Civil War

Harper's Ferry Enterprises presents the Civil War showcase at Harper's Ferry West Virginia narrated by Steve Phillips editing and Sound by hland film Productions New York City written and filmed by Colonel G Burling J [Music] produced by Great Oak Studios Aberdine [Music] Maryland off the highway this is the entrance into the famous showcase as one approaches and looks down towards the shannond River Rest the buildings of the Civil War showcase [Music] the visitors approach the grounds and pull up near the door this doorway is a 2/3 replica of John Brown's original engine house which he used as a fort the guests collect in front of the building and proceed to enter a view of the Interior as one walks through the entrance Gateway as the visitors enter they greeted by one of the hostesses who bids them welcome to the Showcase she then leads the way and the visitors are on their way they group around the various buildings and we see two celebrities these are the Canfield Brothers from the TV show The Americans [Music] they were guests for the day and obliged many of the visitors with their autographs literally hundreds of people welcomed this opportunity to add two more famous names to their collections in the distance is one of the attractions the suler store a modern type of PX of the Civil War period the guests go inside and see many of the curios which are available together with [Music] souvenirs another attraction at the Civil War showcase is a map of the haros furry area this map is in precise detail and shows many of the important spots of History which may be seen here this map shows a big part of the bomic river area as it leads down to join the shannond door notice the little lights that blink a commentary is run and all these important places are pointed out to the visitors then the guests move over to the main building here is a display of artifacts of the Civil War period the guests are invited to roam around and examine all these curios which are displayed in the specially built glass cases the young hostesses are willing to help and they greet the guests as they come in these artifacts are all Originals of the Civil War period between the shows and the theater these artifacts provide something for the guests to look at here we see a group waiting to get into the theater where films of a civil war nature are [Music] featur this is part of Tides of War a motion picture currently being run at the Showcase [Music] as the screening of the film which takes a half hour is finished the guests are invited to pass through the grounds and have a look at the famous Sheridan trenches these have been reclaimed from the present Forest which has grown up around them so that the visitors may have a [Music] look after passing through the Sheridan trenches we come out into the living history part of the Civil War showcase these are buildings of the Civil War period which housed the animals and the heavy equipment used by living history who put on the live demonstrations for the visitors whose attention is drawn to an original Civil War [Music] Camp the visitors see such a camp as we approach the area itself we see some of the visitors the Charming Fair sex who have come to say howd do to the soldiers in the encampment it is a typical Camp of the period where the young people would come to visit the troops this encampment has all the details of the wartime camps the long monotonous days of the troops are relieved somewhat by the ladies who come down to say hello here the men have pitched their pup [Music] tents the men amuse themselves playing cards others take care examining their [Music] clothes the sergeant comes down to R out a detail the everpresent cook pot usually with beans or stew of some sort and the card games it went on seemingly never ending the visitors are now moving on and such is a typical camp [Music] one of the features of living history is this group of crack Cavalry who put on quite a demonstration for the visitors these men are all expert writers and they put on a drill which is by the numbers from the original drill books they are demonstrating saber practice this large area is available for these exercises and the public has a chance to see what goes [Music] on here comes a field battery which is moving their gun into position a Confederate attack is anticipated the men have now placed their gun the ammunition box has been removed from the limber and the men are preparing to [Music] load in the distance a force of Confederate infantry climbs a fence to [Applause] attack cusing casualties among the attackers they reform while the gun fires canister at the incredible distance of only 200 [Applause] [Applause] [Music] yd this is not a reenactment this is a demonstration the public is shown how these operations were carried out the effect of the different shells now the Cavalry has come up to support the Infantry and is beginning an attack on the artillery this is more of the demonstration and gives a very good idea of exactly what would happen particularly the tremendous amount of smoke on the battlefield [Music] this part of the demonstration is now over the gun crew will limber up and be removed from the stage all the activity of this artillery unit have been by the Numbers exactly as of the drill book another of the attractions is provided by the living history members and their weapons the Civil War type musket attracts much attention here a young boy is allowed the opportunity of being taught how to shoot a musket by a uniformed man who knows what he's doing all visitors are permitted to shoot if they wish the little youngster is quite curious he thought there would be a terrific [Music] bang here is the exhibition shooting of the internationally famous Slim acman watch the cabbage head with a standard 58 caliber musket now Slim will shoot the balloons from this lovely young lady she is so accurate that she has no worries he is shooting a standard officers Model 44 Cult of the Civil War period and SL finally breaks the last balloon it's all in a day for the young lady and they come up and take their [Music] boughs the final ceremonies of retreat the gun fires the flag is lowered carefully wrapped and carried over and placed in the repository until the next day these people are leaving with an understanding of the Centennial as demonstrated by members of living history and the exhibits of the Civil War Showcase in Harper's Ferry f [Music]