The site was actually the home of the Harper family. When the troops arrived for the battle, the downstairs part of the home was used for the hospital and the upstairs was where the family stayed. And the house was not that large.
Loved this shot of the upstairs window.
The slave quarters.
As some point the home served as a hospital for either sides.
As you enter the house, they have several rooms set up as re-enactments of what the rooms looked like (ok, the face bloody bandages are a little cheesy but I thought there were needed to make the point.)
Those instruments pale in sophistication to today but that was all they had. I am not sure I really want to know what that circular instrument was for.
Samples of the bullets. (It is now against the law to remove any bullets or the like form the grounds as they are not part of the site.) (And no I didn't look for any.)
The doctor's kit. Wonder what Dr. McCoy (Star Trek) would have thought? (There was a episode where he encountered medicine later than this an was appalled at the primitive medicine.)
A wide variety of medicines.
The doctor's desk.
Another I don't want to know what it was used for device.
A poison used to save lives. Glad it was not ether as ether is highly flammable whereas chloroform is not, meaning you could have a fire going in the cold without the risk of blowing everything up.
Loved this image. Could not help but think how many soldiers looked out that window, perhaps through a torn curtain similar to this and thought about the future.
Marvelous old tree outside.
Now for the troops and the rifle firing.
The troop commander.
The troops at attention.
The troops at Present Arms.
The troops at Shoulder Arms. Notice the unique placement of their fingers on the rifle.
This was done to keep their fingers off the trigger and prevent accidental firings.
A variation of Shoulder Arms. (I cannot remember why there was a difference.)
How they carried the rifles in the rain to keep water from entering the barrels.
Inspection Arms.
A form of Parade Rest. It was said this was preferred as it was more comfortable.
The other form of Parade Rest. Note the difference in the placement of the hands.
Now to prepare to fire. They could fire three rounds well aimed and a fourth in a furry in approximately one minute. Don't see how they did it but I guess when folks are shooting at you, you can move quickly.
Biting off the end of the paper wad container that holds the powder.
Loading the powder
Tamping the powder down (They did not load bullets during this event for obvious safety reasons. They only shot powder.)
The hand is placed such that only the little pinkie finger is on the rod as the pinkie finger is the most expendable if the gun goes off. You don't want your thumb on the rod as you could get a hole blown in your hand.
At this point the commander marched the troops out to an open area for the firing.
Fix bayonets and prepare to charge. -- Charge!!
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