What was your 150th Manassass experience? 2 deaths?

BJ_BOBBI_JO

Private
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Location
Indiana
1st off I want to ask about the rumor of 2 re-enactors dying from heat related issues. How true is this? One man said one of the deaths was from a man camping next to him. Anyone know about any of this?


I realize we will all have different feelings and thoughts about this event and that no one is 100% correct or wrong. It all depends on what, where, how and alll that stuff. Maybe we can give our feelings on how it went without bashing on eachothers feelings about it.

How did it go for you?
------------------------------------------
I can only tell how it went from my eyes so here it goes:

THE GOOD:
-the firemen, emt, ect did a great job tending to the heat related sickness.
-the soldiers had free water passed out to them in the battlefield and ice.
-There was plenty of port a potties, sulters and food venders.
-even though this was the manassas 1 it was fought on the land manassass 2 was on. So it had neat history
-There was tons of spectators.
-there were misting stations and a large air conditioned cooling medical tent that received much useage. The medical staff/firemen worked their tales off in there helping many many re-enactors and some spectators.
-some other re-enactors found a creek (not on state park land so they didnt get chases off) way at the back and many went into that nice cool creek to cool down. Some of the re-enactors tried keeping it secret cause they didnt wantg to share it. So me and others spread the word that it was there so others could cool down. It was literally a life threatening thign to be in that heat, people needed to cool down!
-the fire wood was nice and dry and seasoned.
-in the morning we were woke up at a little past 5am by drums and trumpets. And even though it was some annoying to be loudly woke up it was neat to hear it and picture what it was like to be a real CW soldier back then.

THE BAD:
-the horrid triple diget heat and high humidity.

-the very long distances to walk to get water and to the port-a-potties (depending on where your encampment was)

-depending on where your encampment was the water was undrinkable due to it literally coming out of the thing hot. I was told the water way way way up front was not hot though. For us in the very back it was hot enough to make coffee with and to make it worse the health department made it be chemical infested. That was our only drinking water, hot chemical infested water that we had to walk close to a 3/4 a mile to get to.

-due to the long distances of having to get and carry water in triple diget heat one of the re-enactors went and bought a long garden hose and hooked it up to our only water source in the back, which was hot, and put a water station closer to the folks in the back. That helped because we didnt need to walk so far.

-We in the far back had to walk almost just as far to the port a potties. Some of the re-enactors got so fed up they loaded 2 of the port-a-potties in the back of a pick up truck and took them to the back and that helped out a lot.

-The calvery in the back only had access to that horrid hot checmial infested water for their horses. The General re-enactor who bought the hose was helpful to those calvery cause carrying enough water to water those horses was awful and it was too hot to walk the horses out of the woods in the blistering sun to go drink hot water.

-The specators could hardly stand walking due to the heat understandably. There needed to be a shuttle, like at all the other events Ive been to, to shuttle them around to see the encampments.

-there wasnt enough room for everyone to bring their flys. So there wasnt enough shade. So understandably ppl went into the woods and laid on posion ivy infested grounds.

-a group of re-enactors in the woods found a pond/ creek simming hole type of thign and went swimming to cool off. They got chased out because it was state park land.(this was not the same as the other creek that ppl laid in to cool off)

-they had a lot of canopy tents for shade for the handicapped which is a nice thing to do, but the problem was they put the shade tents back and had spectators walking and standing in front of the handicapped tents and other tents. Those stuck in wheel chairs could not see the battle because of this. One handicapped women loudly asked ppl to please sit on the ground or move so she could see the battle. Hardly anyone would listen. She then started begging for ppl to please move and not stop standing right in front of her so she could see the battle. PPl looked at her then ingored her! I couldnt believe ppl would be so hartless and cruel! I thought southern culture was more freindly then that! Those ppl would not listen to the handicapped lady or anyone else. Those who could not see the battle paid $27 to see butts and the backs of heads of those standing in front of their wheelchairs, walkers and chairs.

