The years will roll back in Livermore this weekend as hundreds of re-enactors and volunteers meet at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center to stage one of the largest Civil War re-enactments in Maine’s history. The famous estate, in the rolling foothills of the mountains of western Maine, is within a half-day’s drive of much of New England.
The event will include a battle each day featuring the 3rd Maine Company A and the 20th Maine Company B, who will clash with the 15th Alabama Company G on the broad meadows surrounding the Washburn mansion.
“This is the first time in a long time we’ve done something on this scale,” said Craig Young of the 3rd Maine. “In Bowdoinham four years ago, we had 160 infantry involved, but we hope to have 200 here at Norlands. We think we’ll draw participants from out of state.”
The Rally for Norlands Civil War Re-enactment Weekend started with a suggestion from Young, and now involves the two other regiments, all of which will welcome visitors to their camps, and firing black-powder weapons and artillery at the battle staged each day.
The event will help to fund the rebuilding of the Norlands barn, which burned last year.
Visitors can talk with the soldiers and civilians at the camps, and are invited to participate with the 3rd Maine in its Camp of Instruction to learn the basics of Civil War-era drill, and maybe even get to fire a musket. The 3rd Maine will be on the drill field, apart from a lunch break, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 to 11:45 a.m. Sunday. Men of the 2nd Vermont will be available to “recruit” and drill younger volunteers on the drill field during those hours.
Though the battle between the Blue and the Gray will be the high point of each day, many activities, frequently with audience participation, will continue through the weekend, including a 19th century fashion show, a formal tea party, home front living history, old-time photos, and quilting and blacksmith demonstrations. Docents in costume will lead tours to the Federal and Confederate camps; the Norlands grounds are broad enough that the camps will be out of sight of each other. There will be raffles, food, and games for children and adults, and an old-time church service Sunday.
Sunday’s activities will conclude with a concert at 3 p.m. in the 1828 meetinghouse adjacent to the Washburn mansion. Composer, singer and pianist Mitchell Clyde Thomas will be joined by other Maine performers to present an original musical tribute to Abraham Lincoln in this 200th anniversary of his birth. The concert will include patriotic songs, ballads and folk songs from the time of Lincoln’s youth on the frontiers of Kentucky and Illinois. The concert is free, with a freewill collection afterward.
The Dirigo Vintage Baseball Club of Augusta will commandeer a Norlands meadow each day for a pickup game. Mark Rohman, known in the club as Limelight, hopes the public will get involved and play.
“The club probably won’t have two whole teams here, so we’ll really need the public to join in,” he said. Hefting an odd-looking bat with a ridge at the grip, and a handmade ball with a peculiar stitching pattern, Rohman said they’ll be playing a game called town ball.
“It’s the game they were playing in New England in the 1850s and ’60s. The rules are slightly different, enough to keep it interesting, and we’re happy to explain everything.”
On Saturday night, with hostilities suspended, Norlands will hold a bean supper and contradance in a huge tent on the grounds. Music will be by The Racket Factory, a local band. There will be a caller for the dancing, and instruction for neophytes. The bean supper will start at 5, the contradance at 7; admission is separate from daytime events.
Though the Norlands mansion was not built until after the Civil War, many members of the Washburn family were active in the conflict: Israel Washburn Jr. was the Civil War governor of Maine, Cadwallader Washburn was a major general in the Grand Army of the Republic, and Elihu Washburn was a pallbearer at Lincoln’s funeral. Washburn historian Kerck Kelsey will give a talk Saturday on the role of the Washburn family in the Civil War. Visitors will be welcome to the schoolhouse and the old kitchen, where interpreters will tell stories and read letters from Maine soldiers in the conflict.
The Web site www.norlands.org contains links to maps and driving directions. There is ample lodging in the Lewiston-Auburn and Farmington areas, both about a half-hour from the re-enactment site.
Rally for Norlands schedule
Rally for Norlands: Civil War Re-enactment Weekend, June 6-7, Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, 290 Norlands Road, Livermore:
• $7 for one day, $10 for both days; children under 6 free.
Bean supper and contradance Saturday, June 6:
• Supper and dance, 5 p.m., $8
• Dance only, 7 p.m., $5