The school day ended with a bang Tuesday for 300 Washington County eighth-graders, who covered their ears and squealed as a cannon was fired off three times near the Ohio River Museum on Front Street in Marietta.
The canon firing wrapped up a day full of lessons and activities related to the Civil War, with several historians and re-enactors dressed in uniform sharing a wealth of information with the students.
Eighth-graders from Belpre High School as well as Marietta Middle School, Frontier Middle School and Waterford Elementary School participated in the Civil War Field Day, which was offered for the first time Thursday.
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Worthington, Ohio resident Robert Brugler, portraying Abraham Lincoln, dances with Waterford Elementary School student Tiffany Holland during a Civil War Field Day at the Ohio River Museum Thursday. About 300 eighth-graders from four Washington County schools participated in the program.
ASHLEY
RITTENHOUSE
The Marietta Times
As part of the program, the students were assigned to different companies when they arrived at the museum and they were each given a slip of paper which listed the name of a Civil War soldier as well as where that soldier was from.
Local historian Scott Britton said the soldiers listed on the papers were real Civil War soldiers who were from the areas the students are from.
"It's about making it more than a name and a date in a history book," Britton said. "One of the reasons we did this is to make it more personal for them. It's someone from their hometown and they become that person."
Fact Box
Civil War Field Day
About 300 eighth-graders from Belpre High Schools as well as Marietta Middle School, Frontier Middle School and Waterford Elementary School participated in the program Thursday at the Ohio River Museum on Front Street in Marietta.
The students were assigned to different companies and they were each given a slip of paper which listed the name of a real Civil War soldier as well as where that soldier was from. The soldiers were from the areas the students are from.
The students took turns visiting nine stations, where historians and re-enactors taught them about the clothing Civil War soldiers wore, the food they ate and the weapons they used, among other things.
The students learned the fate of their assigned soldier at the end of the day. Some were killed while others died of disease, survived, died of wounds, died in prison or were captured.
The students learned the fate of their assigned soldier at the end of the day. Some were killed while others died of disease, survived, died of wounds, died in prison or were captured.
Glenna Hoff, an educator with the Ohio River Museum, said the program was held in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
"We're hoping to do it the next couple years," she said. "We wanted to focus on Ohio and the Civil War. Ohio was such a big part of it, people don't realize how many men we lost."
According to figures she provided, of the more than 6,600 Civil War veterans who at one time lived in or died in Washington County, more than 900 did not survive the war.
The students traveled throughout the day to nine different stations with other members of their companies. At the stations they learned about, among other things, the clothing Civil War soldiers wore, the food they ate and the weapons they used.
Students said it was different to experience those things first hand rather than just reading about them in class.
"I thought it was pretty interesting rather than reading from a text book to see what they did and what they went through," said Frontier Middle School student Rebecca Buck. "When we did the drills, we saw what they had to physically endure for hours on end."
Woodsfield resident Kyle Yoho, 22, led the company drill session, during which students were taught marching maneuvers.
"Drill was done 12 hours a day every day, except Sunday it was (relaxed) a little bit," Yoho said.
"I feel if you don't do stuff like this...they can't truly understand what the Civil War was like," Yoho added.
Waterford Elementary School student Tim Leach got to experience first hand what it was like to wear a uniform and the gear that a Civil War soldier would have worn.
"Could you march all day carrying all that, plus more?" asked Beverly resident Bill Beardsley, a re-enactor.
"No, I probably couldn't march in it," replied Leach.
Also at Beardsley's station students were able to taste hardtack, a tough cracker made from flour and water that he described at "typical Civil Ware fare."
There was also an Abraham Lincoln re-enactor on hand for the program, Worthington, Ohio resident Robert Brugler.
Donning a black suit and top hat, he spoke to the students as if he were the nation's 16th president. He told them he was a farmer, blacksmith, flat boat pilot and lawyer, but never a slave owner.
"I never owned slaves...I think it's the meanest thing you can do to a person," he said.
Waterford Elementary School student Gabbi Tornes, 14, said his presentation was one of her favorite parts of the day, but she thought the program in general was "pretty cool."
"Everyone said it would be really boring, but we've talked a lot in class about what we've talked about here," Tornes said.
Frontier High School eighth-grade teacher Eric Rinard said his students just finished learning about the Civil War in class.
"I think it's kind of interesting to bring history to the younger generation and let them see some of the things the military had to do at that time," he said. "It gives them a first hand account of some of the stuff that went on at the time."
