Wilson’s Creek Reenactment
Sunday concluded the 150th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Wilson’s Creek (Oak Hills) near Springfield, Missouri. The event was a huge success, with approximately 3,500 reenactors participating, along with 31 cannons and over 400 horses on hand. Eye witnesses to the event proclaimed it as being “awesome” and “overwhelming.”
The actual battle, the first major one to take place in the Western Theatre of the Civil War, took place on August 10, 1861. Huge reenactments such as this are amazing, in that their depiction is true to life. The participants strive to make the events as historically accurate as possible. Spectators watched as battles played out before them. Some of the audience, as well as the soldiers, had ancestors who actually fought in the battle, which gave them a taste of what their great-great grandfathers experienced.
Other events that took place over the weekend included a period wedding, a military ball, and living history demonstrations. At the conclusion of the weekend, Yankees and Confederates were reunited once again in an atmosphere of goodwill.
