Military Park displays battle's history

The thunder of cannon fire was heard again Saturday, echoing across the battlefields of Leetown and Elkhorn Tavern as onlookers tried to picture in their minds the battle that raged there 153 years ago.

Troy Banzhaf, supervising park ranger at the National Military Park, said the park hosts educational events every year, as close as possible to the actual anniversary of the battle, which was fought March 7 and 8, 1862. Banzhaf said the event is generally well-attended, as visitors enjoy seeing the uniforms, flags, weapons and other artifacts brought to the field by the participants, but weather can play a role.

"The living history like this we do only once a year," he said. "The big draw will be the fact we're firing a cannon and doing the drill."

Banzhaf talked to a crowd of visitors through the artillery drill, providing information about the weapons and ammunition that would have been used at the time of the battle, as it was being done live by a group portraying the Second Illinois Light Artillery. The group loaded, aimed and fired their model 1841 six-pounder cannon to show what soldiers had to endure.

Paul Dolle of Rogers, who held the rank of sergeant in charge of the gun crew, said he's been interested in the Civil War since the 1950s and 1960s and has been involved in staging re-enactments of Civil War battles for nearly 50 years. Dolle said he's been coming out to the Military Park since 1982. He said becoming a re-enactor was just part of the progression of his interest in the history.

"When I was a kid, there was a program on television called 'The Gray Ghost' about the exploits of John Singleton Mosby," Dolle said. "If I got my homework done right, I could stay up to watch that. Then, in the 1960s, there was the centennial of the Civil War, and that generated a lot of interest. It's a progression. When I was growing up, reading and television programs were readily available. The re-enactment hobby itself didn't really begin until the '60s and '70s."

Dolle said he has portrayed both Confederate and Union soldiers. He said he chooses now to take the part of Union Army soldiers to increase the awareness of area residents about the divided loyalties of Arkansas men during the Civil War.

"There were 13 regiments in the Union Army from Arkansas," he said. "Then later, after the Emancipation Proclamation, there were four regiments of colored troops from Arkansas in the Union Army. I try to provoke questions and go into aspects of Arkansas' Civil War history most people aren't aware of."

Saturday's program drew a wide range of visitors, some with family ties to the battle and others merely interested.

Mitch Tyson came to the park from Atlanta, Texas, with family and friends. He said his great-great-great-grandfather -- Josephus Tyson -- was a captain in the 4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and wounded during the battle.

"They were from southwest Arkansas, Miller County and Lafayette County, and they came up here to fight," Tyson said. "I've got the pistols he fought here with. He was wounded in both legs charging a cannon. He spent 16 months recovering, and then he joined Crawford's cavalry. He was in it to the end. He never surrendered; he just went home."

One visitor with no personal ties to the battle was Tiziano Celli near Rome. A graduate student in agriculture at the University of Arkansas, Celli and a van filled with other international students made the trip to the park to witness the program.

"I don't know too much about this part of Arkansas history," he said. "In Italy, I participate in some re-enactments but it's mostly medieval. To me, it's beautiful. It's very real."

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Tom Sissom can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWATom.