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54 The Civil War Comes to Town What could I say to the 128th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment reenactor, pouring coffee by the Company C fire with his sons? Have some bacon, he offered, gesturing to the iron pot, blackened by the 1863 campaigns—Chancellorsville and Wapping Heights, Auburn Mills and Kelly’s Ford. We followed behind after father, one costumed boy offered. Then he ran off with his wooden rifle to shoot his brother. My dog lay down in the sun. Now we’ve got a Company mutt, one blue-suited soldier said. I stood by the chess board, watching the soldiers mull over their moves. We mustered in August of 1862, my reenactor told me. Coffee? They offered me a seat at the writing table where a recruit struggled with a letter to Po River, Virginia, May 10, 1864. Inside the tent, someone hemmed a coat, pulling the needle through coarse, blue wool. Young men rubbed Huberd’s Shoe Grease on brogans, and soon I fell to mending blankets. I stuffed my hair into a cap and took the role of Rob, cross-dressing scout who saved three hundred souls. Thus, I joined the men of Company C; we nursed our sick without women or running water; bayonets ready, we entered the enemy’s tents. ...

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