"Coopers"

I became a Civil War reenactor in the Spring of 2010. I was mustered into service as a Private in the artillery with Battery B of the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, which is in the 1st division of the 1st corps. We are nicknamed “Coopers” after the captain who commanded the unit during the war. I have been reenacting under Captain Dewalt, who currently is in charge. I began reenacting out of a love of history and a dream to portray, honor, and remember the lives of men who kept the country as a whole. This picture was taken at Williamsport, Maryland just before we were going to do a night fire. We were right along the river and decided to stay in the grass rather than down on the sand. We had two gun crews, which at that time were the only two cannons that we had. On the left of the photo is our replica of an 1863 Parrot Rifle and to the right is an 1858 Field Howitzer. At this event I was running powder to both guns, which I found to be somewhat challenging in the pitch dark. A lot of the townspeople showed up to watch our “fireworks” show; 8 ounces of black powder, launching flames from the muzzles of our guns.