History comes alive at the fair

The 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry were from the Mahoning Valley.
BY AMANDA GARRETT
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BAZETTA -- Dressed in his blue wool uniform, Dan Fairchild of North Bloomfield taps out homemade dice on top of a blacksmith's anvil at the 160th annual Trumbull County Fair.
Fairchild, a re-enactor from the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was demonstrating a favorite pastime of Civil War soldiers.
The re-enactors from the 105th are camping in the grove near the fair's Historical Village to give fairgoers a taste of life in the 1860s.
Unlike the lifestyle portrayed in movies, soldiers did not spend a lot of time in battle, said Don VanMeter of North Jackson, who serves as captain. The soldiers would have spent time whiling away the hours by making the dice out of broken-down bullet metal and then gambling with them.
The soldiers would have been sure to remove all gambling related materials from their pockets before heading out to battle, Fairchild said.
"You wanted to die as an honorable hero," he said. "Not as someone who was a gambler or couldn't pay their debts."
Unexpected challenge
This week the re-enactors are facing another stark reality of 19th century life: camping out in the rain and mud.
The average soldier would have slept in what they called a dog tent, which is basically two flaps of canvas staked to the ground. The soldiers would have slept with nothing but a blanket and straw between them and the bare ground.
This week, the re-enactors are staying in slightly more sturdy officers' tents, which are roomier and have canvas on the sides.
"If you stay in them awhile, you can make them pretty comfortable," VanMeter said.
For their blood and sweat, Civil War soldiers were paid $14 a month, Fairchild said. "That was pretty good money at the time," he said.
In contrast, the re-enactors of the 105th pay hundreds of dollars to make themselves into living replicas of 1860s volunteers.
The 105th are authentic from the tops of their head to the bottom of their feet, VanMeter said. The gold bugle insignia atop their caps are patterned after the original mold, and the re-enactors wear shoes that do not have a right or left foot, which is what all Union soldiers would have worn.
"You have to mark them inside with an L and R," he said. "It takes a little while to break them in, but they're comfortable after that."
The 105th re-enactors also get to sample a more appetizing part of Civil War life. Barbara McDonough of North Jackson, who coordinates the female re-enactors, is planning to bake cherry pies in a Dutch oven Saturday.
"It tastes just as good as anything that comes from a conventional oven," she said.
History
The original members of the 105th were all volunteers from the Mahoning Valley. The unit had more than 1,000 members who fought in Tennessee and Georgia between 1862 and 1865 mostly under the command of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.
The 105th re-enactors have been together for 16 years, and they have close to 65 members. They've been coming to the Trumbull Fair for 12 years, VanMeter said.
"The best part of coming to the fair is communicating with the public," he said. "When you have a hobby, sometimes you want to show it off. The fair gives us an opportunity to share the life of a Civil War soldier with people."
agarrett@vindy.com