-The only ice we camping re-enactors had was part metled bags of ice that cost $4. They would bring the ice back in wagons/4 wheelers/trucks which was nice. But by the time it got back to the back the bags were partly melting and we still had to pay $4 a bag.

-many many re-enactors (maybe half) packed up and left saturday night due to the heat and poor treatment. And my family and I was one of them. I wasnt goign to expose my kids tot hat one more day and make them keep drinking nasty hot chemcial water.

-some re-enactors got taken to the hospital due to the heat.

-some companies got to fight and enjoy doing the battle and others got to endlessly be marched around for 4 hours in the hot blazing sun only getting to shoot a few times.

-We stood in the heat for 1 1/2 hours just watching the tropps be marched around while the cannons occassionaly shot off. Finally the battle took place but by then many had got bored and left to go see whatever there was to see.

-the spectators were trapped there all day in that heat cause they couldnt drive to the event due to a lack of parking space. They were shuttled in a bus. That is fine but the problem was that they couldnt leave and were stuck in the heat. The venders (not all I guess) of course charged high prices for drinks.

-many of the men said the heat in the battle was bad but what got them the most was the long long walk back to their encampment in that sun in the 105 degrees temp on Saturday. They were laying on the ground panting all over the place.Some asked the ice drivers and security 4 wheelers for rides to their encampment cause they were over heating. NO rides allowed unless it was to go to the medical tent.

-You'd think that since the re-enactment and actual battle was in Virgina that they'd reconize the Virgina companies. But oh no the one big Virgina group had to pretent to portray a Georgia group instead of portraying Virgina. Made no since. All the other events Ive been to they always give reconition to the groups who portray their state and local area. Made no since at all and was kind of a slap in the face to those men who fought and died in the Virgina regiments back then.

-we re-enactors had to actually pay to be there and drink hot chemcial water. Ive never had to pay to be a reenactor. I dont know if they gave powder bounties or not? Maybe they did I dunno but no one around seemed to have gotten any.


---------------------------------
But there was fun times too as always and many good re-enactors. The rules were that re-enactors could not bring their vehicles into camp until Sunday afternoon to pack up. Many flipped out on the event planners and demanded access to their cars and the gate opened for their cars to come in so they could pack up and go. Finally this was allowed. Ppl knew their limits and knew they could not take another day of triple diget temps drinking hot water and little shade.

This is the 1st event that did not offer a meal for the re-enactors but considering the amount of us I can understand why they didnt. All the other events have not been for prophet and have been to show history to ppl. This event did not come across like that.

Saturday after the battle and the horrid long walk back to our campsites many ppl got out of charactor and got into cooler clothing. It was a matter of survival at that point. If anye vent planners had barked about them being out of charater while spectators where still there I think there would have been a real war cause tempers were flarred and ppl were at the point of not caring and just needing to survive. Infact a few re-enactors did scream and yell at the event planners as did some spectators aboutt he conditions.

The cooling medical tent had ppl of all ages and walks of life suffering. You couldnt drink enough water and stay in enough shade to prevent the heat sickness. It was impossible to not be effected in some way.

It makes me respect the smaller re-enactments more. At those we dont have to pay to be there, we get powder bounties, we get drinkable water and free meal(s), we get good treatment and the crowd loves the exciting battles and re-enacting.

Many re-eanctors said they have never been treated this bad at any event. Nor have they ever had to partake in such a crappy battle. Although day 2's battle was way better from the way ppl talk.

I hope the 150th Shiloh will be better! I dont blame the event planners. It isnt their fault we had triple diget temps. I believe they worked hard and did their best and I thank them for their work. They did what they could, but thigns must not have been fully thought and planned out. Although I hear this event was better then some of the other manassas events in the past.
 
I did not hear anything nor have I read or see on TV anything about anyone dying at that event. In Federal camp I was close to water and port a johns. I didn't find anything unusal about the water. Tasted fine to me. I've been reenacting 23 years and I have never been to a national event that provided dinner, I don't know what made you think this one would be different. They're gonna feed 10,000 people? Yeah sure. I thought the battles were great, all the confusion that Bull Run, in fact was.

