Re Enactors

THOUSANDS OF CIVIL War re-enactors will relive the three-day Battle of Gettysburg this weekend, and Roy Ashe, of Roy's Clock Shop in Hampstead, will be one of them.It's planned as the largest re-enactment to be staged on the Gettysburg fields, with about 15,000 men in uniform for the 135th anniversary of the battle.Ashe will portray his ancestor William Joynes, who served at age 19 as a private in the Confederate infantry, the 3rd Virginia volunteers known as the "Dismal Swamp Rangers."In his portrayal, Ashe will be a member of the 4th Virginia Cavalry, Company A -- but considerably older, somewhat heavier and more fortunate than the typical soldier who rode a horse.

Talk about out of fashion. Bell-bottoms faded away in the 1970s, Nehru jackets died in the 1960s, but the clothes Neal Redmond makes wentout in the '90s -- the 1790s.Redmond, head of Crofton-based Druid's Oak, makes 18th-century -- and Renaissance -- clothing from original patterns for re-enactors of the French and Indian War and the American Revolution."Basically what we do is go to museums, use illustrations and deserter reports from the period and try to reconstruct clothes the way they did it back then," Redmond says.

FREEDOM TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- It was 1:29 on a July afternoon awash in sunlight, and all things still seemed possible.There was still time for the Union troops to take their final positions on the high ground. A country mile across the field, there was still time for Pickett's Charge not to begin, as the Southern writer William Faulkner once wistfully observed in the novel "Intruder in the Dust."Yesterday, as 15,000 Civil War re-enactors played out the final scene of the Battle of Gettysburg, the man who portrayed Gen. Robert E. Lee gazed at the reckless Confederate rush whose outcome could not be changed - even 135 years later.

Confederate and Union soldiers filled the streets of Towson last night. They were among the more than 650 Civil War enthusiasts at the Towson Commons General Cinema complex for a screening of the new four-hour movie, "Gettysburg."Everyone was thrilled that Martin Sheen, better known to the group as "The General" Robert E. Lee, joined them and brought his son, Charlie, with him. (Charlie is in town making "Major League II.") The majority of the audience appeared in the film and they saluted Sheen by stomping the floor when he took his seat.

Pennsylvania authorities have charged a 52-year-old resident of France in the wounding of a Virginia re-enactor Friday during the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.Authorities in Adams County filed charges of simple assault and reckless endangerment against Christian Evo, of Muret, France, after an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police.Clinton Wakefield Epps, 22, of Charlottesville, was shot in the neck with a Civil War-era revolver or replica while playing the part of a Confederate infantryman with the 7th Virginia Regiment.

Even Revolutionary War action figures need spring training to get their spit-and-polish act together. The men of the Fourth Legionary Corps got back into character for the long re-enacting season with a weekend at Fort Frederick just south of Hagerstown. They didn't shave, fended off the evening chill by gathering around the barracks fireplace and practiced the tactics of 18th century warfare. "It's clearing away the cobwebs and seeing that we have everything we need before we go out," said Mike Nigh of Annapolis, who has been a corps member since 2007.

This weekend, Civil War buffs will have the opportunity to relive a part of that historic time when North clashed with South, as the 19th Georgia Infantry opens its Civil War Encampment on the grounds of the Carroll County Farm Museum.The encampment will begin Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and feature activities and scenes for the public to enjoy until 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday.Dottie Freeman, administrative marketing specialist for the Farm Museum, said, "This will be the fourth year we have had the encampment on our calendar.

Helen Maria Garner, a museum re-enactor and musician, died Saturday of respiratory failure at Maryland General Hospital. She was 42 and lived in Bolton Hill. Dressed in an 1830s-style hunter green gown, she greeted students and tourists at the Edgar Allan Poe House Museum on Amity Street in West Baltimore, where she was living history director and assistant director of public relations. As part of the fictional persona she adopted for her work, she called herself Sarah, a neighbor of Poe's who welcomed callers when he was not at home.

The Civil War re-enactment at Cedar Creek, near Middletown, Va., is unusual in that it takes place on the actual 1864 battleground. Proceeds from the event, sponsored by the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, go toward the preservation of the site, acquisition of additional land, restoration of 1832 Heater House on the battlefield, and preservation of writings and artifacts relating to the battle. This year's re-enactment marks the 135th anniversary of the battle.

"Howard County's Antebellum History" will come alive inside the stucco walls of historic Waverly Mansion Sunday when 18 re-enactors portray life in 1860, just before the Civil War.Within the 10-room main building on Marriottsville Road, the "militia" will be meeting in the parlor to discuss a declining political situation, food will be cooking on the hearth in the kitchen and hoop-skirted women will be tending to the house."We are trying to educate folks," said Steve Bockmiller, who is coordinating the event, sponsored by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.