Civil War re-enactors recreate piece of history

The North and South will again face off beginning Friday.

A local group of Civil War re-enactors will re-create a Civil War encampment this weekend from Friday, Feb. 29, to Sunday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at the E.D. White Historic Site (2295 Louisiana Highway 1 in Thibodaux).

The event, free to the public, will include a display of authentic period weaponry and reproduction musketry.

The Hellfire Stew Mess, a group of five regular re-enactors from the Houma-Thibodaux area founded in 1998, is putting on the event. The group, which has numerous informal members, prides itself on interacting with the public during reenactments.

If enough people participate, the event will have a battle re-creation, said member Denis Gaubert, a lawyer with the First Circuit Court of Appeal.

A display area will contain the reproduction muskets used by the actors, plus period carbines, swords and bayonets. Visitors will be able to handle the weapons.

The actors will demonstrate how the muskets are fired and perform a skirmish drill, a manual of arms and various marching styles.

Gaubert said most of the Hellfire Stew members have ancestors who fought in the Civil War.

During the centennial commemorations of the war in the 1960s, Gaubert found out that his great-great-grandfather had fought for the Confederacy. He was told that by his own grandfather.

Another one of his ancestors participated in the siege of Vicksburg.

Gaubert became a Civil War re-enactor in 1991 after seeing a battle re-creation in Washington, Louisiana. Around the time, Ken Burns’ television series on the Civil War was appearing on Public Broadcasting. Gaubert met with some re-enactors from Thibodaux and eventually formed Hellfire Stew Mess.

“The firing brings you back,” he said. “The sounds, smoke, general confusion. It’s historically accurate.”

Gaubert compared Civil War re-creations to World War II reenactments.

“You can re-create accurate battles much better than World War II,” he said. “For one thing, in the Civil War, both sides spoke the same language. For World War II reenactments, you need tanks, aircraft. It’s harder. Some of our guys know how to work cannon. All the tech is there.”

The event this weekend will help to promote the E.D. White Historic Site. According to Gaubert, White was the only former Confederate soldier to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

A local group of Civil War re-enactors will recreate an encampment this weekend at the E.D. White Historic Site in Thibodaux. * Photo courtesy of DENIS GAUBERT