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The Civil War rages on at peaceful Canfield park
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A group of Union soldiers fires muskets loaded with blanks during a battle scene during the Civil War re-enactment in Argus Park in Canfield. Re-enactors from both the Union and Confederate sides of the war took up camp in the park Friday through Sunday.
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
CANFIELD
The smell of campfires filled the air, and the sound of marching could be heard.
Argus Park looked and sounded as it was in 1862 — which was the idea.
The Masons of Argus Lodge 545 wanted to find a way to use their park on Shields Road a little more, so they came up with the idea to host a Civil War re-enactment, said Greg Anstrom, this year’s chairman of the event. That was seven years ago, and they’ve continued to host the re-enactment annually.
“The community seems to enjoy it, and the membership likes putting it on,” Anstrom said. “And we’ve become great friends with most of the re-enactors over the seven years, and they love coming back here, so it’s worked out good for everybody.”
The re-enactors – for both the Union and Confederatesides – set up camp Friday and left Sunday.
“All of the re-enactors are very authentic, and they don’t have or use anything in their tents or any of their personal equipment that is not period,” Anstrom said.
“These re-enactors are very dedicated peopleto history and the Civil War. And I couldn’t do what they do. I mean they live in a tent all weekend, and what they have is what they bring with them. But they really love doing it.”
Russell Koneval, of Youngstown, has been a Union Civil War re-enactor for 13 years.
As a member of the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he re-enacts battles and performs living histories to educate people about what the soldiers did and how they lived.
“It’s primitive,” Koneval said. During re-enactments, he sleeps in a tent that isn’t much bigger than the narrow bed he sleeps in.
“You get to feel what the heat felt like; you get to feel what the cold felt like; you get to feel what the rain felt like, so you get a feel of all the elements,” he said.
“And you march and you do everything they did back then when a typical soldier enlisted in the army.”
Barb Armstead of Salem brought her two grandsons and her nephew to the event.
“I think it’s good for the kids to go back and kind of look at how it used to be, seeing history,” Armstead said.
Her grandson, Sam Short, 10, of Salem, is interested in the Civil War.
“I read a couple of books and went to a lot of re-enactments,” Sam said. He said Sunday’s event was quite realistic.
Armstead’s nephew, Charles Vaughn, 12, of North Jackson, said he liked the Civil War because it was for a good cause.
The Argus event is good, Vaughn said, because “we have to keep history alive.”
Armstead’s 4-year-old grandson, Shane Armstead, of Salem, enjoyed the firing of the cannons. Both Vaughn and Short said they liked the guns and flags best.
A mock battle took place Saturday and Sunday, along with live mortar-fire demonstrations. Shops were set up for customers to purchase period merchandise, such as clothes, dishes and quilts. Even the president – Abraham Lincoln – made an appearance at the event.