BENTONVILLE — Hundreds of men in blue or gray wool uniforms acted the part of Civil War soldiers as they marched onto the lush green pasture and gunsmoke filled the air.
Austin Galloway's history lesson of the Battle of Pea Ridge was under way.
"What are the people on horses called?" asked Thomas Pittman, 8-year-old Austin's grandfather.
The questions continued. What are the people with cannons called? What color does the Union wear? And when did the battle take place?
"I knew it was 18-something," Austin said in response to the last question.
The Civil War battle took place March 7-8 in 1862. It was the war's largest battle west of the Mississippi River.
"My family finally wanted to go with me," said Pittman, a civics teacher at Central Junior High School in Springdale, who was nearly giddy when he sawthe cavalry - the men on horses - charge with guns blazing.
"I always wanted to be cavalry," he said.
The Union's victory at Pea Ridge secured its control of Missouri, which set off a series of events that ultimately led to victory in 1865. More than 26,000 soldiers fought during the two days. More than 400 men were killed during the battle, according to the National Park Service. Many more eventually died of their wounds, taking the number of dead to about 2,000, according to the Park Service.
An estimated 600 to 700 reenactors from across the United States arrived in Benton County to bring the battle to life on 130 acres along Little Sugar Creek, about 13 miles from Pea RidgeNational Military Park.
There were two re-enactments Saturday afternoon, and one is scheduled for 1 p.m. today. The cost to enter is $7 per vehicle.
The National Park Service doesn't allow re-enactments atits Civil War military parks.
The actors and their families camped in tents on the park property and stayed "in character" throughout the weekend, said Leah Whitehead of the Peel House Foundation, the event's sponsor.
An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 people attend the re-enactment in Benton County each year.
Retirees Jack and Anita Roberts of Oklahoma City recently took up Civil War re-enactments as a hobby. They visited the Park Service museum at Pea Ridge on Friday and planned to spend Saturday and today at the re-enactment.
"Today was wonderful," said Jack Roberts, who snapped pictures of the soldiers after the battle.
"There's a lot of history in our area that people need to look at," Pittman said after a re-enactment of the battle's bloody skirmish at Leetown, one of Northwest Arkansas' first settlements.
"You don't have to go to Virginia," he said.
Arkansas, Pages 23 on 10/28/2007