I thought the organizers did everything possible to deal with the heat including battles in the morning. I've just learned to deal with the conditions over the years, including torrential rain, bone chilling cold, heat, lovely autumn days, and even a tornado.

Bobbie Joe, please take my advise and don't drag young kids to one of those national events again. You were just asking for trouble even under the best conditions, let alone record breaking heat. The National events are set up to portray the clash of armies, not family fun. The national events are really not set up for civilian reenactors. Civilians best stay home or stay in a nearby motel.
 
How dare those folks 150 years ago to schedule battles in bad weather. Imagine! Having to walk in heat or rain! Having to carry water! Not being able to bring your car right up to your tent to unload! And wearing corsets and wool and.......

Seriously? It's called a reenactment. Not a family picnic. If you can't stand the heat, stay outta the kitchen.
And if someone had died, don't you think it would have been all over CNN? At least in the local news?
 
  • Like
Reactions: CTH
Watching as a "media" member, the battle on Saturday was fantastic, so far as a reenactment can be.

However, as is always the case, and especially with the heat such as it was, there were issues.

I'd only add a few comments of my own.

It's odd that the event planners would pick a field with high tension wires in the background, kinda spoiled a few of my photographs....

The plastic bags of Ice and Cases of Bottled water took nothing from the excitement and atmosphere of the battle, but they were still distracting on the battlefield, a necessary evil in these temps.

The media platforms were too small, as were the grandstands, at least with the crowds on Saturday...

I think that the event was done in the best it could under the circumstances, looking forward to the next battles.

Thanks to all the reenactors who made it such a great day!
 
Since we left on Saturday night we did not see or partake in Sundays battle. But I heard that Sundays battle was way better then Saturdays battle. Yes there was the heat but the batter plan and re-eancting was much better on Sunday Im told. Im glad to hear it cause I was upset that spectators had to pay so much on Saturday to see mostly marching with a small bit of shooting on Saturday. So it sounds like Sundays battle was way better and very exciting. Im glad for it! :wink:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nathan- I am aware this is not a family picnic nor should it be. It is about representing true history not catering to re-enactors. I am fully aware of this. But we are not actually fighting true 1860s CW now in the year of 2011. The real CW is over you see. And because it is over we re-eanctors should not have to drink overly chemcial infested hot water. It would at least be nice to have drinkable water. Shouldnt we represent the war as well but as safe as possible without making it to where ppl have to get sick from bad water like they might have back then? Im all about representing the history but not in a way that is unsafe. And it would be nice for the handicapped folks to be able to actually see the battle since they too paid for it. Other then that the rest of the stuff goes with the "job" such as the heat, long walks and so on. If you were not there then you have no room to say what it was like. May you be happy and have a great safe time re-eancting. I truelly mean that!

Fifer--yall in the fed camps had it hard like everyone else but I did notice yall had easy access to the johns and water. And your water hook up was much closer to the water tank truck things so your water would have been cooler then ours way in the back. I believe it was the water sitting in the mega long length of pipes baking in the sun that brought out the chemical taste. If I had nice drinking water and had been in the front Id not have saw issues either. My kids can handle the ruff conditions but not the undrinkable water. I wont take them or myself to anymore middle of summer re-anctments due to that. The heat cant be helped but a person should at least know their limits and not partake in what may not be best for them. This was a learning experience and Im still glad I went despite the heat. Im glad you had a good time and had good drinking water. I really am! I had hoped to hear some postive news on this event since we way way in the back didnt have it so postive. Well not until we found the nice cool creek. :laugh1:
-------------------------------------------------
But like I said the even planners could not have predicted this heat and could not have been 100% prepared for the trouble it would cause.
The lack of drinkable water was my main issue and the fact that handicapped ppl in wheel chairs had to pay high prices to only see butts and the backs of heads upset me. The rest just goes with the hobby.
 
A horse died, I think...in a creepy bit of contingency planning I read that
the County EMS planned for six fatalities. Probably would have been right
except the heat wave kept people who were on the fence away from the event.
 
