reason or another have not been able to follow through. I have finally broken that streak and finished reading David S. Reynolds' latest book, Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson. The book is quite good and I enjoyed reading it very much. Reynolds covers the years 1815-1848 and the chapters are organized thematically. There are chapters on politics, religion, culture, and even one on all the wild, weird, and wonderful "reform" movements of the time. The chapters themselves are generally well-organized, though some are exceedingly lengthy in my opinion (the chapter on literature and culture is 72 pages and a couple of others are 50+). The author's writing style flows easily and makes the book a fairly quick read. There are endnotes and in place of a true bibliography, a "Suggestions for Further Reading" which is quite impressive.

There really isn't any new, groundbreaking interpretation involved in this book, and in fact, the information contained within is rather basic and well-established. Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a more basic understanding of the Jacksonian period, or for someone who is simply looking to brush up a bit on certain aspects of the time. If I were teaching a class on antebellum US History, this book would definitely be on the reading list. It would serve as an excellent starting point to acquaint students with the material before leading them towards more in-depth interpretations. If you get a chance to pick up this book and have an interest in the subject matter, I strongly suggest putting your hands on it!

Getting Ready for the Next 145th Anniversary Event

Its been busy since my last post nearly three weeks ago, but not busy in the sense that there's been much to write about. I've been helping with preparations for the 145th anniversary event at Fort Anderson. The event will be held February 20-21 and the staff has planned an ambitious program that includes a different battle scenario each day (the fall of Fort Anderson on Saturday and the Battle of Town Creek on Sunday) and an evening lantern tour after dark on Saturday. Aside from my duties as a Historic Sites employee, my reenacting unit will be participating in the event. Usually, we do a living history display as Confederate Navy and Marines. However, this year there was a need for more Federal participation (as there always is at these things) so we decided to don our Union duds and dust off our impression as 2nd North Carolina US Volunteers. Though some of our guys will be doing Union Navy and Marine, most of us will be playing infantry. We are looking forward to doing something a little different than usual and burning some powder. Should prove to be a fun event!