Along with thousands of other Brooklynites, we took the ferry from Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6 this weekend to Governors Island for Civil War Weekend.
The 119th New York Volunteers and Battery G of the First Pennsylvania Light Artillery were encamped for the weekend on the island. As we walked among them, they reenacted life during the 1860s, demonstrating weapons, tents, and provisions.
The soldiers actually slept in open tents (on pillows made of stuffed ticking) all weekend. They drilled and fired their cannon, cooked over open fires, played music and recruited for the war.
Across the island, groups of civilian reenacters held picnics in period costumes or formal lunches with all the fixings and fresh-baked apple pie. The ladies from the local aid society distributed care packages to Confederate prisoners inside the courtyard of Castle William.
Governors Island was the perfect setting for this kind of historical fun. Besides the Civil War festivities there were art exhibits, mini-golf, tours, biking, kayaking, concerts and much more. Fred Van Lente, author of The Amazing Spiderman, gave a talk on Sunday. The Big Apple Circus was conducting a free trapeze workshop.
To learn more about Governors Island activities
see here.
Photos by MK Metz
Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.
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