PEA RIDGE — The Pea Ridge National Military Park was transformed Saturday, March 6, when groups of Union and Confederate soldiers returned to the site of one of the largest Civil War battles west of the Mississippi River.

As Confederate soldiers practiced firing weapons in front of the park’s Elk Horn Tavern, 22 Union soldiers began to march toward them.

As shots from the Confederates rifles pierced the air, the ratta-taptap-tap of the Union soldiers drum could be heard.

“Fire. Fire. Fire,” shouted the Confederate soldiers.

Ratta-tap-tap-tap, sounded the drums.

Nearly 100 visitors watched as the men dressed as Confederates practiced their skirmish while those dressed as Union soldiers made their way into the shooting area.

“I have got some awesome pictures,” said Rachel Moody of Lowell.

Moody took her children, Carley, 5, and Cliff, 4, to see the re-enactment Saturdayat the military park.

“I have always been a Civil War buff. I carried it on from my dad,” Moody said, “Southern pride runs strong.”

As Moody spoke, another round from the rifles rang out.

“Whoa,” Carley said, noting her favorite part of watching the re-enactment was seeing the soldiers fire the guns.

Moody was impressed when her daughter recited what she knew about the Civil War.

“They shoot guns, and they started fighting and they had to hide in trees,” Carley said of the soldiers.

“And they did not have cars. They had horses, and they had to live in the woods,” Carley said.

Moody could not help but smile at her 5-year-old daughter.

“She really was listening,” Moody said.

Pea Ridge National Military Park has hosted the anniversary celebration every year since 1962, said Troy Banzhaf, park ranger.

Confederate and Union solders met in the fields of the park on March 7 and 8, 1862. There were 3,000casualties when the fighting was all said and done, Banzhaf said.

The park’s anniversary weekend is a way to honor the soldiers on both sides who fought and died in 1862, Banzhaf said.

Kerry Jones of Bentonville portrayed a Confederate soldier for the event.

Jones said he participates in the event each year to honor history and to hang out with his friends.

“I have no less than six ancestors that fought in this unit (the 15th Northwest Arkansas unit of the Confederate Army),” Jones said.

“The history is important because if we do not appreciate this history, then in the words of the philosopher (George) Santayana, ‘Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it,’”Jones said.

Tom Sprague of Garnett, Kan., joined Jones in portraying a soldier from the past during the park’s anniversary weekend.

Sprague wore the stripes of captain in the Union Army on his uniform.

“We come down here just about every year and dothe demonstrations to try and teach the public what it was like for the soldiers,” Sprague said.

Sprague said many of his colleagues perform the reenactments to honor the soldiers who fought there.

“One of the things that the old timers brought up was they wanted to be remembered for that they did, and they did not want to be forgotten,” Sprague said.

Dwayne Smith of Panora, Iowa, has been attending the anniversary weekend celebration at Pea Ridge National Military Park for the last 10 years.

“We come down every year, and we always come to this,” Smith said.

One of the things Smith enjoys about the anniversary celebration is the authenticity each of the reenactors brings with them, he said.

“A lot of these guys like what they are doing, so they like to talk about the way it should have been, the way it would have been and the way it could have been,” Smith said.

“There were 26,000 people involved in the military battle, and they were both good and bad guys,” Smith said.

Smith said his favorite event was the firing of the cannons.

Area, Pages 6 on 03/17/2010