Posted: 5/8/2008 4:30:30 PM EDT
| Anyone else going? |
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It is just west of Winchester, VA and the best day to go is Saturday because they will be going the artillery (full size cannon and mortars) live fire competition. Here is thier home page: www.n-ssa.org/ Schedule of events for the week: www.n-ssa.net/NATIONAL/117th/117thProgram.pdf and directions: www.n-ssa.org/NATIONAL/maps.html |
FYI - Seems that these dudes actually shoot off civil war cannons - with REAL cannon balls! (see below) I've never gone to watch one of these things, but looks like a fun, family-friendly event. I did watch a 100 yard rifle/musket shoot once in the 1980s that was all blackpowder. My clothes smelled funny afterwards.  "North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) was formed in 1950 to commemorate the heroism of the men, of both sides, who fought in the American Civil War, 1861-1865. The N-SSA promotes the shooting of Civil War firearms and artillery and encourages the preservation and display of Civil War materials. The N-SSA works to accomplish these goals by conducting skirmishes; competitive, live firing of these Civil War firearms and artillery." |
| The artillery portion of the shoot is well worth attending. I never grasped the velocity of Civil War era cannon projectiles until going to one of these events. There was no dodging cannon shells if you were anywhere near the line, never mind the canister rounds. My respect for those that marched by rank into the face of the enemy line went up tenfold. |
Yep, no blanks! The folks up there will be quick to tell you they are NOT reenactors. They wear the uniforms of the units they adopt as tribute to them but that is about the extent of their similarity to reenactors. The name of the game is group competition with original and replica Civil War weapons, basically whichever team can break all the clay pigeons, tiles, or clay pots at 50 or 100 yards first wins. The video on the website gives a good explanation. There are some individual competitions on paper targets earlier in the week but the team competitions are the fun thing to watch. |