9/25/2011--Observer/Reporter, Washington, PA         

Reclaiming history on the battlefields of Greene County



In a field where gunshots blast and blue-coated men stumble over hillocks, wildflowers make their own quiet music. Goldenrod streaks the fields with sunshine and Ironweed blooms bright purple.
The White Covered Bridge Festival in Gerards Fort is so crowded today, people have begun to park on the side of the highway. I've just finished singing onstage with the folk band, "Unreliable Sallys," and we've left the banjo and guitars in their cases and wondered down to the Civil War reenactment, where my 3-year old Beatrix climbs onto my hip and complains, "It's too loud!"

So we duck into the cool shadows of White Covered Bridge. My husband touches a dark wood beam and wonders if he's seeing any of the original lumber. Beatrix finds a place by the bank to toss stones into shadowy, cool Whiteley Creek and I wander over to a campsite complete with white canvas tents, a fire, and women who look like they just walked out of "Gone with the Wind," except they're wives and family of Union men.

The gathering looks like a family reunion of sorts, with young and older folk sitting under trees, chatting and waiting for the soldiers to return from their skirmishes.

 "We claim everyone as family," Jennifer Foley explains, her bright blue eyes smiling from beneath her bonnet. Wood smoke curls into the trees. Jennifer's two nieces, clad in emerald green period dresses, have just strolled down away from the battle, and her nephew is in uniform today, too.
Karen Foley sits near Jennifer, and in gray dress that looks as if it's well layered, I imagine she must be rather warm. But she's well used to the garb by now. She tells me that when her husband decided to don a uniform years ago, she thought it was just a passing fancy. "We've been together for 20 years," she says, and re-enactments are now a family affair.

Jennifer gives me a brief tour of the camp, which she explains would have been Officer's Quarters, with "plenty of shade and amenities." A couple jam jars stand ready next to a hunk of bread and near the fire, a black pot promises something warm for the men after battle. Usually, Jennifer explains, a soldier would be left behind to guard camp, but today there's a young lad, Cameron, who looks cute as a button under his cap but not too intimidating.

As Jennifer gives ...