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Yanks and Rebs invade Fort Tejon for re-enactment
| Thursday, Jul 17 2008 5:17 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 17 2008 5:17 PM
Have a chat with a Civil War calvaryman Sunday when the Fort Tejon Historical Association presents a battle re-enactment.
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WHAT: Civil War re-enactment by Fort Tejon Historical Association
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Fort Tejon State Historic Park, 4201 Fort Tejon Road, Lebec
COST: $5 adults, $3 children 6 to 12, $14 family at the gate.
DETAILS: 248-6692
Photos:
Fort Tejon Civil War re-enacters at last year's event. (Photos courtesy of Steve Mata)
The group, in its 25th year, aims to rebuild and preserve Fort Tejon. The group presents re-enactments every third Sunday from May to October.
See encampments, artillery, cavalry, infantry, and talk to ordinary townsfolk caught in the middle of the conflict.
There was never a battle within California between uniformed troops, says Steve Mata, association president.
The fort was an outpost and troops were stationed there to protect the local Indians from aggressive settlers.
The re-enactors portray a typical battle from 1863, a critical time in the war.
“Neither side was winning then, everyone thought the South was winning up until that point,” he says.
In July of that year, the North organized and won two major victories within a day of each other, the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Vicksburg. It’s when the Confederacy began its decline.
Soldiers will discuss their home states, weapons and uniforms. Civilians will talk of their challenges.
“When you come up and ask them ‘How are you?’ they'll be able to tell you, ‘I’m a refugee,’” Mata says. “‘The war came through my town. All I own is on this wagon.’”
Ask a soldier what he did before the war, and he might say he was a blacksmith, farmer, ironworker, banker or butcher.
“They all have the same jobs as we have now and everyone had a life before the war,” Mata says.
And if you forgot your picnic lunch, there’s always coffee and hard tack from an obliging soldier.