The Annual Gettysburg Civil War Reenactment is a three-day event with a variety of battles and educational opportunities. Reliving the Battle at Gettysburg, this reenactment offers four to five skirmishes for your viewing pleasure. Having heard of these reenactments and being a horse lover, of course I had to go to see a Cavalry Charge. The reenactment site is actually off the actual battle grounds. The Gettysburg battle fields are consecrated grounds to honor those who died there.
Packing up a picnic basket and heading up to Gettysburg in the morning, we arrived to the reenactment site several hours before the Cavalry Charge was to take place. Establishing our desired seating location, this allowed us plenty of time to wander the camp grounds.
As the battle closely approached, the crowds became huge and pressed tightly along the side of the field, anxious for battle. On one side waited the Confederates with their canons, muskets and men-in-arms.
The Confederates
On the other…the Union Army. Standing ready at attention for battle.
The Union
Preparing for Battle
Before you know it, shouts scattered across the field and the Cavalry men galloped towards each other, swords clashing and flashing. The battle moved from one side of the battle field to the other, unsure of which side would be victorious.
The Cavalry Skirmish
Must See TV !
Play this short movie clip from the 2011 Cavalry Charge and feel the excitement!
Such excitement on the field made me wish Remy Martin and I were members of a Cavalry brigade.
Be mindful that this battle occurred during the high humidity and heat of early July over large ground outside of the Town of Gettysburg. The fighting was frequently quite disorganized with poor communication and spread out throughout the countryside. The fields where these reenactments are held are quite large and the entire field is used for battle. Remember also that these are reenactors, not trained Civil War soldiers.
The best viewing of these reenactments are within the middle section of the bleachers. Tickets must be purchased to obtain bleacher seating and is an additional fee to the General Admission ticket. It is open seating on the bleachers, so arrive early to pick your spot.
In the upcoming 2012 Annual Gettysburg Reenactment, there will be three opportunities to see the Cavalry in action:
- Ambush at Hunterstown on Saturday, July 7, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.
- “A Missed Opportunity” on Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. South Cavalry Field
- Farnsworth Heroic Charge on Sunday July 8, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. including infantry, Artillery and Cavalry
Categories: About, Equitrekking, Foot Prints
Emily Carter ~ Nature as Art 
I have to plan a vacation next year (2013) for this. It’s been on my wish list!!! Thanks for the info. I’ll refer to it! I’ll leave the moose at home. She might run out in the field sharing her love & licks! 😉
Aww…but Maggie wants to come out and play. My guess is that rooms will book up quickly, so book now and cancel later if you don’t make it.
I’m going to try to make it this year again, they’re going to reenact the Devil’s Den battle.
So cool!
Just finished watchng the 6 July 2012 Gettysburg reenactment, and was disappointed. We are Civil war reenactorsw from Washington State (W.C.W.A for info wcwa.net) and while our events usually only draw a few horses and cannon and a couple of hundred foot soldierson each side, we usually put on a pretty good show during the two over one hour battles we put on each day. We try to depict the battles with lots of maneuvering and back ond forth action over the battelfield, with lots of smoke and spectacle, so the crowd can get a taste of what a battlefield is like. We were really looking forward to seeing what a battle would look like back here at a real hstoric location, and had been told that there would be thousands of reenactors from all over coming to this event. We were encouraged to see that there were ten times as many cannon and horses in camp as we usually get, and appeared to be quite a few more infantry than we normally see, but the one actual battle that was put on today was really a let down. The artillery did not appear to be very motivated at all, and moved in an almost lazy manner when reloading after firing, so the 15 minute artilliery battle to start off almost put me to sleep. Once the infantry started to take the field we expected things to slowly start to pick up, knowing that battles usually start out a little slow as everyone moves into position, then once it realy gets going it will usually rage for a half an hour or so with the advantage shifting first to one side, then to the other, before finally after a major effort someone takes the day. Then there is usually a sad moment when everyone remembers and honors all those brave sould who have fought and died for their country, foolowed by a swift resurection of all the “dead” reenactors on the field and then some more fun while the units form back up into lines and fire one more volley to “unload” their weapons before marching off the field. Unfortunately today, no sooner did the infantry take the field than they advanced their lines towards each other, fired a couple of volleys each in which only 2 soldiers fell, and the battle ended. They formed up and left the field so fast the announcer couldn’t even keep up. We never did get to see any of the cavalry on the battlefield that we had been so excited to see in the camps, and only 35 minutes after the battle started the bleachers were emptying as people headed for their cars. About the only other thing to add to our list of disappointments was how poorly the reenactors did at setting up their amps in such a way as to give the spectators a reql impression that they have gone back in time. In the Northwest the event organizors go to great lengths to seperate the camps and battlefields from the parking lots and modern camps. Once the camps are set up there are no vehicles allowed into the camps until the event is over. Usually from 7:30 am the first day until an hour after the last battle on the last day. The Gettysburg event is surrounded by vehicle parking on all sides, and it is impossible for a spectator to really get into the feeling of going back in time when everywhere they look there are herds of modern vehicles parked here and there, and driving through the camp.
Now that I have seen this I would recommend that anyone interested in a real “going back in time experience” try to get out west to see one of their events. They might be smaller, but are much more for your money.