Booms, wounds, and lessons from our past as Civil War reenactment comes to Marblemount April 16–17.
By Marshall Cooper
(posted 4.6.11)

Once again the streets of Marblemount will fill with smoke and be strewn with bodies of fallen heroes.

The Washington Civil War Association (WCWA) will reenact the Civil War on the streets of Marblemount, with the Yankee and Rebel soldiers going head to head with musket and artillery fire. The Union forces will be portrayed by the Army of the Columbia, commanded by Col. Ted Sayler. The Confederate forces will be portrayed by Adams Legion, commanded by Lt. Col. Toby Gully. The event is free and open to the public.

The battle is scheduled to take place on Sat., April 16, and Sun., April 17, at noon. When the troops are not in battle, they will drill on the ball field adjacent to the North Cascade Business Association building, from approximately 10 a.m. to noon each day. Visitors may explore the encampment before or after the battles.

The Washington Civil War Association is a nonprofit organization whose members strive to honor the memory of those men and women who gave their all for the causes they believed in during the American Civil War.

The reenactment allows WCWA members, who are avid history buffs, to communicate the realities of living during that period of turmoil in our nation’s history.

Two Marblemount teenagers stepped back in time last year, experiencing in a small way the harsh reality of Confederate soldiers’ lives during the Civil War reenactment. Jordan Ebbighausen, 15, and Jared Crookshank, 13, played the parts of a young soldier and a flag bearer, respectively.

The event was Jordan’s third trip out; he started as a flag bearer at an event in Spokane, when he was 12. Last year he packed heat—and paid the price for doing so. At one point, his persona was wounded in battle.

“The drilling was my favorite part,” Jordan said. “Being in the enactment and having so many people watching me made me a little nervous, but participating in a piece of history was exciting,” he said.

Then 12 years old, Jared Crookshank was not allowed to carry a gun, even one that shoots blanks. Given a choice between flag bearer and messenger, Jared chose the former. He wore a hand-me-down shirt, pants, and coat from Jordan, and picked up a hat and canteen as loaners.

“My favorite thing was making sure everybody followed the colors (the flag), and watching the people shoot the guns and the cannon,” said Jared.

For more information about the event, contact the NCBA at 360.873.2103.