Richland County Fairgrounds holds Annual Civil War Show

If you're a fan of history, or even just a little curious about the Civil War, then the 45th Annual Civil War Show would be a notable exhibit for you to explore over the weekend at the Richland County Fairgrounds. The show has been a hit not just in the state of Ohio but also one of the most well-attended throughout the country for some time.

One of the more popular features at the Civil War Show is the cannon-firing demonstrations that involved eight Civil War cannons this year fired by a group of men dressed in Civil War attire.

"It was regular black powder they used back in the day," said Doug Osborne, who was a part of the cannon-firing group. "Most generally, it's about half of what a round would have been. In the case of ours in particular, it would have shot a pound of powder and a 10-pound projectile during the war. Now we use about a eight-ounce round."

Osborne said that of all the eight cannons present, each were different.

"The ones with the big bands in the back are parrott rifles," he said. "This is a three-inch ordnance rifle. That is a Napoleon rifle. We have a good mixture here."

There was a musket-rifle demonstration afterwards as well, that included men reenacting strategies from the Revolutionary and Civil War.

"It is a British-made weapon," said Ron Hafner, of the musket rifle demonstration, describing his rifle. "Because at the end of the war that's what we had. Later in 1778 when the French came into the war, they started providing us with French muskets."

All the musket rifles on display were unique in their own way.

"The ones used today are the brown muskets, .77 caliber," Hafner said. "Some of them carry the French, which is .69 caliber. Some guys carry the French muskets. Some guys carry just rifles."

Throughout the Fairgrounds, attendees got the chance to view a 10-Pounder Parrott rifle made at West Point Foundry in July 1861 that was used in West Virginia until December 1861.

One of the most notable pieces were handmade plates created by multiple artists of famous movie characters Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler in the classic 1939 civil war film "Gone with the Wind" in the Antique Barn section.

In the John Hartz Jr. Fair Activity Building, there was plenty to see or purchase.

Older editions of the newspaper Harper's Weekly from 1898 with a picture of the Spanish-American War was on display. The Eisel's Armory Section booth had everything from old gun holsters to military helmets to different brands of swords and knives that were used. Collections of airborne badges, pens, U.S. Valor Award Ribbons and World War II ribbons were nice to see, too.

jsimpson@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County Fairgrounds attract people from everywhere for Civil War Show