A horse died,.

Do you happen to know any details about it? I ask cause one of the guys in the back, that only had access to the hot chlorine water, said one of the horses was acting sickly and they had trouble getting some of them to drink the nasty water. Although by Saturday afternoon I did see a big water trough at one of the water stations that had cooler better water towards the front. I feel bad for the onwer of the horse that died. I guess it goes with the hobby but is still sad :frown:
 
Welcome to reenacting at the national level,i can't remember a truely good national event since probly 2000 seems most of the national events in the last 10-11 years have been cluster F**** of some sort, if it's not the event planners it's the reenactment command staff messing things up for others ie:145th Gettysburg.
 
I was one at the event also for the weekend. The walk to the parking lot is the only thing I have to complain about for sure. But what else can you expect with that many vehicles to be parked somewhere.

The heat was bad and I was one of the people to visit the EMT tent. They were great and helkped me out tremendously. The cool tent and fans and cold towels to cool down the body helped out a lot. One lady in there was the wife of a Confederate reenactor and she had a little one that was over heated. She had her hands full with that little one. But I am sure it helped getting them cooled down. That was Sat. with that incident.

The same for Sunday for me. But I was not able to retain enough of the water to keep me hydrhated for the weekend.

The heat was unusual for that time of the year in VA when I talked to the EMT folks. It sucked with that kind of conditions to reenact in for the weekend and wear wool. I know for me and having a family the national events are not one to take a family to for sure. The mess of stuff that can happen bites and to have the family there makes it even worse. Although it would be a great experience for the family.

The planning I could not complain about as I thought they event planners had tried to cover as much as could be. The bottle water on the fields, well that is something that just had to be done so there were not deaths in my mind.

The Sat. battle started out as a cluster for sure. But there was miscommunication all parts at every level. That is from my understanding, and then it was off to the races to catch up.

So it was a typical national event and the number of people had to be hard to plan an event of this magnatude and hard to keep up with. But I am happy that I got to go to it. After all I only get to see the bright colored uniforms once in the CW battle.
 
How dare those folks 150 years ago to schedule battles in bad weather. Imagine! Having to walk in heat or rain! Having to carry water! Not being able to bring your car right up to your tent to unload! And wearing corsets and wool and.......

Seriously? It's called a reenactment. Not a family picnic. If you can't stand the heat, stay outta the kitchen.
And if someone had died, don't you think it would have been all over CNN? At least in the local news?

Most reenactment units have civilian members and children involved, and its expected that they will attend the events also.. Thats why theres a civilian choice on the sign up papers..The planners know this, if they didn't want civilians involved they would say so...But, with that being said, when the forceasters call for 100+ temp on fri and sat and you know your going to be in a field with little or no shade for the weekend, you better think long and hard about going and taking your kids with you.
 
I started taking my son to small events when he was six. He had a ball with other kids. I didn't take him to a national event till he could carry my rifle and fall into battle line.
 
Did anyone get to see the "show"put on in the far back by that corvered wagon along the wood line by the Mississippi campainging guys? We were camped right there and saw the actors in their costumes and the crowd gathered to watch. We just pulled out as it was begining. It looked like it was going to be pretty neat. I dunno if they were a part of the Mississippi group or not. Those Mississippi guys must have been plum tuckered out! THey were up standing drilling way before the others even on Friday.

I enjoyed spending time with some of them on Thursday being educated about the CW and such. The ones I encounted were nice, friendly and polite. I saw a large toad hop onto the one mans tin cup of water and he gently pulled the toad off and finshed drinking his water as it merrily hopped off! LOL!

I see that you long time re-eacttors are saying that it sems all the national events are hard on families. I believe you since you have been to them and have been doing this a long time. The main issue I had was the lack of drinkable water with in walking distance. I realize that was also an issue for the real CW men back then but since we are only representing life back then we need to stay alive and healthy so we can continue to do so. SO re-eancting 100% like them is not possible unless we want a death wish or to get sick with dysentery and things like that. Im not that die hard of a re-enactor. So for the next national event if I dont see that we have access to drinkable water with in walking distance then I will be sure to go get some before they lock down our cars like they did at Manassas.

