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GUIDE Civil War Weekend returns to Angelica
Union Army reenactors fire during a previous Angelica Civil War Weekend event as a Confederate reenactor pretends to be a casualty.
By BRIAN McCLELLAN ANGELICA — Hundreds of scouts and reenactors will congregate in Angelica and set up camp along the streets and in the Allegany County Fairgrounds on Friday as the town’s Civil War Weekend returns for its 16th year. The Allegheny Highlands Council Boy Scouts of America and the 136th New York Volunteer Infantry, “The Ironclads,” have teamed up again this year to host this event. Around 300 reenactors from across the region make camp right on Main Street, where they’ll eat, sleep and breath Civil War-era life. Dressed in period attire, they will battle blue against grey, complete with cannons and muskets.
The scouts will be camping at the Allegany County Fairgrounds just up the hill from Angelica and observe several skirmish reenactments, and then participate in a mock battle of their own, using imitation muskets and gaining valuable insights into Civil War life. Battles of 1864 will be the focus of the 2019 reenactment. The event originally began as a Boy Scout camporee, as the Allegany Highlands Council had decided to have local scoutmasters plan and run the event. The first nominated to run the camporee were scoutmasters Terry Parker from Belfast, and Joyce Kenyon from Angelica. “We were tasked with the idea of setting up a fall camporee
Civil War reenactors fire a cannon during a previous Angelica Civil War Weekend.
and choosing the theme. We chose the Civil War as a theme and put on a camporee that had probably a dozen Civil War reenactors come in and do education stations for the scouts,” Parker explained. Parker had had an interest in the Civil War since childhood, and Kenyon’s scouts had recently attended a reenactment at Letchworth State Park, so the idea of using the Civil War as a theme seemed a good one. “It [the Civil War] fits in really well with American history and civics parts of the scout program, as far as educating the scouts,” said Parker. The idea was that the next year someone else would step in and plan something else. The Civil War theme proved resoundingly popular, however.
“Instead, by unanimous acclamation, they said it was wonderful and we had to do it again. So we did,” said Parker. The event grew quickly, as more scouts, and reenacors, expressed a desire to participate. A Venture Crew for older scouts, aged 14 to 21, was even created for the purpose of reenacting the Civil War. “It’s grown ever since. It’s gotten bigger and bigger and bigger,” said Parker. “After about three years we moved downtown into the village, and we’ve been there ever since.” The activities kick off Friday, when eighth graders from all over Allegany County will come and participate in education stations held by the reenactors. In the past, as many as 500 students have attended the
Friday event, with another 300 to 400 coming on Saturday. Education is a large factor in the weekend’s events, as there are several presentations on historical topics planned in addition to the encampments and battle reenactment. “We always try to have something new,” Parker explained. “We have done things before like a pay call, that will happen again. More civilian demonstrations like how women of the time dressed … that’s coming back. The bread riot that people enjoyed in the past will be repeated. There’s going to be a women’s rights demonstration this year, with a speaker on that. We have the Excelsior Brigade from RochSee CIVIL WAR page 3...