Civil War re-enactors took to the Common last weekend for a three-day living history event that offered visitors the chance to see what life was like for soldiers of that era. Saturday night the Harvard Historical Society held a moonlight tour, which was actually a sunset tour, of the cemetery that brought to life Harvard residents of the Civil War period.
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Members of the 28th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry “Irish Brigade” re-create a bayonette charge on the Common, June 4.
Members of the 28th line up for roll call. The average age for a Civil War soldier was 25, but boys as young as 12 signed up, especially toward the end of the war.
Members of the 28th enjoy a beer at the end point of the Ken Harrod Memorial Bicycle Race that also took place on June 4. The race organizers asked the Civil War re-enactors to fire their guns at the start of each heat and offered those over 21 free beer for their service. Quipped one re-enactor, “Where else would you expect to find the Irish Brigade?”
Eighth-grader Colleen Makosky tells the story of Fannie Whitney during the Harvard Historical Society tour in the Town Center Cemetery.
Judy Warner impersonates Mrs. Haynes-Keyes, a widow whose first husband died in the Civil War.
Carlene Phillips, as Sarah Sprague, reads a letter from the battlefield written by her 23-year-old brother Charles.
From left: Alice Rennie, Liz Cooper, Helen Batchelder, Gretchen Henry, and David King. Batchelder portrays Arathusa Sawyer Atherton, who as a child, witnessed her father’s activity in the Undergound Railroad.
Jim Breslauer, as William Savage, tells battle stories of the Civil War.
Tim Houlihan, portraying Forrest Dadmum, tells of living conditions during the war.
Tammy Alfano is nurse Florence Burt, who cared for dying and injured Civil War soldiers.
