Making camp at Montpelier

Except for recent recruits who hadn’t yet lost their cushioning fat, the Confederate soldiers marching into the woods near Montpelier were as lean and hard as a hickory stave.
It was January 1864, and many of the 1,200 South Carolina troops under the command of Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan were scarred and tired from nearly three years of relentless war. Mercifully, they had received orders to build winter quarters just west of the road fronting James Madison’s mansion.
No sooner had they stacked arms and dropped their packs to the hard ground, then the woods began to ring with the thwack of chopping axes and rasp of crosscut saws. Building log huts to ward off freezing cold and numbing wind was essential for survival.
On a recent Sunday morning the copse again echoed with the shouts and grunts of laboring men and the sound of pioneer tools at work. For the first time in 145 years, winter quarters are again being built on Montpelier property.
Since last December Civil War re-enactors with the 3rd Regiment of the Army of Northern Virginia have been working to reconstruct a part of that camp. This Friday through Aug. 2, visitors are invited to the camp as more than 60 Union, Confederate and civilian re-enactors present Civil War Weekend.
Events include tactical demonstrations, dress parades, drills, guided camp tours and hut building demonstrations.

Fun for ‘all ages’

“Montpelier is honored to host Civil War Weekend,” said Matthew Reeves, director of archaeology. “We hope people of all ages will take advantage of this opportunity to experience Civil War camp life, witness an authentically executed skirmish, and interact with knowledgeable soldiers and civilian re-enactors.”
Col. Troy Fallin, commander of 3rd Regiment, has been instrumental in the establishment of the living-history camp. His home unit, Company A, 13th Virginia, is called the Montpelier Guard.
“The Montpelier Guard was started here in Orange County in 1859 as a militia unit,” Fallin said as the pleasant scent of smoke from a nearby cooking fire sweetened the air. “Two years ago I started working to get a living history program going here to show that the Montpelier Guard was still alive, and that there had been a Civil War presence in this area.
“With the help of Mr. Reeves, about a dozen of us were allowed to camp behind the old visitor center for a weekend. Last year we were invited back, and about 50 Confederate re-enactors put on a living-history program that showed soldier’s life as it was back then.
“That went over very well. Mr. Reeves then asked me if we would be interested in taking on the task of rebuilding some of the winter-quarter cabins.”

Period work, with chain saws

Fallin said the offer was a re-enactor’s dream, and they jumped at the opportunity. The area selected for the present-day encampment is about 75 yards behind the Gilmore Cabin and farm, which offers an accurate look at what life was like for one black family after emancipation.
To ensure realism and historic accuracy, Montpelier gave the modern-day Confederate troops permission to use timber cleared from the encampment site. Prior to any work being done, extensive research and relic hunting was conducted to ensure nothing of historic importance was being altered or disturbed.
Two days after Christmas a group of re-enactors started clearing the overgrown area with the help of chain saws. Since then there have been a few more modern workdays, such as when the logs were sprayed to ward off attacking termites.
Most of the more than 500 man hours that have gone into the project so far have been done on period workdays when re-enactors are in uniform and use only tools of that era.
“Our first period workday was on the actual anniversary date when the men came here to set this camp up,” said T. J. Bartel, captain with the 3rd Regt. “I don’t know of any other site where re-enactors are allowed to reconstruct winter huts like we’re doing here.
“We always look for something that can be a little different for us to do within the hobby, and this is unique. With a project like this you can get that much more in touch with what the soldiers went through.
“Here we’re able to do something completely different from maneuvering in battle and the tactical aspects. This adds another dynamic to what we’re able to do as re-enactors.”

Reeves is providing ongoing historic input into what the huts would have looked like. Period photographs and information from books has also been used.
“It’s our intention to create for
the visiting public the best representation of what had been here,” Fallin said. “Montpelier wants this to be part of a walking trail that will include the Gilmore cabin and farm.
“We hope to build a total of six enlisted men huts and two officer huts. Building this first officer hut is teaching us a lot. Being a soft, 21st-century man this experience has certainly given me a greater appreciation for what those men had gone through.”
As Rich Ross-miller finished lashing rungs on a make-shift ladder, Clark Dodd helped heave a log onto a wall of the officer’s hut. The re-enactors have not only supplied all the labor, they have also covered all the expenses with money from their own pockets.

The spray to kill the termites for example cost them $150. Even though they say any donations of money or materials will be greatly appreciated, they’re willing to continue going it alone just for the experience the project offers.
“Having the chance to do this means a great deal to me,” Dodd said. “You can only get so much from a book.
“Until you get hands-on, you really can’t completely understand any of this. Even then, we really only get a small taste of it.
“When I get home tonight I’ll be able to take off my sweaty uniform and take a shower. The real guys didn’t get to do that.”
Just as in the Civil War, each hut will have a wooden fireplace lined with clay. The fireplaces aren’t designed for a roaring fire, but simply as a place to put hot coals.
Still, it wasn’t unusual for men shivering with cold to burn logs in the fireplaces. Barry Benson, a sharpshooter with the South Carolina regiment, wrote in his memoirs that there wasn’t a night at the Montpelier winter camp when one of the chimneys didn’t catch on fire.
When the log walls are up and the roof is in place, gaps between the logs will be filled with wood chips. Called chinking, this reduces the amount of plaster, or daub, needed to seal the gaps completely.
“When the chinking is done we’ll mix clay, straw and maybe a little lime together to make the daub,” said Steve Blancard. “The lime helps firm it up, and the straw works as a binder to hold it all together.
“You really have to learn all the little nuances through trial and error.”
Learning, as well as reliving history and sharing it with others, is at the heart of the project.

“Through events such as our upcoming Civil War Weekend, we hope to become a place people regularly visit to learn about the Civil War, camp life, uniforms, weapons and military tactics and even the civilian experience,” said Peggy Seiter Vaughn, director of communications at Montpelier.
History shows that the original winter quarters at Montpelier served as the last relatively peaceful time many of the South Carolina troops would enjoy in life.
On May 12, 1864, McGowan’s brigade was decimated during furious fighting at the Bloody Angle near Spotsylvania Court House. The general suffered his fourth wound of the war, and lost nearly half his men.
On the recent period workday, the camp was as peaceful as it had been during the late winter of 1864. At the campfire, Hollie Drobinski lifted a cast iron lid from a Dutch oven to check some rolls.
Her husband, Joe, introduced her to re-enacting four years ago and she loves it.

“This is my first trip here,” Drobinski said. “I’ve seen pictures, but until you actually get out here you can’t really grasp it.
“It’s wonderful. It’s history you can touch.”
The camp will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Friday. Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Aug. 2, hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. Those interested in donating money or materials to the project or learning more can visit Web site http://www.montpelier.org.