…was quoted in an Ohio State Lantern article.

Many stations were arranged throughout the encampment: an artillery camp, a music tent, an infantry tent and a medical hospital station. Many of the volunteers who participate in Civil War re-enactments study actual historical figures to enhance the experience.

Michael Rupert portrayed a Civil War medic named Benjamin Pittman.

“If you were hit by a bullet, we would examine your wound with the first probe that we have at hand,” he said, raising his index finger. “And if we’re lucky, we wash our hands maybe twice a day.”

Another cannon blast reverberated between the high-rise buildings of downtown Columbus.

“War is pretty gruesome. That’s why I am pleased to talk about this because I don’t want people to think war is all glory and just a big adventure,” Rupert said.

As a communication specialist on the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board at the Ohio Statehouse, he helped organize the encampment this year and has been a member of Battery A since 2000.

Civil War encampment gives observers chance to view ‘living history’