Ive been a camper all of my life living off little and little to no modern stuff. Im used to that. My dad had us camp like that all the time to some degree depending on where we camped. But we always had drinkable water.

The sheer amount of men lining up marching was impressive! I liked it when they stayed in charactor and shouted out thigns as they passed by. "we are going to protect your honor ladies" and things like that. Those men endured hours of marching, standing and fighting. It just was not possible to stay hydrated enough, not everyones body was capable of retaining in enough water and electrolytes to stay safe. It was good the event planners finally let the ones who were heat sick leave on Saturday since heat sickness can lead to sever organ damage quickly and then to death if not taken care of. I wonder how the re-enactors and spectators, who passed out and was taken to the ER, are doing now? I hope they dont have organ damage :frown:. There was some man going around asking his guys where a womans car keys were cause she had passed out and been taken to the ER. I dunno what unit they were from. I saw ppl everywhere on the verge of going into heat stroke. Thankfully many found shade and were given water and ice in time.

Our unit had those salt pills that help replensih the much needed sodim and other electrolytes. We all drank tons of water. Just sitting still caused major sweating. Ppl everywhere was stipping down to as little as possible without being naked. Saw men walkign around in their period correct underwear and womwn just wearing their period correct under clothing such as the full body slip corded pettcoat things. Many were in swim suits or shorts.

One womans throat started swelling shut for unknown reasons and she was having a hard time breathing. They picked her up on the gator and took her to the medical tent and gave her an epi pen shot and took her to the ER.
Seeing and hearing all those heat related sickness going on was like a small glimpse of what the guys back then might have endured. How horrible it had to have been for them to not only die of war injuries but from dehydration and other thigns too. It was a sad needless war :frown: IMO. I looked out over that land and woods and wondered how much death the guys who fought in the manassas 2 saw there on that very land. They would have had that creek and stream for water but I wonder how flithy it was after 1000s of horses and men had walked threw it. I wondered if they stood on that one hill our encampment was at the bottom of and looked out over the land hoping to make it threw the day alive. I wondered if they saw all those dead bodies and wanted to run for the woods to take cover? What did they think as they kept going on stepping over bodies and hoping to not be shot? It was neat to see the landscape and wonder what it might have been like for them.

Did anyone get to see HK Edgerteron (spell)? I would have loved to hear him speak.
 
Bobbi Jo and everybody who's posting on this thread - thanks for your insights and observations. Folks like me who weren't able to go are at least able to get some idea of what it was like, through these reports. Thanks again.

Lee
 
-depending on where your encampment was the water was undrinkable due to it literally coming out of the thing hot. I was told the water way way way up front was not hot though. For us in the very back it was hot enough to make coffee with and to make it worse the health department made it be chemical infested. That was our only drinking water, hot chemical infested water that we had to walk close to a 3/4 a mile to get to.

Chemical infested? how about chemically treated. There is a HUGE difference between non palatable and non potable. The reason that water was treated was to make sure it was safe to drink. It might not have tasted good, but it is better than drinking water that WILL make you sick. The statement that the Civil War is over so why do we have to drink Chemical infested water is insane. They didn't have the chemicals that would kill bacteria and and microorganisms that contaminate water. They drank water that was often downstream of sinks, downstream of where horses were watered, and defecated, from sources that men and horses had died in... and that is why they died of various intestinal disorders. The Health Department would not have ordered it if it wasn't necessary to preserve the health of those consuming it.

The "show" with the wagon I am pretty sure was the 2nd Mississippi's commissary, carrying all the rations for the regiment. No, I didnt attend, but i know plenty of folks that were with the 2nd.
 
Miz Bobbi- I'm sorry to hear about the water issue and I'll pass that on to the folks who should know about it. They are planning the same site for the 2012 150th 2nd Manassas/Bull Run event... so if there are water issues, they need to know.

