Civil War reenactors to gather along Lackawaxen River in August
Learn about the American Civil War Aug. 12-13 with reenactors from across the tri-state area, gathered at a historic canal site along the Lackawaxen River in Pike County.
Co-sponsored by the Pike County Historical Society and the 142nd Pennsylvania Volunteers, the event will include demonstrations on drill, loading and firing infantry and artillery weapons, skirmish tactics and camp life during the war, which ran from 1861 to 1865.
They will be at Lockhouse 16 of the Delaware & Hudson (D&H) Canal, 495 Towpath Road in Lackawaxen Township, east of Hawley. Hours for the public are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Battle demonstrations will be at 2 p.m. both days, with living history presentations starting at 10 a.m.
Admission is $10 (cash only). Cold drinks, hamburgers and hot dogs will be available from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. each day (cash only).
Civilian living historians will be presenting the role of the United States Sanitary Commission in supporting the Union armies, along with depicting the life of a typical family charged with operating a D&H canal lock. Medical innovations during the war will also be presented.
The Historical Society notes that the geography, including the river, canal and railroad in a mountain valley, mimics that of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal corridor along the Potomac River. Confederate raids of supplies shipped on canal boats were chronic during the war. Reenactors will use the terrain to demonstrate late-war battle tactics defending against such a raid.
Participating units include the 142nd Pennsylvania Infantry, the 26th Pennsylvania Infantry, the 3rd New Jersey Infantry, the 61st New York Infantry, the Bureau of Military Information, the 150th New York Infantry, the 124th New York Infantry, the 4th Texas Infantry and the 23rd North Carolina Infantry. The military will be supported by a contingent of civilian living historians associated with each military unit, and the Delaware and Hudson Canal Society.
The Pike County Historical Society may be contacted at 570-296-8126.
If you go
WHAT: American Civil War re-enactment
WHERE: Lockhouse 16, 495 Towpath Road, Hawley, Pa.
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13
COST: Admission $10 (cash only). Cold drinks, hamburgers and hot dogs 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. each day (cash only)
HOST: Pike County Historical Society and the 142nd Pennsylvania Volunteers
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Civil War reenactors to gather along D&H Canal in Pike County
