Civil War reenactment in Florida ends after 40 years
Civil War reenactment in Florida ends after 40 years
Each January, Hernando County scrambled to put out the welcome mat for what has been called the largest Civil War reenactment in Florida — the Brooksville Raid.
Hundreds of re-enactors clad in blue and gray would descend from across the state, bringing cast-iron skillets and muzzle-loading rifles, ready to warm breakfast over campfires. They’d drill and skirmish, fire cannons and tell onlookers what life was really like during the war.
Suttlers, the street vendors of the reenactment world, would come, too, selling historic wares. Women, with long dresses and bonnets, would attend the annual Ladies Tea. Students, bused in from throughout Florida, would be there to watch the proceedings, along with Boy Scouts — lots of Boy Scouts.
Now, that 40-year tradition has itself become history. Organizers have announced that there will be no Brooksville Raid in 2021, and unless a new site is found, perhaps none in the future.
The Tampa Bay Council of the Boy Scouts of America, owners of the 1,300-acre Sand Hill Scout Reservation, the event’s home since 1991, decided not to renew the agreement with event co-sponsors, the Hernando Historical Museum Association and the North Pinellas County Scout Sertoma Club.
“There were several issues that were discussed and contributed to the decision,” said Jim Rees, chief executive officer for the council. “Ultimately, the committee determined it was not in the best interest of the scout council to continue.” He provided no other specifics.
On their Facebook page, Brooksville Raid organizers cited the pandemic and declining profitability as factors.
Organizers and those who commented on the post also mentioned declining interest among young people in joining the reenactment community and the recent racial unrest across the country.
“Is this also due to fear of it being a racist event?” commented Peggy O’Connor. “I am truly saddened at the cancel culture that’s now encroached to our county.”
“The virus is just an excuse, to stop them. Tell the truth, it’s all about the racism tension,‘’ wrote Alton Jones.
Hernando County’s history is riddled with racial strife.
Its county seat, Brooksville, was named in 1856 for U.S. Rep. Preston Brooks of South Carolina, shortly after Brooks, a hardline supporter of slavery, beat abolitionist Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner nearly to death with a cane on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
A 2015 report by the Equal Justice Initiative noted that between 1880 and 1940, Hernando County had the third-highest rate for lynchings in the entire South.
In 2017, the county agreed to spend about $6,000 to erect a 6-foot-high fence around the Confederate statue at the Government Center to protect it from vandals.
Last month, a Black Lives Matter rally in Brooksville brought a flurry of social media support for keeping the statue and a fictional “hanging tree” site at the Government Center.
[link:https://www.winknews.com/2020/07/26/civil-war-reenactment-in-florida-ends-after-40-years/|
= new reply since forum marked as read
I was involved in the midwest for a short time back in the seventies and go to some of the events in my area in the west to shop for things like beads for artwork and see what vendors are selling, some of whom are friends that I know from our day jobs kind of thing. I grew up in New England but I never remember seeing anything outside of places like Sturbridge Village and places like that. I guess there would be some but I never heard of them.
So do you have a musket? I have to ask. 
I have a couple civil war type black powder pieces from back in the day, just never knew what to do with them.
