Today, I want to share with you a few tidbits from my time at Waterloo, NY's 153rd Commemorative Memorial Day Celebration. You may or may not be aware that Waterloo, NY is the official birthplace of Memorial Day, when we honor fallen soldiers and servicemen and women. Among the festivities was Living History at Oak Island, a Civil War reenactment camp. I was unable to attend most of the events there because I was busy at my book signing, but there were activities all weekend at this encampment. As a history buff, I would have spent the entire time there if I could!
Civil War Ingenuity
I had a long talk with reenactor Raymond Ball of the reenactment group Co. A of the US Regular Engineer Battalion, who explained that during the Civil War, engineers were perhaps the most important facet of the army and one of the major reasons the Union won the war. Without their knowledge and efforts, getting wagons, cannons, horses, and soldiers across the often difficult terrain would have been impossible. The engineers solved problems such as getting troops across gorges quickly (in one case, building an entire bridge fit for a train engine in as little as six days!), or working out how to get a cannon into firing range on swampy land (answer: a floating platform!).
A Moving Office
The engineers needed a place to work out the problems of terrain and equipment. The first thing that caught my eye was a travel desk in the engineers' tent. If I ever need a portable desk, I'm getting one of these!
There were many other things to see at the encampment, but I had to cut my visit short and return to my book signing. If you'd like to see some of the other photos, visit me on Facebook!
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