Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
History comes alive in the Siege of Bridgeport, Alabama's largest battle re-enactment. SATURDA7-SUNDAY
Largest re-enactment in Alabama is this weekend
You can read about the Civil War in history books — or you could make a day-trip to Bridgeport, Ala., this weekend to see history in action when the Siege at Bridgeport re-enactment takes place.
Thousands of visitors and hundreds of Union and Confederate re-enactors from across the Southeast will converge on Bridgeport for the three-day event.
Friday, March 24, is School Day when an expected 500 children from Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia schools take field trips to Bridgeport to watch demonstrations and learn about a soldier’s life from these re-enactors.
The battle site opens to the public Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26. Visitors can tour soldiers’ camps, browse sutlers’ wares, participate in a ladies tea or an antebellum costume ball, both of which are free. One of the most popular events is the anvil shoot at 12:30 p.m. each day, when a 100-pound anvil will be shot more than 100
feet into the air.
Re-enactments will take place both days at 2 p.m. CDT. When the first siege at Bridgeport was held in 1994, it drew one sutler and 100 soldiers. Organizer John McCraw says 20 sutlers are expected this weekend, along with 600 re-enactors, 15 artillery (cannons) and about 15 mounted cavalry.
The Siege at Bridgeport re-enactment is based on the first two of three Union-Confederate engagements at Bridgeport, battles that were critical in order for Union forces to take Chattanooga from the Confederates.
In 1862, Bridgeport was a Confederate territory, protected by Gen. Danville Ledbetter and his force of 600 recruits. Union Gen. Ormsby Mitchel attacked the defending Confederates on April .29. Ledbetter’s force defended Battery Hill, which overlooked the town and railroad bridge. Mitchel’s forces took Battery Hill, but were unsuccessful in saving the railroad bridge, which the Confederates burned as Ledbetter retreated.
On Aug. 27, 1862, Confederate Gen. Samuel Maxey’s forces crossed the Tennessee River just south of Bridgeport. They were met with Union cavalry attacks, but pushed them back so Confederates again occupied Bridgeport.
On June 29, 1863, Gen. Phillip Sheridan seized Bridgeport for the Union. Now in Union hands, Bridgeport’s railroad and shipping abilities provided supplies and reinforcements that broke the Confederate siege of Chattanooga in October 1865. McCraw says the April 1862 battle will be re-enacted on Saturday, and the Union will win. On Sunday, Confederates will win their re-enactment of the August 1862 battle. Visitors to the battlefield may be surprised to find how authentic re-enactors strive to make these events. They give up modern conveniences to sleep in tents or on the ground, cook over fires and carry weapons and gear appropriate to that period. Even spouses and sutlers come dressed in antebellum attire to assure an accurate portrayal of life during the Civil War