Faces of the Civil War: Reenactors in Woodbury, Conn.

YANKEE: Norman Gardner, 1st  Rhode Island Light Artillery, Dalton, N.H.
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REBEL: Michael Wasilnak, 1st Maryland, Hartford, Conn.
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YANKEE: Russell Marchand, 13th Massachusetts, Blackstone, Mass.
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REBEL: Paul Maynard, 7th Tennessee, Exeter, R.I.
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Three weeks ago in sweltering northwestern Georgia, I traipsed the hallowed fields of Chickamauga battlefield, where Rebels and Yankees slaughtered each other on Sept. 19-20, 1863. Roughly 34,000 casualties resulted from the battle that only briefly turned Southern fortunes. On Sunday, the Blue and Gray slugged it out again at Strong Preserve Park in Woodbury, Conn., in a reenactment of that long-ago battle. (Click here to view my interactive panorama of Sunday's battle.) 

Thankfully, casualties were extremely light. EMTs tended to a spectator who sprained her ankle and several others onlookers suffered from ringing in their ears because they stood too close to two booming Federal cannons. 

Before the reenactors fired blanks at each other near the picturesque Connecticut town known for its excellent antiques shops, they took time out to pose for these profile images.  I successfully crossed a temporary bridge over a creek, snuck into the out-of-the-way Rebel camp and persuaded one Southern private to postpone attending a drill before his hardcore sergeant bellowed for him to get his butt in gear. The Yankees were slightly more accommodating.

Of course, most of the reenactors remained in character throughout our pre-photo chats. Like the men they emulated, two Southerners I photographed even walked the grounds barefooted. After I returned home, I channeled my inner-Alexander Gardner to give these images an 1860s look and feel. (Click here to view images of re-enactors I shot last year in Manchester, Conn.)

REBEL: Jim Saunders, 35th Virginia Cavalry, Plymouth, Mass.
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YANKEE: Ian Morrison, 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Groton, Conn.
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REBEL AND YANKEE: Tom Asselin (left), North Carolina regiment, Terryville, Conn.
Victor Scalora, 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Newtown, Conn.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

REBEL: Mike Morgante, North Carolina regiment, Woodbury, Conn.

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INTERACTIVE ANTIETAM PANORAMAS: From John Otto's 40-acre cornfield to Bloody Lane.
FACES OF THE CIVIL WAR: Stories and photos of common soldiers who served during the war.
16TH CONNECTICUT SOLDIERS: Tales of the men in the hard-luck regiment.
MORE ON ANTIETAM: Read my extensive thread on the battle and the men who fought in it