Manassas/Bull Run 140th Was Sweltering
By Sheree Watson

LEESBURG, Va. - Heat was the enemy at the 140th anniversary of the Battle of First Manassas/Bull Run, as Mother Nature fired off high-90s temperatures and thick humidity that claimed hundreds of casualties.

Fortunately, few were serious and there were no fatalities, despite rumors to the contrary. More than 350 people were treated by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel during the Aug. 3-5 event, mostly for heat-related ailments, according to John J. Brown, assistant chief of Loudoun County Fire & Rescue.

Of those, 20 were transported to the Loudoun County Hospital for treatment, and 240 were administered saline solutions intravenously at the reenactment site.

"I feel like I'm in a real war," one Federal medical reenactor was overheard commenting late Saturday. "We've had about 200 in our tent today because of the heat."

Some heat victims needed only ice and water treatment, Brown said. Rescue workers also treated cuts, scrapes, tick bites, poison ivy and one snake bite.

"Between the heat and humidity and the fact that they had a bunch of people out there in wool suits shooting at each other, it's to be expected," Brown said of the high number of heat distress cases.

Many were "middle aged, not in best of shape to begin with," he observed.

The two most serious cases involved a snake bite and a seizure-like situation. Both patients required hospitalization and recovered, according to event organizer Don Warlick.


"The [EMS] guys in the field did a good job, and they should be commended," he commented.
Given the large number of people in attendance - about 9,600 reenactors and 16,500 spectators over the three days - and the conditions, the number requiring treatment was not excessive, according to Brown.

He said 150 fire and rescue workers, including 73 "paid career people," worked over the weekend. Assistance was called in from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Frederick County, Maryland, but those personnel were used in staging areas outside the event and as backup in case other emergencies occurred in Loudoun County. "Fortunately, our call volume was light," Brown said.

Rescue crews employed a "treat and release protocol" whereby they treated most people in the field, and only transported to hospitals those showing potentially life-threatening problems. Most of those were "the more serious cases of heat exhaustion," Brown said.

Two air-conditioned county buses, one on the Union side of the battle and the other on the Confederate side, provided refuge for overheated reenactors and spectators. Emergency workers also set up two "misting fans" like NFL teams use on the sidelines to cool players.

The event's corporate sponsor, Primedia, plans to make a financial contribution to the emergency medical services group, as it always does when it sponsors an event, Warlick said. The amount has not been determined.

"It was extremely expensive for the citizens of Loudoun County," said Brown. "It was probably $75,000 to $100,000 that comes out of my budget. It includes supplies and overtime for career people. We needed them all."

He said his office has been following up on complaints and rumors of obstructions to medical care. "We can't substantiate that any ambulances or first-aid personnel were denied access," Brown said.

"No one has come forward and said they were physically denied." Warlick and others have been checking on injury reports and complaints and rumors and have been meeting with the rescue service to review how the event was handled and the costs incurred.

Rescue vehicles were as commonplace as artillery during the reenactment, contributing to the "color and chaos" that the battle is known for historically.

About 20 emergency vehicles were at the reenactment site and on the outside property "waiting to come in if things got real bad," Brown said.

Warlick noted that "reenactors need to prepare themselves for these events and drink a lot of fluids, especially in July and August. Remember the Wilderness a few years ago? Itwas 100 degrees. A good athlete doesn't play ball without training," he commented.

"Reenactors, we live in an air-conditioned world, then we go out and play in the outdoors where there is no air conditioning. Even mild heat will hurt a lot of people."

He continued, "Then we have the overweight problem and the drinking problem. … Guys who drink a good bit [of alcohol] are more subject to dehydration than others. We kept telling guys to put water and Gatorade® down. It takes two or three days to get acclimated, so Sunday, they could handle the heat better."

An undetermined number of reenactors left on Saturday night and Sunday. "I think with the heat and all, a lot of folks felt like they had enough and were trying to leave," Warlick said.

He denied reports that any reenactors were barred from leaving. The only restrictions, he said, were on bringing vehicles into camp before 4 p.m. Sunday for reasons of safety and military command structure. The battlefield was located between the Confederate camp and the parking lot, for instance.

"That rule was strictly enforced," he said. "If they wanted to walk out - no problem. We really had to be tight on that and had some real arrogant, disrespectful people with our security folks, and we had to bring sheriff's department officers in to reinforce. He said that ambulances were never denied access to the battlefield because of filming by three different crews, including those for the movie "Gods and Generals."

"We tell video crews, we don't rehearse, don't make second takes, and if there is an EMS problem it has priority. We don't worry about cameras and shots. EMS folks were encouraged to get wherever it was they had to go."

About 9,500 reenactors registered, Warlick said. Of those some 2,800 were walk-ons who paid a $25 registration fee deliberately set high to encourage preregistration so event organizers could more efficiently plan and manage the weekend's needs.

Warlick said he heard complaints that firewood, hay and straw ran out, but when they cleaned up afterward, his crews brought out seven large truck loads of wood, over 250 bales of straw and 150 to 175 bales of leftover hay.

Ice ran out for a very brief time one day but was quickly replaced. The battle, originally planned for three hours, was cut short because of heat and because the script was not followed as precisely as anticipated - a very common occurrence at events. "We were trying to copy what happened 140 years ago, but it's hard to copy history," Warlick noted.

Ingress and egress difficulties were experienced on Saturday, partly because original emergency plans were not followed. In addition, Warlick said an announcement regarding a weather service forecast for a storm that never materialized prompted many spectators to flee hurriedly.

Two television stations later wrongly announced that the event had been canceled. Many reenactors and spectators complained of camping and walking through fields of poison ivy. Warlick said they bushhogged it twice and sprayed twice in an attempt to get rid of as much as they could.

State and local inspectors were in force, checking everything from black powder permits to stream safeguards to food safety to horse health.

"Ice angels," like battlefield photographers, were asked to dress in men's period clothing for authenticity.

Warlick extended compliments to Confederate Commander Charles Clark and Union Commander Dana Heim as well as the participating reenactors in general for their efforts toward making the battle historically accurate.

Clark said the highlight of the event for him was Sunday's battle. "It went very close to the scripted scenario."

"True, it was hot, but not as bad as the 125th Manassas, 125th Cedar Mountain, and 135th Wilderness," said Clark.
"The name of the game was to drink enough water until your eyeballs floated, then take one more sip for good measure. Everyone that came to visit me was offered something cool to drink [water or Gatorade®]. If they didn't have a cup, I offered one of ours to drink from."

Warlick noted the variety of unique early-war uniforms, which ranged from the striped Louisiana Tiger Zouave trousers to the tricorn. "Many did an outstanding job in that department," he said.

He also praised Kathy and Joe Sherer for their work in organizing civilian activities. The event featured reenactments of the full battle of Manassas, dances both Friday and Saturday night, numerous historical speakers, meet-the-author book-signings and various history-related agencies which had booths in the Primedia tent.

A group of civilians, who had to conform to authenticity inspection guidelines, were permitted on the battlefield both days to represent picnickers who had come for a close-up view of the battle in 1861.

At least $9,500 will be donated to historical preservation in the Manassas area. Warlick said Primedia automatically contributes $1 of registration fees to preservation. The beneficiary has not been determined.