Norlands

June 5-7, 2009

This was a fun event. It was at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore, Maine. The site was very nice, hilly, made the guys (& gal's) do a lot of work, but a little exercise never hurt but a few...



The purpose of this event was to raise money for the Norlands Center to rebuild their barn. It burned down to the ground (literally, I saw the hole) a year ago and they want to re-build in the most authentic way possible. Unfortunately, that takes a little more money then just slapping together a modern barn that looks old. From what I heard, they raised a decent amount to start the building which is great. I still cannot believe that the barn did not take the house with it. They were attached! Good job to everyone who saved the house! That would have been a true disaster and even more difficult to replace.

We pretty much did living history all weekend. Of course, that also means we got certain people just walking through the camp, staring at us, slowly walking by, snapping photos the whole way...That part still creeps me out. It kind of makes me feel like I am being stalked sometimes. But as long as everyone has fun, what does it matter!


It smells like a good day for battle gentlemen!


Come and get it you rebel scum! (Star Wars...hey, the rebels won in that movie.)

The nights were pretty cold, that was kind of a bummer, but the days were fairly temperate. It is always nice when you do not have to worry, too much, about heat exhaustion. The farm was large and if you wanted to go somewhere, it was a fair walk, I think I walked all over that farm! I barely saw Dave! Even at night when he crawled into his cot.

The notorious 1st Maryland guys were there (the usual suspects), they are always fun. And we also made friends with the 3rd Arkansas. They were nice, sort of campaigners, but I liked them. Cookies bring about friendship to all people.

In addition to the battles on both days, there was also a medical scenario on both days after the battles (I thought the one on Sunday was best, mainly because of the gentlemen who came up wounded), as well as numerous civilian activities which included a tea party and a fashion show.


Medicine knows no bounds...they all asked for laudanum...Chris' treatments aren't that bad! Are they? Hmmmm....


Mrs. Bergeron got herself in trouble by asking around about her brother. They accused her of being a spy. Geez Deb! Always making trouble you shifty lady you! >wink<

The amount of spectators was surprising, because of the remotness of the site (just about everything in Maine is remote, no offense, I would love to live there) I did not think that so many people would come, but they did!

Next year should be bigger and better so stay tuned to the Washburn-Norlands web site!

Chamberlain Days: Part 2

August 22-24, 2008

Now, you need to understand the layout of the downtown area of Brunswick that we were confined to. There was practically no room for an actual reenactment so we did not put one on our schedule. Well, then (young) Keith had to go down to the 20th Maine's camp and steal some things (they were actually his that he took out of his father's tent because technically Keith is a member of the 20th Maine). The 20th was not going to stand for some whippersnapper stealing things from their tents! Hell no! Especially a Confederate! So, they attacked. They were pretty darn sneaky about it, too. They came up the hill & went around a church to hide their precense.

Dave & Captain Pratt reloading.

Captain Pratt was wounded (once again) in battle and carried back to camp to be treated by the Major Nulle.

Dave shoots at some Yankees.

Here are some members of the 20th Maine who were kind enough to pose with Joshua Chamberlain's statue after the fight.

On Sunday we held a Memorial service at the grave of Joshua Chamberlain. It was very nicely done and actually one person wondered what Chamberlain would think of re-enactors from both the 20th Maine and the 15th Alabama coming to honor his continued effect upon American History.

Chamberlain Days, Brunswick, ME

August 22-24, 2008

This was an "interesting" event. It was an encampment, but it was in a peculiar place...more on that later.

This was a fun event with the 20th Maine. Apparently, unbeknowst to me (not a Maine native), Joshua Chamberlain who was entangled with the 20th Maine at Gettysburg especially, lived in Brunswick, ME and every year the town has a weekend celebration. It was very nice and an exceptional way to get in touch with the public. The best times for us to talk to people seem to be Ft. Knox and now this event. They seem less afraid of us if we are not either robbing them of their fine jewelry (their fine women, too) or shooting at the Yankee's in traditional encampment which requires people to be walking distance over a contorted field, that is definitely not handicapped accessible.