When I advised everyone to take care of your family and your group... I meant it... and wound up doing just that. My "brother of the heart" and I had been conditioning for several months in preparation for the heat and exertion of this event, we had been acclimating for several weeks prior to the event by going without a/c, taking long walks in the hottest parts of the day, and drinking lots and lots and lots of water. By the time he and his things were dropped by his camp, me and my things were dropped by my camp, and the truck was parked... he was feeling sick from the heat. He went to the EMT tent by 8:30pm and I needed to make the decision on whether I was going home too. He was released to go home at around 11:30pm Friday and we proceeded to the parking area. An hour and half later we still had not found the truck, the lights were out, the ground crew had left, we were both becoming incoherent and testy because of the heat, and the gate to the parking area was locked. We slipped around the gate and made our way back to the EMT tent. His wife called for an update and agreed to come pick us up. She arrived at around 2:30am Sat. morning and we made it home by around 3:00am. We had to leave our gear behind.
We returned on Sat. evening to check on things and find my truck so we would be able to drive out on Sun.
We returned on Sun. afternoon to retrieve our gear.

The heat was brutal... for everyone.

and P.S.- I'm a campaigner re-enactor and I'm as civilian as they come. The non-military folks add SO much to the history that we, as a hobby, are trying to share. The non-military folks were there in 1857-1865 and without them, the military folks would be naked, starved, despondent, clueless, and unmedcated... we civilians tell "The Rest of the Story."
 
Elaine--Im so sorry that happened :frown: Friday was probably the worse but Saturday was a close competetion for the worse day. I cant say enough good about the guys in the medical tent. They sure did a great job. I heard people saying things like they just could not stay hydrated enough despite how much water they drank. I soppose our bodies each handle it differently. I thought about you and wondered how you was doing. I wanted to be able to walk around and try and find ppl from this forum but it was just to miserable. I went to the medical tent to cool down and they made me lay on one of the beds cause I am a diabetic. Then after they saw my blood sugars were not going to go too crazy they had me get up and sit in the chairs in front of the fans and that was completely understandable because they needed the beds for more sever cases of heat sickness. Many ppl laid in those beds getting IV fluids. I dont think they could have been able to count the amounts of ppl coming in and out sitting in the chairs to cool down. I drank and drank tons of fluid and ate salt and still could not keep hydrated enough. I was sweating so bad that I was no longer peeing and anyone with medical knowledge knows that means one is doing some heavy duty sweating. Well I wanted a glimpse of what it was like for my great grandpa and I got it! I joke around that I have manassas related post tramic stress syndrome. LOL! Each time I think about the next event for me I am now obessing over making room in the car to pack my own drinkable water and planning a way to keep it cool

Elaine--thank you for letting them know about the water situation. I understand that they needed to put the chemicals in the water per the board of health regulations. But when the water was sun baked and heated like that it brought out the smell and taste of the chorline and made it undrinkable for many. It was actually making some ppl sick to their stomachs and they didnt want to drink it anymore. I wish I had known earlier that the water in the front was much better. It would probably be to much trouble but maybe burying the piping might help? Or at least warning ppl so they know to bring their own drinking water in so that they will be prepared. Please tell them about the handcapped ppl too. I felt so bad that they could not see the battle. Other then that the rest of the bad stuff could not be helped it was just the normal stuff that comes with the hobby. And once again I thank you for your kind posts. you have a way of posting thigns nicely and in a non confrontational way. Since the 2nd battle was fought in August it wont be any better with the water situation. Too bad cause Id really like to see that one since my great grandfather fought in that one. But no more Manassas for me! Ok 150th Shiloh Im ready for you! I hope. LOL--gee I gotta find room for drinking water and.... and this and that and this........ just joking. :wink:
 
and P.S.- I'm a campaigner re-enactor and I'm as civilian as they come. The non-military folks add SO much to the history that we, as a hobby, are trying to share. The non-military folks were there in 1857-1865 and without them, the military folks would be naked, starved, despondent, clueless, and unmedcated... we civilians tell "The Rest of the Story."
I didnt realize that females did the compainning thing too. I saw some females set up along with the campaingers but they had flys or small tents and didnt seem to wear the same clothes for days on the end like the guys were. Interresting! I always admire the authentic re-eanctors.
 
