The
Shippensburg Reenactment “March to Destiny” is always a lot of fun. Maybe it is
because it is a Confederate victory in my home state or maybe it’s because it
is civilian and military centered. Civilians can enjoy a number of lectures, an
ice cream social and a ball. Not to mention that you can be chauffeured into
town in a wagon or carriage.
This weekend
was hot but not to the extent that we couldn’t enjoy ourselves. We didn’t
attend any of the lectures as we have in past years and instead wandered the
town together, and read in the shade of the trees. It was a very relaxing
event. No drills, short battles and the townspeople really support the weekend
when time-travelers take over.
From The New York Herald, 1863 |
For those of
your not familiar, Shippensburg is a small town in PA that was occupied by Confederates
on the way to Gettysburg. The town retains much of its 1860s appearance, albeit
with modern establishments. One such building containing a hardware store, opened its doors in 1858. In modern times,
the store is called Pague & Fegan but it was originally called McPherson
& Cox Hardware Store. The building itself was looted by Confederates
in June of 1863 but McPherson reportedly hid his most expensive assets in the
walls and wallpapered them over, preserving a portion of his livelihood.
The town has many stories of the raids. In his report to Colonel R. H. Chilton, Lieutenant-General R.S. Ewell simply stated "At Carlisle, Chambersburg, and Shippensburg, requisitions were made for
supplies, and the shops were searched, many valuable stores being secured. At
Chambersburg, a train was loaded with ordnance and medical stores and sent back. Near
3,000 head of cattle were collected and sent back by my corps, and my chief commissary of
subsistence, Major [W. J.] Hawks, notified Colonel [R. G.] Cole of the location of 5,000
barrels of flour along the route traveled by the command."
This is one of my favorite events. We always have a great time. A lot of events end up being kind of stressful. This is a nice event where not much is happening on the military side of things. It's nice to have a weekend off, getting to spend more time with friends. Somehow no matter how rough the weekend starts out, we always end up having a really good time here. :D
ReplyDeleteA stress free event is just what we needed.
DeleteI wish I could come . where is it? Answer on my blog. I am sorry i do not visit much!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like the coolest event I've seen you post about! Having a carriage ride into town? Too cool! Glad you had a good time! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great reenactment. I'd love to hear more about this event.
ReplyDelete