Hard-Core Reenactors To March For Preservation
By Deborah Fitts
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va.
Serious reenactors are being asked to "roll up
their sleeves and make a difference" by participating in an
October weekend that the organizer hopes will raise tens of
thousands of dollars for battlefield preservation.
Rob Hodge is planning "a rather large-scale" event Oct. 28-29
in western Loudoun County, where dirt roads, antebellum homes
and rolling pastureland evoke a 19th-century landscape.
Widely known for his preservation efforts and "hard-core" approach
to reenacting, Hodge is hoping to top his march at Chancellorsville
in May 1998 that he said attracted 200 participants and raised
over $40,000 to buy battlefield land.
"This event is not like anything anywhere else," Hodge said
of the October weekend. "You're moving down some of the most
beautiful landscape in the world, with stone walls and stone
houses in the shadow of the Blue Ridge. Once people see this
place they never forget it."
The first day will be for reenac-tors only and will comprise
"an immersion-type event" with an 8- or 9-mile march with skirmishing
along the way. This year the an-nual preservation cavalry ride
in Loudoun will combine with Hodge's weekend, and he is hoping
to augment the forces with as many as eight horse-drawn artillery.
Hodge said Dave Pridgeon would serve as Confederate commander,
while the Union commander was uncertain at presstime. The two
columns will shadow the movements of the armies in late October
1862 as the Federals probed into the Loudoun Valley following
Antietam.
As at Chancellorsville, Hodge said the event will proceed under
an "authenticity standard," and participants will be expected
to raise a minimum of $100.
"The idea is not for people to pay the money to come,"
Hodge said, "but put in some time and raise the money from family
and friends and co-workers." Amenities will be virtually non-existent.
"There will be no sutlers, no tent city," Hodge said. "If it
rains we get wet. If you get blisters, you get blisters."
On Sunday the public will be invited to hear talks by the likes
of Ed Bearss and Brian Pohanka, according to Hodge. He is aiming
high for the event, shooting for 2500 military participants
and 10,000 spectators, and raising a quarter of a million dollars
for preservation.
Since last fall Hodge has "talked to people all over the country."
"Our historic green space is dying a quick death," he said.
"The overlying theme should be the ground. We need to bring
this to the attention of all Americans.
"This is grassroots empowerment for reenactors," Hodge added.
"They should roll up their sleeves and make a difference." He
said he would donate 20 percent of the proceeds to local preservation
organizations like the Snickersville Turnpike Association, which
works to pre-serve Loudoun's landscape in the face of rampant
growth. The rest will go to preserve battlefields in both the
eastern and western theaters, he said.
Information about the event, including suggestions on fund-raising,
is available from Hodge at P.O. Box 9861, Alexandria, VA 22304,
(703) 569-7911, or e-mail at preservation2000@hotmail.com.
Information will also be avail-able as a link to the Web site
www.cwreenactors.com.
