Civil War re-enactors keep history alive
Bill Carman orders his group of men to form a line before fireing their weapons. The Company H 119th New York Volunteers Historical Association re-enacted a Civil War military training camp at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration. (June 9, 2011) Credit: Steve Pfost
Standing in a wool uniform in the blazing sun, William Carman suddenly felt transported 150 years back in time.
So that's what it was like for his great-great-grandfather, training for the Union Army, he thought.
"I'm soaked under this," said Carman, 57, of North Merrick, rolling up the sleeves of his blue uniform coat with sergeant bars Saturday. "I've got sweat rolling down my arms."
For Carman, vice president of a land development company, the real sweating began earlier in the day, as he knelt with his rifle in military formation.
Explosions from the gunpowder packed, without bullets, in the single-shot rifle muskets shook the open field at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. The crowd of about 20 spectators recoiled with every volley.
The officer who yelled "ready, aim, fire!" -- Rob Weber, 51, of Farmingdale -- was also wearing the uniform the 3rd New Hampshire Volunteers would have worn when they trained on Long Island in 1861.
Weber, whose day job involves acquiring and archiving photos at Sarah Lawrence College, and Carman are members of a local group of Civil War re-enactors who re-created the scene at Camp Winfred Scott, a Union training camp in what's now Garden City.
Since the scene would have happened at the beginning of the war, the re-enactors Saturday wore dark blue pants. The Union Army later switched to more cheaply-made lighter blue pants, similar to the color of blue jeans, said another re-enactor, Guy Smith, 68, a contractor from Huntington.
The group, called the Company H New York Volunteers Historical Association, usually portrays a different unit -- the company of 100 soldiers recruited for the war from the Hempstead area. The company fought at Gettysburg and was on Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's march through Georgia, Weber said.
Based at Bethpage, about 40 members of the historical organization talk to schools and occasionally hold educational re-enactments like yesterday's.
Mark Adler, 61, a retired electrician from Oceanside, wore a colonel's uniform, but he watched from the sidelines as the others drilled.
Adler said his shoulders and knees are arthritic from 31 years of re-enacting drills and battles.
"This hobby takes a heavy toll," he said.
