Civil War reenactors bring history to life at Maryland elementary school

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — One student marveled at the size of the jawbreaker, a mainstay of candy stores and Civil War soldiers' rations bags alike.

"Can I eat it?" the student asked the man dressed as a Confederate soldier.

"I've probably had that thing so long, I wouldn't eat it!" Civil War reenactor Buddy Miller said. "I've probably had that thing longer than you've been alive."

Reenactors from across Maryland came to Bester Elementary School in Hagerstown recently to close out the fifth-grade class' unit on the Civil War, priming them for a trip to one of the war's bloodiest battlefields just a few miles south at Antietam.

Throughout the day, around 60 students in four groups walked through stations in the school's courtyard, greeted by Union and Confederate soldiers, grocers and volunteers, all to bring the textbooks to life.

How do reenactors bring history to life?

Miller, 67, showcased the standard Confederate soldier uniform, loading one student up with everything from the holster to the canteen. He just let the student hold the backpack without putting it on, worrying he would crumble under the weight.

Noting another student's interest in the ways soldiers entertained themselves at camp, Miller remarked that being a soldier back in the 1860s was "95% boredom followed by 5% sheer terror."

Miller, a Sharpsburg native, said he got into reenacting over 20 years ago out of fear that the history of the American Civil War was getting lost. He said it's a history he would like to keep alive, and by putting actual artifacts in the hands of students, it comes to life.

"Growing up, I wanted to be a history teacher, but unfortunately, because of financial circumstances I had to go right to work out of high school," Miller said. "So I never got that chance to get that degree to teach. But now, I get to be a teacher."

Students crowded around a cluttered table of coffee beans, fruit and bandages, led through the assemblage by Paula Warrenfeltz portraying a member of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Warrenfieltz, a Baltimore native and reenactor for the past 10 years, explained to the students the Sanitary Commission was a volunteer force that raised more than $25 million for the Union troops.

Students gasped when they heard that, adjusted for inflation, that came out to over $4 billion in today's currency.

Warrenfeltz said her husband, Danny, outfitted as a Confederate soldier at the same event, got her involved in reenacting over 10 years ago. But she said what kept her going was the chance to educate people about the more nuanced side of the Civil War.

"It's all educational," she said. "Because this is stuff that they don't teach in school. You know, when I was in school, they had a little bit of it, and now it's hardly anything."

Was Washington County a turning point in the Civil War?

The exhibition is in preparation for a grade-wide field trip to Antietam National Battlefield, the sight of the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War that still ended in a stalemate.

The Battle of Antietam, or the Battle of Sharpsburg depending on which side you ask, resulted in more than 23,000 casualties, injuries and men reported missing between both sides.

The battle was a major turning point for the Union army, because though there was no clear victor, it gave Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation — the declaration that all slaves in the Confederate South were to be freed — the following day.

'I love school!'

Elizabeth Phillipson, elementary lead teacher at Bester who organized the showcase, said already the students had an "intensive background" on local battles, including Antietam. So when she reached out to reenactors over social media, the goal was to bring in outside voices and a different perspective.

Phillipson said as students learned about the Civil War this past year, she's been amazed at how they tie in modern-day special issues to the topics covered.

"They made these connections and, that's why we were excited to bring out more experts because they were asking the questions," Phillipson said. "They were leading the conversation. We love it."

After watching his classmate get geared up as a Confederate soldier, and then given the freedom to touch the artifacts, one student exclaimed, "I love school!"

"Let me get that on record," Phillipson said.