Jeffrey M Roach
Battle For Newton's Station
By JAKE RUSSELL of the Jacksonville Journal Courier
Cannon fire interrupted the narrator as he explained the Battle of Newton’s Station to an audience lined along the Community Park field.
Suddenly, confederate soldier re-enactors rushed hay bales and barrels to the field for cover as union soldiers marched in. Rifles fired, cannons roared and the Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days Civil War re-enactment played out.
After 17 years, the props were a way to breathe new life into the re-enactments, said Erik Hack, a Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days committee member. Re-enactors had objectives and the props helped to stagger the battle and delay action.
All this was only a fraction of the new life breathed into Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days this year.
After floodwaters forced its cancellation last year, the two-day event came back with a renewed energy — new World War I and World War II skirmishes as well as the Veterans Remembered Timeline exhibits that were supposed to debut last year.
For Hack, it’s a chance to relive the camaraderie felt among fellow soldiers and also to honor and remember veterans.
“When somebody comes back from a combat situation, they’re changed,” he said. “We honor our vets and this is a safe way to remember the past.”
Christian Jebb portrayed David Dalton, a young Confederate soldier with the Eighth Arkansas.
Jebb was born into re-enacting, following his brother’s and father’s footsteps.
“It’s a brotherhood really,” he said. “You can’t find anything better than a fellow re-enacting brother. You find out how many cool jackets the Confederate side had and then you find out how hot the wool was. It’s pretty toasty.”
Re-enacting goes beyond a love of history, though.
“We’ve made it our lives, in a way,” he said. “I love history because of the common soldier. It’s scary to think of how many thousands of soldiers aren’t remembered.”
The Civil War re-enactment went as it does usually — re-enactors gathered for an officer’s call in the morning and came up with a battle plan. The battle plan changed three or four times through the morning until it had changed completely about 30 minutes before battle time, said Jon Cook, who portrayed a soldier with the 12th Illinois Calvary. Of course, the general plan stays in place for safety reasons.
Cook also portrayed a German soldier in the World War II skirmish, which caught a bit of the early afternoon rains that swept through the region.
His rifle malfunctioned in the skirmish so he took a hit and died right off the bat. When he fell on his side, his exposed ear filled with water.
“The things you do just to look dead,” he joked, explaining how his first re-enactment, he took a hit and fell on his back, arms spread out directly under the sun’s fierce beams. “I’ll never do that again.”
The rain did little to deter the crowd.
Cook’s been involved in Civil War re-enactments for about 20 years. His first time was during the first Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days event when his high school friend, Jim Phillips, recruited him.
Phillips had been trying to get Cook to re-enact since high school, so Cook gave it a chance. He went through safety checks until it came time for battle. Then he marched single-file between cannons until he was given the order “Double time!” at which point he ran.
Past the safety line — about 50 feet — Phillips gave the order, “Belly down!”
“So we all went belly down, the cannons go off, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I was hooked,” Cook said.
He was so hooked, in fact, that he took an entire paycheck and spent it on his first uniform. Since then, he’s spent about $6,000 in warfare paraphernalia, he said.
“I’ve always been interested in the history of the warfare of America,” he said. “It’s our heritage. For what all these men have given, they’ve all given their freedom and lives for us to have the freedom to be able to do things like this. I feel like if we don’t show the youth what happens in war, we’re doomed to repeat it.”
That’s what Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days is all about — remembering and honoring veterans.
For example, the highlight of the day for Hack was the opportunity to give a World War II veteran a ride in a deuce and a half vehicle.
“We made his day and that made the weekend worth it,” he said.
Battle For Newton's Station
By JAKE RUSSELL of the Jacksonville Journal Courier
Cannon fire interrupted the narrator as he explained the Battle of Newton’s Station to an audience lined along the Community Park field.
Suddenly, confederate soldier re-enactors rushed hay bales and barrels to the field for cover as union soldiers marched in. Rifles fired, cannons roared and the Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days Civil War re-enactment played out.
After 17 years, the props were a way to breathe new life into the re-enactments, said Erik Hack, a Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days committee member. Re-enactors had objectives and the props helped to stagger the battle and delay action.
All this was only a fraction of the new life breathed into Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days this year.
After floodwaters forced its cancellation last year, the two-day event came back with a renewed energy — new World War I and World War II skirmishes as well as the Veterans Remembered Timeline exhibits that were supposed to debut last year.
For Hack, it’s a chance to relive the camaraderie felt among fellow soldiers and also to honor and remember veterans.
“When somebody comes back from a combat situation, they’re changed,” he said. “We honor our vets and this is a safe way to remember the past.”
Christian Jebb portrayed David Dalton, a young Confederate soldier with the Eighth Arkansas.
Jebb was born into re-enacting, following his brother’s and father’s footsteps.
“It’s a brotherhood really,” he said. “You can’t find anything better than a fellow re-enacting brother. You find out how many cool jackets the Confederate side had and then you find out how hot the wool was. It’s pretty toasty.”
Re-enacting goes beyond a love of history, though.
“We’ve made it our lives, in a way,” he said. “I love history because of the common soldier. It’s scary to think of how many thousands of soldiers aren’t remembered.”
The Civil War re-enactment went as it does usually — re-enactors gathered for an officer’s call in the morning and came up with a battle plan. The battle plan changed three or four times through the morning until it had changed completely about 30 minutes before battle time, said Jon Cook, who portrayed a soldier with the 12th Illinois Calvary. Of course, the general plan stays in place for safety reasons.
Cook also portrayed a German soldier in the World War II skirmish, which caught a bit of the early afternoon rains that swept through the region.
His rifle malfunctioned in the skirmish so he took a hit and died right off the bat. When he fell on his side, his exposed ear filled with water.
“The things you do just to look dead,” he joked, explaining how his first re-enactment, he took a hit and fell on his back, arms spread out directly under the sun’s fierce beams. “I’ll never do that again.”
The rain did little to deter the crowd.
Cook’s been involved in Civil War re-enactments for about 20 years. His first time was during the first Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days event when his high school friend, Jim Phillips, recruited him.
Phillips had been trying to get Cook to re-enact since high school, so Cook gave it a chance. He went through safety checks until it came time for battle. Then he marched single-file between cannons until he was given the order “Double time!” at which point he ran.
Past the safety line — about 50 feet — Phillips gave the order, “Belly down!”
“So we all went belly down, the cannons go off, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I was hooked,” Cook said.
He was so hooked, in fact, that he took an entire paycheck and spent it on his first uniform. Since then, he’s spent about $6,000 in warfare paraphernalia, he said.
“I’ve always been interested in the history of the warfare of America,” he said. “It’s our heritage. For what all these men have given, they’ve all given their freedom and lives for us to have the freedom to be able to do things like this. I feel like if we don’t show the youth what happens in war, we’re doomed to repeat it.”
That’s what Gen. Benjamin Grierson Days is all about — remembering and honoring veterans.
For example, the highlight of the day for Hack was the opportunity to give a World War II veteran a ride in a deuce and a half vehicle.
“We made his day and that made the weekend worth it,” he said.