Well, what struck me about the site was that it was on this median strip between the road and it was literally in the center of town. The street lights took a little out of the camping experience, but hey, we had access to a real bathroom. Which leads me to another conundrum, we were camped across the street from Joshua Chamberlain's house...and behind the statue... Now logically one would think the 20th Maine would want to camp there, but after seeing the foot traffic, I think they had more visitors than us, and they had more of the larger tents so they would not have fit where we were, we barely fit!
Our camp. Do you see?!?! We had very little room to work with!!

Joshua Chamberlain's house. I highly recommend the tour. The house is an amazing piece of architecture!

The locals were a scream! All weekend we had people shrieking out the car windows, one person shouted "The British are coming!" as he went by, another made a pirate sounding "Arrgh." I guess the 20th Maine had some teenage kids walk into their camp on Saturday night & they very loudly wondered if there were people in the tents. Well, the one who opened a tent and found a Union soldier staring back at him was more than a little surprised. Brings new meaning to the words, "Restless Natives."


Here is our darling young Miss Kate spinning wool thanks to Sandy's Spinning Wheel. I could not do half the things this girl can do at her age.

Here is the 15th at Chamberlain's statue. We behaved.

This was fun, the 15th and the 20th Maine had a Prisoner exchange on Saturday. You know people just have such a good time at these small events. The Captain's of the companies were socializing a little as the prisoners were exchanged (our soldier was a little more beat up than their man...) and making some jokes about things.

Well, once we got our badly beaten comrade back to camp, Surgeon Nulle treated him/her. Methinks Deb(2) needs to work on her acting because she was trying really hard not to laugh throughout the experience and kept saying this funny little "ow. ow, ow, ow. ow" It was the cutest thing!

Practice on the lawn.

On to the next Post!

A Nation Divided, Waterford, CT

May 16-18, 2008


This was my first overnight event of the season (by the way, I am finished with school completely! No more homework, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks...or something like that). Me and Dave felt the real crunch of gas prices when we left Massachusetts and Connecticut prices were over $4. Luckily, the truck held out until we made it back to Massachusetts where gas was about $.20 less. Well, it was dark...and raining...and we did not know where our tent was because it rained at Camp Pratt last month & Dave left it with Mike to dry out. I went around in the dark calling out names, when someone from the 1st Maryland told me where people were. Then I found Tom! And Meadow! And Sandy! Unfortunately, they were wondering where Mike and Robbie were. This looks like the only event that me and Dave are going to see the 1st Maryland at (sorry guys) because the next oppertunity would be at Gettysburg. While I would love to go, I just cannot bring myself to wear the Civil war clothes in that heat. I am looking forward to some photos from our other members which I may use to update my blog.

Now to some photos of this event!

Here is a cute photo of Tom & Sandy. Apparently, Mike makes some very good ribs that everyone loves (I brought the wet naps). Well, everyone except for the vegetarian...

Aside from the blue uniforms, you know which side of the war these guys are on. I love how this photo clashes with the next...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! The Confederates take the town!! It was funny because the captain said to everyone "No burning, no looting...wait >laughter<...no burning. Dismissed." So this was how the Confederates sacked the town of Unity, by milling about carelessly...

This was a pretty big place, nice field to run around on.

We actually had two small cannons (I think they were howitzers, but correct me if I am wrong) which were a big hit with the crowd.

This was a small enjoyment on the Confederate part, we actually outnumbered the Union. Not by many bodies I heard, but still, we are usually, grossly outnumbered.

Well, that is a fairly simple synopsis of that event. It was nice because it was quiet and right next to the beach. I was not about to go swimming, but I did go walking around out there with Dave and the beach was pretty nice.

The 3rd Maine's Spring Gala

First of all, thank you to the Third Maine, our kindred Yankees. Not only do they protect (>cough< commandeer >cough<) the Portland Narrow Gauge Railroad (and their strongbox), but they were nice enough to invite the Fifteenth Alabama to their annual Spring Gala in Brunswick, Maine. Well, Deb is our inside connection as she has become a double-agent...oops, did I say that out loud?

Here is a photo of the committee, I am pretty sure these are the ladies who were in charge of pulling the gala together. I am really sorry, but I am only sure of Deb's name (who is in the middle) so I am going to need some help here.

There was dancing and the man who was leading us in the dances (I had no idea what was going on so that was great!) he did a really good job. And oh my goodness! All the ladies had beautiful dresses!!! My goodness! I will post later with my favorites, but they were all so pretty!



