The sound of cannon fire will once again fill the air this weekend as The Battle for the Texas Hospital returns to Archusa on February 16, 17, and 18.
Friday, February 16, will be the school day where students from schools around the area can come and learn about life during the time period.
“We would love for all the schools in this area to go ahead and come out there,” declared Jerry Mason, event organizer. “It’s $1 per student, which is paid to the park. We’ll provide the reenactors out there and give instruction for things that happened in that time frame. The kids seem to like it. We’ll have vendors there that they can come to. They’ll be able to try some food that people will be cooking and act like they’re soldiers for a second if they want to.”
Also on that Friday, the reenactors will again be at Chefski’s where people in the community are able to interact with them.
“We’re going to have a band called Unreconstructed Band to show up,” stated Mason. “It’s a well-known band in the reenacting community.”
Saturday morning, February 17, will begin with a memorial at the Confederate Cemetery in Quitman. They will then return to Archusa to get everything started up at the park.
“We’ll have skits during the day,” informed Mason. “We have the Hunley coming back again. That was the first successful submarine built in America and was designed and built by Mr. Hunley in 1863 in Mobile, AL. Then, it was taken to Charleston Harbor and test tried there. It sank twice, and the third time they went out and successfully sunk a battleship. Then, it disappeared, and they didn’t know what happened to the submarine. They found the submarine 140 years later with everybody in place. They had not tried to get out, and they felt like they died instantly after the explosion. We have a replica of that submarine coming. He gives a demonstration and a lot of information on it. It’s something that everybody should come see.”
John T. Wayne also plans to come to the event again this year.
“John T. Wayne wants to come back again,” stated Mason. “He really enjoyed coming here, and he has some new books out that’s gonna be his story of how he found out he was kin to John Wayne.”
For the women, there will be a tea between 11:00 and 12:00 on Saturday.
“We also have a women’s tea that will be between 11:00 and 12:00,” expressed Mason. “Any women that want to come to it can come out there and just talk to the women. You don’t have to be dressed up for it. We just want people to show up, especially the people around town.”
At 2:00 p.m., the cannon fire will really begin as the reenactment for The Battle of the Texas Hospital takes place.
The fun doesn’t end after the battle on Saturday, though. That night, there will be a dance that anyone in the community can participate in.
“Saturday night, we’ll also have a dance,” continued Mason. “If the town would like to come out, they can come out. It’s like a ball. The dancers like to dance the old style. Anybody can do it. People who say they can’t dance that way—they can.”
Sunday, February 18, will be the last day of festivities with the battle again taking place at 2:00 p.m.
To go along with the battle, they are doing a raffle. Tickets for the raffle are able to be purchased until 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 18. The drawing for the raffle will take place at 1:00 on Sunday.
“We do have a raffle going on for a quilt and a rifle. It’s a double drawing where the first person who is drawn gets to pick what they want—the rifle or the quilt,” explained Mason. “The rifle is a Henry 22 Golden Boy American Eagle. It’s a beautiful weapon. What’s really nice is the quilt. One of my reenactor friends made this for us. During reenactments, she would sit there and sew this thing. The whole thing is sewn by hand. She has over 500 hours in this quilt, and it is a beautiful quilt.”
Come out and watch the reenactment and learn a little about what life was like during that time period.
