Saturday morning the kids and I were ready to visit a historical event not far from us. It was the anniversary of the Second Battle of Manassas.  There would be reenactors and special tours. Enthusiastic about a great day, we met a great deal of mishap at the battlefield.  Eventually we found a silver lining in the day at the reenactors'camp.  

     We walked to the Confederate encampment.  I figured this was my son's big moment to choose his spot to start asking questions...battle manuevers, artillery, hmmmmmm.....whatever.  What does one ask about the Civil War?  (We're not Civil War buffs.)  My son did not want to take the lead, venturing in with questions. He wanted me to take the lead.  What?  He absolutely refused to choose where to go first. I was flabbergasted.  Oh well. I walked in and walked up to the first blanket I saw, covered with paraphernalia.

A lieutenant walked over to us and asked the kids if they'd like to pretend to be part of the Confederacy for a few minutes. Uh oh. Our sympathies are with the Union. However, this is an educational experience, so I encouraged them to go ahead. The lieutenant had them try on uniforms.

When they took them off, the lieutenant said that I should try a uniform on. I was actually delighted to be offered.  You know me...too shy to ask for myself!  After I put on the uniform, he told the kids one of them needed to take my camera to take a picture of me. My son eagerly took the opportunity to do that.  I never allow him to play with my camera, and right now I was a captive audience.

     The lieutenant told me I did one thing wrong...the smile. He asked if I knew why that was wrong. "Because I'm hot in that wool coat and I should act miserable!"  He laughed and said no. "Because back then you had to pose f-o-r-e-v-e-r for a picture and your smile always wore out."  Bingo!  

     Then he showed us his day's ration.  He asked the kids if they could identify the food.  They identified the hardtack, but couldn't figure out what that big squishy thing was. I said that was salt pork.  The kids couldn't believe it. I cannot imagine eating all of that fat!

     Then he remembered something he left in the truck (these are third person interpreters) so he brought a fellow over who was the food expert.  Wow, it was fascinating listening to him.

We learned all about food in the Civil War!  That was extremely interesting. If you are looking for food ideas for your Year 3 Unit 3 Celebration, you've got to use these foods. Had I known about this when we did ours, I'd have incorporated them into the menu. I spent hours googling Civil War food and didn't find any of this stuff the soldier told me. Back then, to preserve food they smoked it, salted it, sugared it, or dried it. (I think I'm missing a few options.)  I missed the first part of the story, but someone came up with a new recipe for cooking beans, in ketchup of all things. (Ugh, ketchup is my pet peave. LOL)  It was a hit with the soldiers and we know that today as Van Camp Beans.

Today when I was at the commissary (hmmmm, now that's a military term...I'm speaking of a 21st century commissary) I bought some Van Camp Pork and Beans.  The kids are so excited to try these out. Do you have any in your pantry? Look on the label. It will say that it dates back to 1861.  It was such a hit, that it took off as a canned item.  A lot of canned foods we have today are from this era.  Underwood. Hormel.  They knew how to can sugared and salted items with success, but not items like corn, that spoiled easily. During the war, they accidentally figured out that boiling is important to the canning process. The soldiers came home from war and expected canned items, causing canning to become a major industry and export because of the Civil War. 

     He also had us look carefully at his authentic can and explained the canning process. They left a hole in the top of the can when the can was made. Then the food was poured or squeezed in. Then a lid was soldered over the top. Hmmmmmm, I couldn't wait to ask my next question, because of information I had learned at the Yorktown Victory Center in 2004.  (If you've ever seen a historic soldier ripping ammunition with the mouth to pour it into the rifle, that ammunition is lead. They were killing themselves doing that.)  I asked this man if that solder had lead and he said it did. The can was tin but the solder was lead. When the can was opened with a special device that lifted up the solder portion, can't you imagine the lead shavings dropping into the food?         

     He just went on and on and on and unfortunately I don't remember it all. I did have my colonial notebook, jotting down notes, but I usually did that on the side instead of in front of them. I was trying to absorb all the information. The lieutenant had come back and laid a dark stamped block on the plate.

He asked the kids what that was.  A stamp?  No. 

I said it was tea. I think these guys were surprised when I said that. I told them I had seen those blocks at Mount Vernon and Montpelier. When I've seen these blocks, there is a sign that says the tea in Boston Harbor that was dumped was not loose like we imagine.  It was blocks of tea that was dumped.   These men agreed with that information. They said because the tea was in blocks, it really did not taste very good so hardly anyone drank it.  Everyone preferred coffee.  Hmmmmm, that didn't make sense to me.  Why get worked up about a bunch of tea in Boston Harbor if no one liked it enough to drink it anyway? Why was it shipped to Boston if no one was going to eat it? Why tax it if no one would buy it to drink it? Why import it from the Far East, if no one liked it?  Haven't I read of tea parties back then?  Why, if they didn't like it? Is there a tea expert out there to ask these questions?

    They had us taste parched corn. Hmmmm, that wasn't so bad.

