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Battle re-enacted in park at Canfield
By SEAN BARRON
CANFIELD
Ann Miller isn’t fazed when her husband, Timothy, goes to war, and neither are the couple’s eight children.
That’s largely because Timothy Miller’s battles always allow him to come home.
“He’s been doing this a lot of years,” the Lisbon woman said, referring to her husband’s participation in local and regional Civil War re-enactments.
Timothy Miller once again found himself fighting it out Saturday for the Union. He was one of an estimated 400 re-enactors who took part in the two-day Argus Lodge No. 545’s sixth biannual Civil War Re-enactment at Argus Park, on Shields Road just east of state Route 46.
The event, hosted by the 105th Ohio Volunteers, continues at 10 a.m. today at the park. Admission is $5 and free for children age 10 and younger.
Timothy Miller’s great-great-grandfather came from Germany and fought as a private in the Civil War near Cincinnati, he noted. Stories about his relative have been passed down to him, which helped to instill a desire to re-create history, said Miller, adding that he’s been a war re-enactor about 13 years.
Helping his father fight the Confederate Army was the Millers’ son Zachary. The couple also brought sons Hugh and Peter, 4 and 7, respectively, and 11-year-old daughter, Maggie.
An ordinarily tranquil open field at the park became the battleground for a total of about 200 re-enactors who played Union and Confederate soldiers in the Battle of the Crater, fought in 1864 near Petersburg, Va.
Hundreds of spectators stood behind barriers and watched the two sides battle it out, with an abundance of loud gunfire and smoke for all.
Numerous A-frame and dog tents filled Argus Park, with Union and Confederate soldiers’ quarters separated by a wooded area. Most of the tents contained small cots and other items similar to what a typical Civil War soldier had.
The Confederacy won Saturday’s 40-minute round by forcing Union soldiers into a crater, then backing up. The Union regrouped and pushed out the Confederates, who later made a final charge, explained Jack Reapsummer of Hubbard, a six-year re-enactor who fought Saturday for the Union.
“We have a good time … and we’re always learning something about what [the soldiers] went through,” Reapsummer said.
The Confederates were led in part by Ron Johnson of Boardman, who portrayed Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry.
“He always did the most with less,” Johnson, a re-enactor for more than 20 years, said of Forrest, who climbed the ranks from private to lieutenant general despite having had no military training.
Also helping the 7th’s efforts was 15-year-old Anthony Delmont, an Austintown Fitch High School sophomore.
“I was excited more toward the end” of the battle, Anthony said, adding that he’s been in several similar re-enactments.
Soldiers in battle needed newspapers, stationery to write to loved ones, pencils (writing sticks, as they were called then) and other supplies, and that’s where Patty Roosa comes in.
Roosa, a retired teacher from Ravenna, runs Elizabeth Ann II Sutlery, one of several such supply tents at the park.
Sutleries were traveling post-exchange-type stores that followed Union and Confederate soldiers as they moved from battle to battle, explained Mary Willett, who portrayed a sutler (clerk). Soldiers would choose what they needed, then pay the bill after they received their paychecks, Willett pointed out.
Most of the female re-enactors were dressed as farm wives, with dresses depicting their social status. Youngsters played the part of soldiers’ daughters.
After the battle, taps was played to honor today’s soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.