July 13, 2011
Vol 13 No 28
September 23, 2015
History comes to life in Wentzville
Recipes
Snack ideas, Easy as 1-2-3
Around Town
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River clean-up
Photo by Ray Rockwell Civil War reenactors rest in camp during the Battle of Wentzville commemoration held in downtown Wentzville on Sept. 12-13.
Civil War Battle of Wentzville is recreated on the streets of downtown By Brett Auten Battle cries and cannon blasts filled the afternoon air in Wentzville. Over a two-day stretch this September, local Civil War reenactors gathered in Wentzville to honor the events that occurred in July 1861. The Battle of Wentzville occurred when six companies of Missouri infantry were attacked on a train heading west. On Sept. 12-13 camps were set up in the historic downtown area around the Green Lantern Senior Center on Linn Avenue. Emmet Taylor has spearheaded the Battle of Wentzville reenactment for over 20 years. He’s held the Battle of Wentzville at other locations, including Rotatry Park, before moving it downtown two years ago. “It wasn’t the biggest crowd that we’ve had but we put on two good shows,” Taylor said. “I would like to start having this as a yearly event. Taylor got into Civil War reenacting 25 years ago. “It comes from a love of history,” he said. “I knew I had a great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War so I always had an interest. When I moved to Wentzville I learned about the small skirmish here.” Several of the reenactors were from
the Turner Brigade. The Turner Brigade is a local reenactor organization - with members from all around the St. Louis metropolitan area and beyond - that portrays infantry, artillery, and engineer units of Missouri Union volunteers and civilians of the Civil War period. Randy Baehr is a Commander of the Turner Brigade’s Company M First Missouri Light Artillery, one of the units that participated at Wentzville. Baehr’s unit got a lot of attention at the reenactment because of the fourpound gun that is patterned after a cannon made by Giles F. Filley. Filley was a prominent St. Louis businessman during the mid-to-late 19th century. Baeher has been doing reenacting since the late 1990s. He and his son slowly dipped their toes into it over a four year period, first watching as fans then doing camp outs with reenactors before making the final step. “We get to make a lot of noise and talk about history while we do it,” Baehr said. “At this point, that is the most fun. Talking about and telling stories about the Civil War.” Age is a factor when you see the reenactors plodding through the Wentzville grounds. Most of the Union and the Confederates are far from prime battle age. “It’s fairly expensive and most tend to
be a little older,” Baehr said. “You have to have enough money to do and also not have the family obligations where you’re able to get away from home.” The story of the Battle of Wentzville began simple enough. On July 15, 1861, four companies of the 2nd Missouri Infantry and two companies of the 8th Missouri Infantry left St. Louis by train, heading west to Mexico, Missouri. When the train was just six miles west of St. Charles, the Union See HISTORY COMES TO LIFE on page 3
Moore on Life
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Stock it to me
School
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Students celebrate Patriot’s Day
Movie: ‘Everest’
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