Armies Of The Past

The Civil War: Let the re-enactments begin

In the early afternoon of July 21, 1861, Captains Ricketts and Griffin marshal their artillery batteries into position to attack the unsupported flank of Col. Thomas Jackson's brigade.

The thunderous roar of the federal cannon fills the air. The Confederate cannon responds in kind. Smoke covers the field as the first major battle of the Civil War rages on over the plains of Manassas.

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During a scorching week this past July, more than 8,000 participants have come to a small town in Virginia to help commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Manassas, the first large-scale conflict of the Civil War.

They have come to re-enact the battle, wearing period clothing, armed with period weapons and giving the tens of thousands who have come to catch a brief glimpse of life during that turbulent time. They are living in camps on the grounds and spend time practicing battle formations. As we walk around the encampments in the early morning hours, we can half close our eyes and feel as if we have been transported back in time. Some soldiers are starting to get up, while others stoke small fires. Others are practicing drills, while a blacksmith is already hard at work.

We marvel at the bravery and courage of men thrust into war. We know that there are no bullets, and that the cannon fires blanks, but still we feel some of the realism of the actual event. We follow the successes and failures of both sides, as this is a war among ourselves. We can extol the virtue of men fighting for what they believe in, for a cause that unites them, even if the reasons for war, as is so often the case, are flawed.

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Earlier in the day federal forces, commanded by Col. Burnside, marched around the Confederate left and crossed the Bull Run nearly undetected. They were slowed down when Generals Bee and Bartow rallied their men to make a stand on Matthews Hill. With the entry of Col. Sherman's brigade, the Confederate lines crumbled and they retreated to nearby Henry Hill, where Col. Jackson had just deployed his men. Jackson's Virginians stopped the federal forces, earning him the famous nickname of "Stonewall" Jackson.

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Of course, the issue of slavery is unrelentingly entwined into the birth of the Civil War. Clearly, it was the driving force for secession in the seven states of the deep South that left the Union before President Lincoln even assumed office. However, this motivation becomes more complicated for four other slave states that refused to secede until hostilities broke out and President Lincoln called for the raising of an army to quell the rebellion by force. And, even with one-third of the states in secession, there still remained four other slave states that remained with the Union.

BURMA DIGEST » Article » Uncertain futures

Sheltered from the rains in a border safe house, Col Sai Htoo, eases onto a wooden day bed, crosses and tucks both legs under him before explaining why the two major Shan armed groups are now united under the banner of the Shan State Army.

“Before we believed we could solve our issues with the Burmese army by political means, but their actions didn’t match their promises. Then they forced us to join the BGF [Border Guard Force]. But we’ve learned our lesson, we Shan now know, as do all the other ethnic people of Burma, we know the enemy, we need to fight together for our shared ideals and our survival.”

Col Sai Htoo said that on May 21 _ the Shan People’s Resistance Day _ it was announced that the former non-ceasefire Shan State Army South and the ceasefire Shan State Army North factions would merge to form the Shan State Army (SSA).

“There is only one Shan State Army now. Our strength will be our unity. In the past we have let ourselves be split by the Burmese Army, but we’ve learned from that. Our ceasefire agreement was written on air, it was worthless.”

Col Sai Htoo’s safe house is an estimated 30-hour pot-holed riddled drive to his headquarters, 320km away in Wan Hai, where the SSA has been under siege from 14 Burmese army battalions supported by artillery units since March 13.

“Senior Burmese army officers back in March threatened they would overrun us in a week. It is now over four months and we have killed or wounded 800 of their soldiers for about 20 of ours [killed or wounded].”

The colonel says it is not the first time Burmese army senior officers have openly boasted about what they would do to the Shan fighters.

“In March 2010 Burmese army general Aung Than Htut said to us, ‘Do you have more men, more money and more weapons than the Kokang [ethnic army]? No! We thrashed the Kokang in three days, for you Shan it will take us two hours’. But 15 months later, they still haven’t achieved it.”

Col Sai Htoo’s optimism is hard-edged with the reality of doing battle with thousands of Burmese army soldiers surrounding his headquarters at Wan Hai, in central Shan state.

“They have even used jet fighters to bomb us. But now the heavy rain and fog is helping us. The morale of the Burmese army soldiers is low, especially, as they are suffering heavy losses. In one week from June 30 to July 7 our fighters killed 100, wounded 200 and another 80 of their soldiers ran away.

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