Cannon and musket fire rocked Kearney Park this weekend from the 25th anniversary of the Civil War Reenactment.
Presented by the Fresno Historical Society, the Civil War Revisited is the largest re-enactment in the state, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s fourth year.
Over a thousand period re-enactors including Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis impersonators flocked to Kearney Park to revisit the past, sharing stories and experiences from their personas.
Events throughout the park included Civil War-era musicians, dancing, live civil war battles, carriage rides and talks from the perspective of 19th century merchants, artisans and other figures.
Confederate corporal re-enactor Jacob Phelan has been participating in re-enactments throughout California for the past four years.
“You get to see history firsthand,” Phelan said. “You get to talk to people rather than just read about them.”
The highlight of the event for many were the Civil War Battles of the Atlanta Campaign, which soldiers re-enacted across Kearney Park, complete with a 20-minute bombardment by cannons and a cavalry of over 30 riding horseback into battle.
“It’s a different feeling reading about a battle than actually getting to watch it or participate. You can feel the percussions of the cannons and the rifles,” Phelan said. “And you learn so much about it.”
The park ten minutes outside of Fresno, has its own noteworthy history. M. Theo Kearney, “The Prince of Fresno,” a self-made millionaire who created the California Raisin Growers Association and helped start the first colony farm in Fresno, founded it in 1883.
Fresno State theatre professor Dan Carrion also took part in the re-enactment as Marcus Pollasky, founder of the San Joaquin Railroad. He spoke about the preparation it takes to participate in events such as the re-enactment, like research””three months in Carrion’s case. It also takes an avid interest in the history of Fresno.
“I had been studying Pollasky since I was a teenager,” Carrion said. “He is a huge figure in the history of Clovis, since it was his railroad that made Clovis begin.”
Carrion also commented on the authenticity of the event, from the portrayal of 1840s south to the 1890s.
“The history presented about the Civil War, the blacksmithing stuff and the crafts and all that really aren’t much different from what was happening in the 1890s,” Carrion said. “We were still using horses and wagons to transport goods to market until the railroads came along.”
Other popular stations throughout the park included the field hospital tent, where students and visitors got to get up close and personal with real tools used in surgical operations as well as tents from blacksmiths, quilters and gun-makers.
Food booths were also in full swing for the weekend festivities, including frozen yogurt, tacos, Old Tyme Kettle Korn and sarsaparilla, a root beer type beverage that was popular during the 19th century in the United States from Weasel Inn Sassparilly.
The best part of the re-enactment, Carrion said, lies in the people themselves.
“I love the reliving history part, especially when people show enough interest and come up and ask questions,” Carrion said. “Two guys last year, when they found out that my character is the president of a railroad, went nuts about the high speed rail asking me all sorts of questions and commenting on its necessity now. I thought that was pretty cool that they took something from the past and equated it with the future. That’s what it’s all about.”