Union and Confederate soldiers will face off June 29 and June 30 on the grounds of Brimfield’s Kelso House, 4158 Route 43.
Reenactors from the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, the 27th Virginia Infantry Regiment and the 41st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment will set up regulation field camps, fire off their muskets and, if enough men are available, stage a battle. As people so often did during the actual battles, onlookers can purchase refreshments to enjoy as they watch the “carnage.”
On the Confederate side, the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment was created in 1861 to fight with the Army of Northern Virginia. It was incorporated into the Texas Brigade, also known as Hood’s Brigade, named for Commander John Bell Hood.
The 27th Virginia Regiment, part of the famous Stonewall Brigade, was organized in May 1861 and accepted into Confederate service in July.
Together, the Texas and Stonewall brigades formed the Army of Northern Virginia’s shock troops, fighting in every Eastern Theater battle except Chancellorsville.
The Union will be represented by the 41st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, organized between August and October 1861 at Camp Wood in Cleveland. The regiment was mustered into federal service Oct. 31, 1861, and included about 407 Cleveland men.
Kristie McMillen, who serves on the board of the Brimfield Historical Society, said the actual soldiers who called Brimfield home served in the 7th Ohio Infantry Regiment, which was mustered into service in April 1861. Its members served in three different Union armies and saw action across the Eastern Theater.
Brimfield’s boys and men also served in the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was active from 1862-1865. Each of its 1,740 soldiers signed on for a three-year stint, fighting across the south. During its term of service, the regiment suffered 183 fatalities. A monument to Brimfield’s Civil War soldiers stands in the township’s Restland Cemetery on Route 43.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.