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Montani Semper Liberi: Civil War reenactment at Henderson Hall celebrates West Virginia Day

By Michelle Dillon 5 min read

BOAZ -- The boom of cannons and the crack of rifles sounded and clouds of gunpowder hung in the air in the Mid-Ohio Valley on Saturday due to a battle, of sorts.

The Museums of the Mid-Ohio Valley, which manages the Henderson Hall and other local museums, hosted a Civil War reenactment at Henderson Hall in Boaz on Saturday and Sunday.

According to the Henderson Hall website, the property was bought in the 1700s by Scottish-born Alexander Henderson Sr., who, with his brother John, played a key role in thwarting a treasonous plot by Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett. The house was built in 1859 by G.W. Henderson, who was loyal to the Union in spite of the family owning slaves and having some members from Virginia join the Confederate Army.

Museums of the Mid-Ohio Valley board member Senta Goudy said the reenactment was one of the largest in a while at Henderson Hall and the first that included cavalry, "which is really cool."

She also said that there would be a Civil War Ball Saturday evening from 8-10 p.m. where a "group will perform the Virginia reel and some old Appalchian music."

The board holds Civil War reenactments at Henderson Hall because they are "history people," Board President Paul Hoblitzell said.

"We have to preserve history," he said. "(June 20) is West Virginia's anniversary. West Virginia became a state during the Civil War ... so that's why we kind of do it, to celebrate West Virginia Day as well as previous history."

Saturday's scheduled events included an artillery demonstration, a foot soldier demonstration, a Civil War tea, a camp cooking demonstration, a reenactors dinner and a ball featuring Appalachian music, while a second day of battle and a cavalry demonstration were planned for Sunday.

During the tea on Saturday, a small group sipped lemonade, iced tea and hot tea under a white tent while they listened to Marian King, portraying Mary Todd Lincoln, talk about how she met Abraham Lincoln and her family did not want her to marry him because he was poor.

John King made a visit to the camp portraying President Abraham Lincoln, talking later in the afternoon about Civil War battles and other topics.

The Kings are part of We Made History, a group of reenactors out of Mentor, Ohio.

John King said he happened into portraying Lincoln after a person told him he looked just like the 16th president.

"I've been doing it ever since," he said.

He said he likes to play Lincoln because "it's a history lesson."

A small crowd gathered across the street from Henderson Hall at 2 p.m. on Saturday for a battle. Spectators lined the top of a hill, looking into a field below with Union troops on the left and Confederate troops on the right, both sides armed with cannons. During the battle, cavalry riders clashed, clanging their swords; cannons were fired; and rifles and pistols were shot, filling the air with clouds of black powder smoke. There were even a couple of "fatalities" where participants laid "dead" in the field after being "shot."

The battle was punctuated by the cries and war whoops of the soldiers as they attacked and the excited exclamations of the crowd.

According to the event schedule, the battle was a reenactment of a fictional engagement that could have happened during the Civil War and was between a Confederate forward unit scouting for the best place for Gen. Morgan to cross the river and Union forward troops from Fort Boreman barricaded on Henderson Hall's grounds.

The companies participating in the battle were the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and Carlin's Battery D 1st West Virginia Light Artillery for the Union and the 9th Texas Mounted Cavalry and 17th Virginia Dismounted Cavalry Company F for the Confederacy, according to Logan Saho, Museums of the Mid-Ohio Valley board member. Saho, who acted as field commander for the Confederate soldiers in the battle, said the actual 17th Virginia Dismounted Cavalry Company F was founded "right here in Parkersburg under the unwatchful eye of Fort Boreman."

Scott McLeod, a member of the Union reenactment group the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, said this is his second year participating in Civil War reenactments.

"I've been a Civil War buff since grade school," McLeod said, adding he likes to learn about "just the overall struggle of troops."

McLeod said he likes participating in reenactments because "it's fun coming out here doing what they did."

Majer Erlenwein, the leader of Confederate Civil War reenactment group Byrne's Battery Company D, talked to attendees Saturday about cannons used in the Civil War.

He said cannons did not fire cannonballs but something called "canister," which is similar to what comes out of a shotgun. The cannons were "basically a giant shotgun" and each piece of canister could be shot through four men and a horse, he said.

Erlenwein said he doesn't participate in reenactments as often as when he started 19 years ago but still does one to two a month.

"For us, it's an addiction," he said. "Shooting the cannon is a rush. We don't do this for political reasons. We live to shoot the cannon."

Erlenwein said the people he has met during reenactments from both sides have become like family.

According to Erlenwein, group membership is down and they are looking for new members. Anyone interested in joining can visit the group's Facebook page.

Betty Ostrowski, from the Cambridge area, said she came Saturday to see "the fight."

"I like seeing all the people in their clothes too," she said.

Marietta resident Daniel Moss said there was "no option" at the reenactment that "isn't fascinating" to him.

"I've been a history buff since like third grade," Moss said. "Talking to the reenactors here and getting a history lesson, that's what I'm here for."

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com

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