Civil War re-enactors fire their muskets during their encampment on the Common June 7. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz) MORE PHOTOS
The Civil War re-enactors of Company H, 28th Massachusetts Volunteers, settled in a campaign encampment on the Harvard Common last weekend. They set up their tents, spread their blankets, and dug a fire pit. It was the sort of temporary camp that soldiers would have stayed in for two or three days, Captain Tom Higgins explained to visitors.
The historical 28th Massachusetts was part of the famed Irish Brigade. Its recruits came mainly from Boston and Framingham and were largely of Irish ancestry. The unit fought in many of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, and the re-enactors have visited many of the sites of those battles.
Rededicating the monument
On Friday, the re-enactors met with eighth-graders. History teacher Kristin McManus and her history classes arranged the unit’s visit to Harvard, with support from the Harvard Schools Trust. On Saturday the re-enactors took part in the rededication of Harvard’s Civil War memorial.
Bromfield history teacher Kristin McManus addresses the crowd at the re-dedication of the Civil War monument.
In his keynote address for the rededication, retiring Bromfield history teacher Kevin Foster said the central question is: Why should we still care about something that happened so long ago? Speaking of the men listed on the monument, his answer was, “Because they died for a nation they loved. They died for us.”
The re-enactors fired a salute, and Bromfield music director Tom Reynolds played a haunting rendition of taps to close the ceremony.
The re-enactors were one of several colorful presentations in town center focused on the Civil War last weekend. They spent Friday and Saturday nights in their canvas tents, doing the same things their real-life counterparts might have done 150 years earlier: fending off mosquitoes and trying to keep warm at night.
During the day, they drilled, talked with townspeople, and answered questions about their unit’s history. Some led mock drills with local youngsters, using wooden rifles.
During quiet times in camp, a few found tree trunks to lean against, but most sat on the ground or lay stretched out full length on the grass or on blankets spread under their canvas tents. Several napped with their Union Army caps pulled down over their eyes.
One man was shuffling some squares of stiff paper, which on closer examination proved to be hand-drawn playing cards. “But we never gamble,” he assured an onlooker, “and we never drink.” His companions nodded piously, with small, sly smiles.
Falling in for drill
Late in the morning, several men began getting to their feet, pulling on the heavy blue woolen coats that seemed ill-suited for Saturday’s heat.
“Are we fallin’ in, Sarge?” a voice called.
“First call,” answered the sergeant.
There was a chorus of groans, but the men rose and lined up for drill. During the drill, Sgt. Gallagher of Holden explained to bystanders the importance of each maneuver that the soldiers were practicing. First they fired all at once, then reloaded. Then they fired in pairs, from one end of the line to the other, so that they could keep up a steady barrage against an enemy. All the movements were precise and coordinated.
“You have to handle that 10-pound musket so you don’t whack the person next to you,” Gallagher said.
Each time a man fired, he had to pause to reload, ripping open a paper cartridge with his teeth and jamming it into his weapon. But dental care did not amount to much in the mid-1800s, and many Civil War recruits were missing some of their teeth.
“If you didn’t have opposing teeth,” Gallagher explained, “you went to the artillery or the cavalry–not the infantry.”
The drill ended with the most fearsome of maneuvers, a bayonet charge straight toward the audience. As the re-enactors prepared for the charge, Gallagher recounted the story of the famous bayonet charge by soldiers of the 20th Maine during the battle of Gettysburg. A number of re-enactors from the 28th Massachusetts had taken part as extras in the filming of the movie “Gettysburg,” which focused on that Maine unit.
A shared activity for families
Somewhat apart from the encampment, Tracie Wilkins of Epping, N.H., tended a cooking fire. Wilkins explained that she was a member of the Irish Soldiers’ Relief Society, a women’s group focused on the jobs women did on the home front during the Civil War. She explained that she and her husband had joined the re-enactors because of their son’s passionate interest in the Civil War. Anyone under 18 who becomes a re-enactor must be accompanied by a parent, and their son had started at 13 as a drummer boy.
At least three father-son pairs took part in the encampment. Some of the 28th Massachusetts re-enactors had been active in the organization for more than 20 years, while others were newcomers to the outfit.
The 28th Massachusetts re-enactors have been active since 1984. The nonprofit group is based in Attleboro, has members from all six New England states, and includes both military and civilian members. According to their website, their purpose is “accurately portraying the life of the common solider in the Union army.” They are also raising funds to create a monument to the Irish Brigade in Boston.
During the Civil War, the 28th fought in most of the major battles of the eastern campaigns: Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and more. The regiment was present when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865. That May, the 28th marched in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., which marked the end of the war.
Being in the thick of so many battles, the 28th suffered one of the highest casualty rates in the Union army. Nearly a quarter of its 1,746 men were killed, died of wounds or disease, died as prisoners of war, or were missing in action. Another 360 were wounded so badly that they were discharged or transferred to the reserves.
