Artist’s sgraffiti catches, pleases the eye
March 5, 2012
4 singers, 4 continents, 1 NSU stop
March 5, 2012
Revisit the time 150 years ago, when a nation was split and a war was waged on American soil.
Civil War actors recreate their annual Civil War Encampment March 2-4 at the E.D. White Historic Site, 2295 La. Highway 1, Thibodaux.
Weaponry, battle flags, trinkets and the lifestyle from the mid- to late-19th Century are the event’s focus. Spy from a peaceful distance the mannerisms in which occupying soldiers lived their life, including the occasional firing of a reproduced 12-pound Napoleon cannon.
During downtime, interact with those portraying the soldiers and learn more about displayed relics and the territory’s battle history.
“The kind of feeling that we would like to convey to a spectator is that they’re back in time,” says Denis Gaubert, one of the event’s organizers. “We want them to leave the event and think about the next time they cross the bayou or they pass through Labadieville, or they pass through Lafourche Crossing, think about what happened 150 years ago on the very ground that they’re at.”
Gaubert, a Civil War collector for more than 20 years, says he’s happy to display his Henry Rifle and Spencer Carbine, two repeating rifles.
Gaubert’s favorite relic he displays, however, is a Confederate belt buckle his friend found while they were relic hunting with metal detectors at the site of the Battle of Georgia Landing in Labadieville.
The actors camp outside the museum for the weekend and cook their meals by campfire. In addition to oral history, if the audience swells large enough, they may even split the 15 or so participants into two sides and act out an authentic guerilla-themed battle, Gaubert explains.
“It’s kind of goofy if it’s only five people versus five people, but the public seems to like it,” he says. “There were some little small skirmishes like that around here.”
– editor@gumboguide.com
Denis Gaubert turns and winces as a reproduced 12-pound Napoleon canon is fired during a demonstration. The canon is on display in Thibodaux this month when Gaubert and other Civil War re-enactors stage an encampment at the E.D. White Historic Site.
