One-hundred and forty eighth-graders at Judkins Middle School got a taste of what life was like for Union soldiers Friday in the school's third annual overnight Civil War Encampment.

Students, staff members, and actors recreated the camp of an actual Union regiment, the 36th Ohio Regiment, which came complete with canvas tents and a hospital ward.

However, the fun is not over yet. The public is invited to join in today's Color Ceremony, where a Civil War band will perform and an actor dressed as President Abraham Lincoln will deliver the Gettysburg Address.

“It's a fantastic experience for kids because it allows kids to actually experience things. They're not just in a classroom,” said Terry Handy, a teacher who organized the event for the school in Pismo Beach.

Civil War reenactments have long been a hobby of Handy's, and two years ago he decided to introduce his hobby to his students by organizing Judkins' first Civil War Encampment.

While the encampment is voluntary, it is open only to eighth-graders.

The goal is to help students better understand and appreciate the war that nearly split the nation.

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For 21 hours, participating students drill, eat, march, dance, do guard duty and sleep in tents - just as members of the 36th Ohio Regiment once did.

Students even celebrate, mid-19th-century-style, with a Civil War ball.

On Friday, the mournful sound of a bag pipe playing “Scotland the Brave,”

drifted through the warm

afternoon breeze.

Dressed in the traditional navy-blue uniform of the Union Army, Handy stood in front of the long row of eighth-grade “soldiers,” barking orders like any drill sergeant.

When minor tittering erupted amongst the group, Handy immediately set his “brigade” straight.

“There's no giggling in war!” he proclaimed, before teaching the “soldiers” how to shoot.

Following the drills, “Living

history” reenactors mulled about the lawn, telling students their stories.

While widely recognized historical figures such as Lincoln, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth were represented, lesser-known figures, such as Elizabeth Keckley, were also thrown into the mix.

Keckley, a former slave, served as the dressmaker and close confidant of first lady Mary Lincoln, and was instrumental in introducing black abolitionists to President Lincoln.

In deference to Keckley's importance in his household, President Lincoln used to refer to her as “Madame Elizabeth.”

When asked why she takes part in re-enactments, the Fresno-based actress who played Keckley said it was because the story needs telling.

“We need someone to tell our history like it really happened,” Evelyn Grimaldo said.

Across the field from Grimaldo, David Colley methodically laid out several threatening-looking surgical tools in the “infirmary.”

The tools included a saw and a knife, a sponge stuffed in a funnel alongside a jar of chloroform, and jelly bean “pills.”

When asked how the tools were sterilized, Colley threw back his head and laughed incredulously.

“Sterilize? The only thing we sterilize here is horses,” he said, before proceeding to wipe the blade of the saw on his wool pants in preparation for the next “patient.”

Student Abbey Hickman, who was adjusting her official Union Army hat, said she opted to participate in the re-enactment because “it sounded like fun,” and confirmed that she was having a good time.

Her classmate, Tanner Howard, said the drills were his favorite part of the reenactment.

The Color Ceremony begins with a parade at 9 a.m. on the Judkins campus at 680 Wadsworth Avenue in Pismo Beach.

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santamariatimes.com

March 8, 2008