War between the States comes alive for students at Charter Day School in Leland, NC

The anticipation causes you to squirm, fingers in your ears, mouth open, eye squinting, the gun master to yells “fire” and… BABOOM! The extremely loud noise from the civil war era canon makes you jump, laugh, giggle and look around at everyone else enjoying the gut wrenching blast. That’s the fun part. The scary part is learning just what damage these massive guns did to human lives in our greatest national conflict, the War between the States.

A reenactment group camped at Charter Day School to teach students what life was really like during the 1860’s. The group, who represent actual Union and Confederate troops who fought in the Cape Fear area, marched through campus for the morning flag  raising. They also recreated authentic war camps for infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments. The enactors are genuine to the time period with tents, supplies, clothes, weapons and a huge artillery canon that could fire a 6 pound steel ball over a mile (although blanks were used for demonstration). Students learning about the War between the States in the classroom were able to hear heart-felt stories of what a soldier’s life was like, or ask officers questions about war strategies and tragedies, and walk back in time into a tent and touch the few personal  items that  soldiers were able to keep with them.

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