I have to compliment the EMTs for I was one of their first patients Sunday. Try as I could, I was but a "hunnert yards" from the fight, but couln't take another step. Probably a lucky thing for it may have been my last had I made it. I learned a valuable lesson on hydration. It was because I bleed out more than I took in, but I drank constantly. I never recovered from Saturday's battle enough to do the Sunday battle. I needed more that water though. I needed a dose of "salts" too. Plenty of fruit, but simply didn't know I needed more of the same.

The logistics were not the greatest. Not enough routes in and out, but then too, it was a confined space, wasn't it. I feel had there been onsite shuttles like there were often times at the Gettysburg events (tractors and wagons) it would have been much better.

Didn't understand so many folks leaving Saturday. We obeyed the "keep cars out" policy, so were annoyed at the influx of "deserters."

We were fortunate to have as many sanitary facilities as we did. And they were kept relatively clean.

We do this mainly for our own enjoyment, but I get a thrill when the spectators get a good show. As much running around as we did Saturday, we didn't get close to the stands, and I believe that would have been so, so much better a show for them and more rewarding experience for us. Our unit takes pride in their tactics and uniform volleys of fire, and our leadership. If we look like we're runnin' around with our heads cut off, it's 'cause we're chasin' the feller witht he axe!! We are committed to a good show, and we seldom come away dissatisfied. Their may have been a lot of action up at the stands, but from where I stood Saturday, it was on the other side of the field.

Looking forward to more 150th events. Heaven knows we have no control over the weather. This event went well considering the heat. I know know the true meaning of "hotter'n Hell with the blowers on!"
 
Did anyone get to see HK Edgerteron (spell)? I would have loved to hear him speak.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No you wouldn't.
 
Didn't understand so many folks leaving Saturday. We obeyed the "keep cars out" policy, so were annoyed at the influx of "deserters."

I dont wanna missinterpet anyone so I ask. Are you saying that the ppl who were smart enough to see their own body's limitations and left because of it were deserters? Would it have been better if they stayed and possibly got organ damage from the extreme loss of electrolytes no matter how much water they drank and fruits they ate? Would it be deserting if ones body was genetically made in a way that did not balance out and properly disperse the usage of electrolytes in their bodies ? How could everyone had known their bodies were not be able to maintain enough electrolytes and hydration despite doing all the "right" things since most have never even lived through such a heat wave before?

Being "man enough and toughing it out" (like some have said other places) has nothing to do with it. If many of those "deserters" had stayed just to make others happy and tuff it out they could have very well suffered heat related organ damage or worse yet death. I know of a man who once did such a thing and he nearly died because of it. The heat and loss of electrolytes damaged his pancreas, brain and other organs. He had to re-learn to walk,eat and do everything else. He can no longer drive or fully take care of himself due to the heat related damage. He was a youngish-middle aged man who was healthy and active befor. He was just an unfortunate victim of the massive heat wave in his location. He is not a wimp or whatever else. His body just dont do electrolyte loss well.

Sure the guys back then had to deal with it but they had no choice. We have a choice and putting our lives and health at risk should not be a part of re-enacting just to make everyone happy and portray the long ago guys who didnt have a choice. If we do that then we will all kill ourselves off trying to be the "perfect" re-eanctor. Shouldnt re-enacting be fun in addition to educational and in honor of those men long ago? I dont see a person with heat sickness or on the verge of a heat stroke and needing to leave because of it as deserting but instead i see it as wise for them to know that it was not safe for them to do another day considering how their bodies were acting.
I dont spect if a person didnt have issues with electrolyte loss that they would understand the sheer sickness it causes. And I hope they never do have to have heat sickness. Id rather "desert" then to have a hospital bill or a funeral bill.
 
Back
Top