So that is my (very) brief update on what is currently going on. Deb has updated the 15th Alabama's website (I do not know where you find the time Deb), so there should be a listing of our upcoming schedule, from what Dave told me (from the meeting last weekend) there are going to be a couple of train robberies! I cannot wait!! More to come soon!

Robbin' a Train...again!

September 1, 2007

We just can't get enough! This event seems to be the only one where we have outnumbered the Union troops. We only had three this time, too, but we had some new civilians and one of the soldiers from the 3rd Maine was new! It was a fun affair! I actually missed the first couple of runs, but I made up for it!

Here's Ashley, a daughter of the 3rd Maine, Deb's child. She's sweet and the same age as Charlene...two ten year old girls on a train doing basically the same thing over and over again all day...they were talking about killer ninja rabbits stopping the train by the end of the day. The vivid imaginations on these girls!

Here's a photo of Deb and a new civillian, Brenda. It's always nice to meet new people. I did not get a real chance to sit down and talk with Brenda, but she seemed nice and all the 3rd Maine women I have met like to get into the act of accusing 'our boys' (the Confederates) of being traitors. Something me and Vicky take offense to! To think of those dashing men of the 15th Alabama as criminals is just horrible! And they're not robbing the train, they are "liberating" goods for the benefit of the country as a whole.

Here's a photo of Rick and Private Cylik. I had never met him before, he was our replacement for Matt. I hope he comes back next year, it is so great that more Union people come to protect the train! It makes the whole robbery more plausible in the defense of the train part (two Union soldiers shooting down six Confederates...I don't think that would have happened during the Civil War unless someone was REALLY lucky).

Here's another photo of Deb and the other new (to me) civillian, Marsha! Once again, I came late so I did not get to say hello to the two new ladies of the 3rd Maine, but I cannot wait to see them again! Hopefully sooner rather than later! I have to say, I loved all their hats! I need to get into hat making! As if I had free time! >rolls eyes, snorts<

Here's Ben's valiant charge at the Union troops!

Unfortunately, as brave as Ben is, he was brought to a halt by the musket fire of the 3rd Maine. Here, our surgeon, Chris administers something to assage his misery (no, not whisky).

Here's another elusive member of the 15th Alabama, Mr. Joe! I have actually only had the pleasure of meeting him once, at the Stranger's grave in Gray, ME on Memorial Day.

This was great. As mention above, I arrived late for this day's events. Well, on my way up to Maine, I stopped and picked up Dave and a few others, some provisions which did not fit in my basket! Kate was gracious enough to loan me hers. Well, once I got the food covered, I had to figure out a way to get it to the guys. So, I called Dave on his cell phone (I know...real authentic >eye roll<) and said that I was going to figure this out and ask the 3rd Maine to help me out. I was thinking, I'll just put it on the end of the last car and someone can sneak it off. Well, I went to Rick to ask for his assistance. Well, told me that it shouldn't be a problem passing off the basket to the Confederates because some of the ladies (Vicky) had been flirting and consorting with the men in some manner all day. Basically, it was Vicky flirting her heart out. >smacks forehead< That's what I did. Someone burst out laughing as I lowered my face into my hand and then looked back at Vicky sharply. Honestly, what are we going to do with that woman?! Well, she did pass off the food rather well, and Mike made it seem part of the plan when he asked if anyone had found provisions on the train with the dispatch case and coin box.


This was a good scene. Chris came over to his daughter, Kate and started calling her "Maggie." He asked her where her mother was (Peg, who was back at the station). Peg was there to pick Kate up and she wasn't supposed to be on this ride, which could be why Chris came up to her and asked (in a southern-like accent why she was on the train). Anyway, Kate, with her own southern-like accent, said that the Yankee's had captured Peg. Then the conversation went downhill and Chris said something about how Kate should know how much of a troublemaker her mother is. His parting words to Kate were something along the lines of, 'your mother should be out of prison, soon.' It was so hard not to spend the entire event laughing hysterically.

There were enough of us to seperate the Union sympathizers from the Confederates. Here's a good shot of the Union, Steve is wearing the straw hat. And you can see a young boy in suspenders peeking out from between the railings on your left...that's Deb's son, Benjamin. I actually did not get many photos of him.