Naco candy was popular back then...

     Lemon drops and horehound candy were also popular. They told us that the soldiers ate well. Really? That's not what we read.  Who's right?

     Then my son started asking the food expert about the sites on his rifle. I hear a lot about sites on "Sgt. York" so I asked a lot of questions about them.  They had me hold the rifle up in the air (I've never done that before.) and aim with the sites.  It makes a little more sense now.

    There were a lot of things that were mentioned that my son and I questioned. Basically they mentioned things that didn't match what we had learned in the Middle Ages or the American Revolution. These questions are now in the back of my Colonial notebook. I've been reading a book my son was supposed to read for TOG Year 3  Unit 1, but I knew he'd be resistant to it. I am reading it now.  I was trying to figure out whether to make it required reading this summer, or to save it for when he does TOG Year 3 Unit 1 in 11th grade. The book is called The Diary of a Napoleonic Footsoldier.  It was written by a soldier from Germany who was conscripted to fight for Napoleon. It's not the most action packed book I've read. But I've picked up on some interesting things, one of which I read yesterday, which refuted some of what the reenactors said. Who's right?

   My son disappeared, talking to various soldiers. My daughter and I stayed in the shade and one of the reenactors kept talking to us. As long as you're willing to listen, they are more than happy to talk. We learned quite a bit.  He finally sensed that my daughter was a bit bored, so he suggested we go to look at the cavalry horses.  I called my son over, thinking he might want to see the horses too.  He had been talking to the soldier we had noticed earlier. This soldier, a Confederate, was in a green coat. That surprised us. We jokingly referred to him as Banastre Tarleton's cousin.  As my son got up to join us, this soldier called out to me to compliment me on my homeschooling. He had enjoyed answering my son's millions of questions. I laughed and made my parrot gesture with my hands.  I always do that when he asks a million questions or tells a l-o-n-g story. Where does he get that from?  The soldier said he actually appreciated the interest, the depth of thought and that he didn't take anything at surface value. We got to talking about my background and our recent move to Texas and my love for Colonial Williamsburg, because he asked me what I was passionate about. Even he had encouraging things to say to me and I thanked him.    

     Hmmmm, which horse to meet? So many choices. We chose this one. The owner started talking to us. My daughter asked what kind of horse it was and he said a Morgan horse.  A Morgan horse????? Justin Morgan had a Horse!  He was impressed that we knew who Justin Morgan was.  Isn't this horse beautiful? This is the type of horse Laura Ingalls admired and wrote about.

     Marguerite Henry, who not only wrote Misty of Chincoteague, also wrote the wonderful book Justin Morgan had a Horse. We read this in TOG Year 2 Unit 4.  Before that, I had grown up reading Little House books. When Laura moved to Dakota Territory, (By the Shores of Silver Lake), one of the new settlers drove a team of beautiful Morgan horses. At the Fourth of July town picnic, there was a horse race, she cheered them and they won!  Later, their owner fell in love with Laura, who drove miles in the snow to pick Laura up from her weekly teaching job, so that she could leave the dreaded house she stayed in to return to her family every weekend. Almonzo Wilder, who became her husband, grew up in Malone, New York raising Morgan horses.  I had always heard that they not only beautiful and fast, but also intelligent.  As we stood talking to the owner, the kids said it was too bad they didn't have an apple or carrots for him. Yes, the owner said the horse liked those, and he also liked potato chips. The horse, who had been alert the entire time, got a knowing look in his eye. I said, "I think he knows what we are talking about." Then the horse got excited, moving his head up and down and swishing his tail. It was so funny. I fell in love with this horse. What a privilege to pet a Morgan horse.

Then it was time for him to leave. We met the cavalry at the top of the hill as each horse took turns thundering by. It was thrilling! But where's the action setting on my camera? My son showed me, I set it correctly and look at these great action shots!

    Here's the Morgan, in formation with the others during the speech about the Cavalry.

   That evening we went to the Manassas Battlefield Visitor Center for a concert.  We got there early so we walked around the gift shop and my son and I couldn't believe what we found: a Union officer cavalry hat. I looked at the price and I was actually glad to see it cost more than what I paid for our homemade one. My son liked our homemade one better.

     The concert was an interactive program of period music. The lady who did the presentation, had found some old letters from her great great grandparents during the Civil War. She had a slide show of the letters, pictures of the Civil War and words to music. She read portions of the letters. For each one, she taught us a song of the era.  She sang the verses and we joined in the refrain. She also played a concertina. My son asked her questions about that afterwards. She asked if he was familiar with a keyboard and he said yes. There are four rows of buttons on each side. She told us how they worked and it made sense. She also explained how the concertina is related to the harmonica because it has reeds. Afterwards I told my son that is why he is learning the piano. If he knows the piano, he can cross into any instrument. He has been wanting to learn to play the violin for the last few years but I don't know that we can afford lessons.

     When we left, we saw a deer grazing with the geese.  (I can't get over how many geese are in Virginia.)