On Saturday night we took a candle lantern tour at Long Pond Ironworks as part of their Living History weekend, which this time was an encampment of Civil War soldiers. Grab a lantern and join us. Pick one with a nice long candle.

It was an eerie kind of night. Early evening rain showers allowed for the misty steam rising up from the damp ground. Peepers and frogs added background music. It was overcast, so no moonlight. Once we got away from the roadside street light we only had the glow of our candles to guide us down the path.

Our guide pointed out to us what life would be like back during the Civil War, with no electricity to help people navigate the darkness. It certainly gives you pause for thought on all our modern conveniences we rely so heavily on today.

A few ladies with baskets of bandages for wounded soldiers accompanied us. We met up with two Yankee soldiers that agreed to take us to the enemy lines. Once there, we had to leave our escort behind and proceed on. Along the way we met a man with his head wrapped in bloody bandages walking with a stick for a crutch. He told us he had fallen off his wagon in the dark. A little further on we met a German immigrant on his way home from working a shift at the iron works.

Then it started to rain on us. Not a downpour, but enough to put up the hoods on our waterproof jackets (which we had this time been smart enough to wear). We reached a roaring campfire where the entertainment of the night awaited us.  We clapped and sang along to “Oh, Susannah,” “Dixie” and other Civil War era tunes. By this time the rain was heavy enough to warrant opening our umbrella, but the show went on.

The campfire snapped and popped; lightening flickered in the distance along the tops of the trees.

When the entertainment ended we once again picked up our candle lanterns and headed back into the darkness. On our way back we visited the Rebel camp where they started enlisting our group to join their side. Thank Goodness we were at the back of the line and recruitment ended before we got there. I’m a Yankee through and through; no changing sides for me!

When we lived in central KY (Perryville, actually, I was introduced to civil war re-enactors.  Having lived in the west, that sort of history was very different for me.  Where I came from, it was more pioneers and settlers from the the last of the 1800’s.  There were buildings and homes in Perryville and surrounding area that were older than my hometown!