Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"November 21, 2003
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
November
21, 2003
History lesson: cadets train to be Civil War soldiers
Story and photos by Spc.
Benjamin Gruver
Staff writer
|
|
| Civil War reenactor Gary Fuller of the 3rd Maine Regiment Volunteer Infantry helps cadets as they fire Civil War era rifled muskets. The reenactors come to West Point to teach cadets how to shoot and march like Civil War soldiers as a part of History of the Military Arts course. |
Shoulder to shoulder, muskets in hand, they marched forward to the yells of blue uniformed officers keeping the formation tight. Suddenly, the formation stopped and quickly formed into position, rifles lowered, ready to fire.
As they squeezed the triggers, there was excitement in their eyes at the crackle of gunshots and the sudden clouds of smoke.
It was a Civil War skirmish, but it was not a sunny day in the summer of 1863. Instead it was a windy morning on Nov. 13, 2003.
These were not Civil War soldiers, but West Point cadets learning from Civil War reenactors what it was like back then.
Civil War reenactors from the 124th New York State Volunteers in Orange County with reenactment units from Maine and New Jersey came out Nov. 13 and 14 to teach more than 400 cadets how to march and shoot. It was all part of West Point’s History of the Military Arts class.
According to Maj. Charles Hallman, officer in charge and assistant history professor here, the purpose of the reenactment was to explain some of the tactical problems and give the cadets a hands-on view of Civil War soldiering.
|
|
| 1st Sgt. Jim Malmo of the 7th Regimental Infantry, New Jersey Volunteers Civil War reenactment group, leads cadets into a skirmish. |
Hallman explained the reenactors were showing the cadets the basic manual-of-arms for a Civil War infantryman and the standard way in which companies moved.
"Companys, battalions, regiments, brigades -- that’s the way they are all going to move," Hallman said. "You can imagine how unwieldy and slow that can get sometimes. It just shows the cadets, yeah, you can run, but you got to form up, because if you get scattered a bayonet charge is going to ruin your day."
"They get an abbreviated training," said Charles LaRocca, a Civil War reenactor with the 124th. "What they do is put on the gear, the cartridge box, the belt and the cap. Then they get a weapon, and we show them how to load it.
"They look at what the soldiers ate and how they lived," he continued. "Then we take them out for a little skirmish and they get to fire at one another. It’s one thing when you read about the battle of Fredericksburg, but it’s a little different when your trying to do it yourself."
|
|
| Terry Manning, a Civil War reenactor of the 3rd Maine, helps cadets learn to fire muskets in formation just as soldiers did in the Civil War. |
The 124th New York State Volunteers have been coming here to teach cadets for the past four years.
"For us it’s a big deal to come here," LaRocca said. "We enjoy doing it. I get lots of our guys to come and we provide 60 weapons, which is a hefty amount. West Point provides the powder."
Hallman said the demonstration also shows cadets the difficulty of integrating new technologies onto the battlefield.
The technology of the rifled musket changed between the Mexican War and the Civil War, Hallman explained.
The officers from the Mexican War were now the senior officers in the Civil War using the same Napoleonic tactics with new technology.
Even though the new weaponry was more lethal, he said, Civil War officers chose to stick with the Napoleonic tactics.
"They knew that what they were doing was not as successful as it used to be, but there was nothing else available," Hallman said.
What the cadets need to understand, he continued, is that with the rapid pace of technological changes, some of the same issues have surfaced before.
"It’s not a one-for-one exchange, but soldiers have tackled those same issues before," Hallman said. "Maybe the thought process that went into it back in 1863 might be useful today."
