Breaking down the numbers, there were over 1200 reenactors. Some even came in to register Sunday morning!
There were well over 3800 spectators. Right after the battle on Saturday, you almost couldn't get into the camps for the sea of people.
Most importantly, the fund-raising efforts to help our friend John Sutliff and his family raised over $5000.00. My thanks to Heather Nichols and her team for making this happen. If you are interested in more information on how to help, please visit the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BenefitForJohn.
For those of you who missed the event, here are a few highlights:
STUDENTS - Traditionally on Friday morning, Zoar's Civil War weekend hosts a number of grade school students and put on a demonstrations from camp life, to infantry, cavalry and artillery demos. This year, because of the 105th, we had over 1100 kids from school systems around the state. It was amazing.
THE TACTICAL - Though there are some issues to work out for next time (battle OUTSIDE of town), I think everyone enjoyed themselves even though one of the judges tagged our entire battalion "out" for 5 minutes because we stood toe to toe and hammered at the Rebs. We did rack up a bunch of points that put us far ahead of the Confederates even though they had taken the Union artillery park right out of the gate. Finally tally, Union 280 points, Confederates 170. Check out some of the photos HERE.
THE BATTLES - Saturday was a bit like your typical reenactment battle, but Sunday's "Manassas Skedattle" make it worth while. To save you the blow by blow commentary, let's just say there were PLENTY of empty cartridge boxes.
I want to thank everyone on the Battalion staff, Bob Penix on the Wing, Dave Strichko on the Adjutating, Andy Kaminski on the Sergeant Majoring, Bill Andrews on the Double Secret Adjutating, Nick Barto on the horn, and Kevin Skaggs from the USVs for being the other Wing-Dinger. We had over 100 men in the Battalion comprised of Birney's Division, the US Volunteers, and the 66th OVI from Vincent's Brigade.
Another big thank you to Bob Minton and the guys from the Army of the Ohio. We have such a great working relationship that it is beyond enjoyable working with Bob and the gang to put on an event like this.
Lastly, thanks to all of the guys from the 51st OVI and 6th Ohio Cav (that covers a lot of names) for the work they did to put things together. They did a great job for the Zoar Community Association and the reenactors!!
Your Servant,
Chris Smith
2d Battalion, Birney's Division
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