I had the honor of attending the Civil War Weekend at Pamplin Park, which seemed to get quite a good turnout, both from period groups and spectators. There were lots of cannon that made big noise, and a mortar competition. I was particularly impressed by the artillery unit that showed up complete with horses, which means a lot of expense these days. It also showed how big a target it all made for sharpshooters, and how killing even one horse could halt the battery temporarily.
There were two sharpshooter outfits there — one of Berdan’s and another, the first I have seen of Confederate sharpshooters, the Princess Ann Greys, who are trying to recreate some of Lee’s sharpshooter battalions. Pamplin is running a special event for them 9-10 September, which I plan to attend.
I got to share a signing table with novelist Kim Murphy, who has done several CW-era historical fiction books, and historian Will Greene. The folks at Pamplin, particularly coordinator Andy Talkov, did a great job of organizing the event, and he has posted some photos of it that are worth looking at.
By some kind quirk we managed to dodge all those nasty thunderstorms that soaked nearly everyone else, and got only a few short showers.
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