FREMONT — Re-enactors paid tribute to the Grand Army of the Republic Saturday in Fremont during the Civil War Winter Camp reenactment at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums.
This was the sixth year for the event, which used some of the wooded areas on the property to reinvent the make-shift conditions of soldiers during the American Civil War.
“Fighting in battle was just a small segment of what they [soldiers] did, but what did they do on a daily basis?” said Kevin Moore, the curator of artifacts at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum. “You get to learn what daily life was like for a soldier, which is a little different than most other reenactments.”
Under the tree cover, tents joined with mudded wooden fireplaces and chimneys.
“They'd catch fire all the time,” said Michael Fahle, a volunteer re-enactor from Fremont and also one of the event organizers.
Each tent housed about four men, and the fireplaces were functioning. They were made of straw, wood, brick, or leaves and coated with mud to make them flame-resistant.
Barrels or rigid tack boxes were used for the chimneys, but the practical necessities of winter required an answer despite the hazard of burning fire in wooden containers.
“War is this very difficult experience,” Mr. Moore said. “But at the same time, these guys really treasured it, and it became a highlight of their life.”
“Even President Hayes himself wrote about how those were his best years,” Mr. Moore said. “And he insisted, even after his presidency, he asked the people not to call him the President or his excellency. He has to be called general because he felt that that was the most significant thing he ever did.”
Lasting camaraderie led to some of the earlier veterans’ institutions, most notably the Grand Army of the Republic.
“Unlike today, where we have the VA and things like that, there wasn't any kind of health service for them [veterans of the Civil War],” Mr. Moore said. “A lot of soldiers who were wounded, and they were physically unable to work. They had to live on charitable assistance,” and the Grand Army of the Republic helped Union veterans take care of each other.”
Eventually, Civil War veterans received pensions and back pay under the Arrears Act of 1879, which General Hayes signed into law as president.
“They felt that they had saved the Republic,” Mr. Moore said. “They had saved the country, and if not for them, the United States would have ended. And so they wanted to preserve their contribution to saving the Union” through creating the Grand Army of the Republic, he said.
With many decades of re-enacting experience, Christine McDonald, of Rochester, Mich., cooked up a soup over a live fire.
“Living history helps things not be forgotten,” she said. As an elementary school and civics teacher, Mrs. McDonald challenged people to learn their history or be doomed to repeat it.
“We consider ourselves living historians,” said Roger Mays, a re-enactor from Middletown, Ohio. “All of these are original. They're well over 150 years old,” he said, referring to the medals on his person.
As an older gentleman, Mr. Mays said he aged out of participating in the camp demonstration and instead opted for the G.A.R. tent.
“They were politically powerful for their time,” Mr. Mays said. “There wasn't a president elected unless the G.A.R. approved.”
The Grand Army of the Republic was specifically for American Civil War veterans and now lives on in re-enactors hearts.
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