Antietam re-enactment funded

[sfc_darrel]

HAGERSTOWN, Md. Sept. 5 ? And now, the slaughter at Bloody Lane, brought to you by F&M Bank.

Corporate sponsors and 13,000 Civil War buffs will come together next week to re-enact the bloodiest day on U.S. soil, the Battle of Antietam.

For the first time at such an event, three of the nearly 40 participating companies are exclusive sponsors of specific skirmishes.

In addition to the fighting at Bloody Lane, where 5,500 men were killed or wounded, spectators can watch the daybreak clash in the Cornfield, sponsored by Antietam Cable, and the afternoon arrival of Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill's men presented through the courtesy of Hagerstown Trust.

The sponsors also include the investment bank Salomon Smith Barney, PepsiCo and Allegheny Energy, a Fortune 500 company headquartered near the re-enactment site, 1,000 privately owned acres about 70 miles north of Washington and 10 miles from the real battlefield.

Never have so many corporations been part of a Civil War re-enactment, and never so visibly, though their representatives will be stationed in a sponsors' tent near the entrance gate, and logos will not be allowed on the battlefield.

Event organizers say sponsors' dollars and in-kind donations, totaling more than $140,000, will help them stage more realistic clashes and raise more money for battlefield preservation.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20020905_1102.html

[xgrunt]

don't starting calling it the "Gizmo Antietam Reenactment" like they do for for Bowl Games more power to em. I wish I could be there, even tho I know it's re-enactors the old infantry feelings come to the fore." Move to the sounds of Musketry "was the war cry long long before "Let's Roll".

[DMZ-LT]

Watched the re-enactment on the news last night. Largest single day loss of American lives ever. Hope that record stands for a long while.

[David]

I am glad to hear they are doing something to raise money for preservation. I just read a story this morning were a guy wants to develop most of the Chancellorsville Battlefield into a small town with 2.4 million square feet of office space and more than 2,300 homes. He said "There were 250 square miles involved in the battle of Chancellorsville. You can't save 250 square miles." So I guess he is saying if you can't save it all destroy it all? It's a bad argument but there are many out there with no regard for history destroying these important links to the past with arguments like this.