Well, finally, the Union got to take the Confederates out in the last run. Fair enough seeing as how our boys took them out all day in June.

It was a good day. The weather was nice, there was a good breeze for those of us wearing layers, and we had a great turnout! The best part was the last run, we were sitting there for a while when all of the sudden, about fifteen asian tourists came around the boatyard. We thought, "okay! tourists! And foreigners, this'll be great for them!" well, next thing we know, a huge bus comes into the parking lot and we end up taking on about fifty asian tourists. My big question of the day was, why are they in New England? >shrug< but they seemed to enjoy themselves, and as always the 15th Alabama and the 3rd Maine do not disappoint when it comes to drama!

Ft. Knox, Maine: Part III: Revenge of the Confederacy

July 28-29 (Sunday's Battle)

I just couldn't resist the title, we won this day, and it didn't look as bad as it did in Groton! Can you really blame me? It's such a shameless pun.

Here's Mike serenading Chris and Steve with a little song (story) after breakfast.

I think this is a really good photo of Sandy. She's amazing! She went to one event, the train robbery in June, and she's gone into re-enacting full ahead! She also spins wool into yarn! It's pretty neat. If ever there is an event the 15th Alabama attends, look for her spinning because it is really neat to watch.

Well, here are the Union scouts. I guess the one on the right was brand new, like that day brand new! Good for him, young people getting into the re-enacting is nice to see because they could be out doing worse things.

Here is an excellent death scene. The 15th's soldier's took out the scouts first so they wouldn't alert the rest of the 20th Maine. You know, it looks like the Confederates shot a lot of young people at Ft. Knox...stop dying! You're making us look bad!

Here's a good photo of Dave and Ben. Well, it's not that good because you can barely see Dave's face through the smoke, but you get the general idea.

This was a good scenario. Chelli, against the Captain's orders, charged the 20th Maine (from a rediculous distance). Well, big surprise they "shot" him. However,...

...they only wounded him. He's really part of the 20th Maine, so they treated him like a traitor. Here's a photo of one of the guys running up to steal Chelli's hat, as a souvenier?

Then, when the hat-thief was "shot" the Captain of the 20th went up and stabbed Chelli to finish him off. It was pretty comical and the spectators around me thought that it was not only good drama, but pretty funny, too. I mean seriously, the guys couldn't help but laugh.

Steve's another one of those people who are hard to take a photo of. I was/am really happy that I got this shot of him because it's a good action pose, too.

And finally, we finish off our battles with watermelon because it really makes you feel better after running around in the heat. It's the original fruit/sports drink!

Well, we packed everything up and headed out. It was a little cramped to get the cars in because the 20th Maine couldn't bring their vehicles into the Fort and we were right there, so it created a little congestion problem. But all in all, it was a fun event and hopefully we'll be able to go again!

Update: There will be another Ft. Knox event September 22-23, 2007. I cannot go but I strongly encourage everyone who can to go!

Ft. Knox, Maine: Part II

July 28-29 (Saturday's Battle)

Mike and Vicky really are a couple of teenagers at heart. Here's the Confederate wife hugging her husband good-bye with a smooch for good luck (he "died" in battle, but that's later!)

We actually got two volunteers and drafted someone from the 20th Maine so that it would not look like we were severely outnumbered.

One of our volunteers was "Chelli" the surgeon that we had captured a few hours earlier, I guess there were no hard feelings there. I found out later that he's actually from Texas! I noticed that he had a heavy Southern accent and I wondered why he was part of the Union...but he has his reasons.

Here's a good photo of Tom in the midst of battle.

Well, here's the Captain giving his last orders to Tom (Corporal). There was only three of them left by that time.

For the record, the 15th did not shoot the kids playing the drum or other musical instruments. They were tending the wounded. They were actually quite good.

And there, amidst the crumpled forms of Confederate gray stands Private Lindsay, a pillar of strength and oblivious-ness. She didn't realize she was the last one standing until she realized that no one else was shooting.

Well, we finished up our evening (accompanied by quite a few mosquitos) by watching fireworks through a heavy fog. It was interesting because they launched the fireworks from the Fort, down near the water where the battle had taken place earlier. We just watched these bright flashes of light through the fog and it was kind of neat.

Now on to Sunday!