Shootin' Yankees with the Hardee Guard

OK.....this is actually the first post in a trilogy of this past weeks adventures with my brother and some of his friends who are Civil War reenactors.

Before this trilogy is over, I hope everything is in chronological order. Knowing how I am around technology.....well, we'll see.

We traveled to Gettysburg Pennsylvania for the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg where over 35,000 Confederate and Union forces lost their lives. The battle was fought over three days, July 3 - 5, in 1863. We toured the battle field at the Gettysburg National Military Park, with Dewayne acting as our tour guide. Dewayne was fortunate enough, several years ago, to have worked on a documentary that was filmed on this battle field and was the most excellent guide we could have got for free.

Below are some of the images from the 2008 Gettysburg reenactment and our trip to the Gettysburg National Military Park.


The 48th Alabama is ready for inspection, sir!!!!



Captain Mac inspects the 48th Alabama before leading them into battle.




Goin' into battle.



Captain Mac leads the 48th Alabama through the farm towards the field where the reenactment of the 'Gallant Rally at the Klingle Farm' is to be played out.



Matt, DeWayne, and Phill in full dress at the Alabama Memorial at the Gettysburg National Military Park.



Someone earlier in the morning had left a list with the names, companys, and fates of several Alabama soldiers.



Captain Mac is portraying the Andrew O'Sullivan images of 'Confederate Sharpshooter.
I can't believe he laid down in the mud to do this!!!



Private tour guide DeWayne describing how the good guys advanced across the open fields and how the Union troops got their advantage as Matt and Phill look on. The rock wall behind them is where the Confederate forces breached the Union lines before being overwhelmed. 12,000 Confederate forces from the 'Army of Northen Virginia' started across the open field, but only about 200 made it to this point.



A camera pointing crew was at the reenactment all weekend filming the events for an upcoming movie. Here one of the camera pointers is filming the Hardee Guard Batallion, which the 48th Alabama is a part of.



The 48th Alabama had the honor of being host to a couple of Australian reenactors who had decendants that fought for the south at Gettysburg. Here, the 48th Alabam is awarded an Australian flag by the Aussie reenactors.



The Aussie flag with the Hardee Guard.



Here are the Hardee Guard officers with the Aussie flag.