Washington Civil War Association

The Washington Civil War Association is one of the more prominent American Civil War Living History organizations in the West. There were no battles in Washington involved with the Civil War, but this does not stop the organization's 700 plus members from joining in several battles, quite like those that might have been fought on Virginian soil. Some of those battles, which take place in late Spring and mid-Summer are:

•The battle of Port Gamble

•The battle for Spokane Falls

•The battle of Ferndale

Publicity

The above three events are major public battles, which get featured on TV, Internet, and local Newspapers. The battle for Spokane Falls, which takes place the weekend after Memorial day, has even made its way onto YouTube, and four musical numbers at Ferndale on Google video. Events which are on a lower priority for the WCWA like the October Boy Scout Camporee draw inevitably an excess of 200 children, where the older kids are encouraged to enlist.

Unit Variety

With the fairly sizable 700 members (for a western Re-enacting group), There happens to be a Confederate Battalion and a Union Brigade. Both have several different types of units within.

Confederates, or more affectionately known as the Rebs, contain regular infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, engineer corp (who place ground charges for the cannon blast effects), Zouaves, CSS Sumter Marines, and the Confederate States of America (CS) Medical corp.

Union soldiers, or more affectionately known as Yankees, contain Sharpshooters, Cavalry, Artillery, several infantry regular units, including the 20th Maine co. F, the USS Tahoma sailors, and the USS Tahoma Marine Guard Infantry.

Authenticity

The members of the WCWA pay great attention to detail. A new recruit who does not prefer borrowing clothing for free will pay upwards of $900 for the basics. The costliest item requirement is the Rifled Musket, which for the Union is most often the 1861 Springfield rifle, and for the Confederacy the Zouave rifle, a variation of the Mississippi rifle, but with standard defects to the hammer. These rifles generally cost about $600 on their own, not including the bayonets, powder, and caps involved in all battles.

All of the members' uniforms are made of wool, and therefore a basic sack coat can cost about $60, all the time straining on a recruit, or Fresh Fish's bank account.

A final touch: Every member in the WCWA above the age of fourteen (majority) eligible to bear arms in the skirmishes. They stand a safe distance from each other and let cannons, rifles, pistols, and ground charges ignite and fire deafening volleys, with the exception of the ground charge. There are no grenades to be found on a battlefield, not only are the costly, dangerous, and unpredictable, but to be authentic time must be taken to let the audience view the constant tossing of the grenade before it finally lands on its flat surface.

The WCWA spends 5 events on just the School of the Soldier and other basic drills, which presents an authentic style of tactics in a battle.

Link

Their website is [http://www.wcwa.net] .