Civil War Delayed Due to Excessive Heat

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

A few days ago was the 149th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The reenactment commemorating said event took place yesterday - in the sweltering July heat. It was so hot in fact, that the scheduled battle events had to be delayed until late in the afternoon...when the temperature dropped from around 100 degrees to a less shish-kabobing mid 80s-ish.

And it was a good thing they did too. With thousands of soldiers converging on the region, someone was bound to get hurt...or at least dehydrated. Maybe they were just trying to keep with historical accuracy. Between July 1-3, 1863 the skies over Gettysburg were cloudy and the temperature closer to the high 70s - much more comfortable conditions for killing people. Or maybe this is the greatest expression of farbism ever witnessed. Ice cubes, absent during the town's battle 149 years ago, were dropped down shirt fronts and piled in kepis. Cooling stations drenched wool uniforms. Horses were hosed down and teams of emergency-medical responders monitored weary re-enactors for signs of heat exhaustion.

Fight? Oh heavens no! Not in these conditions. It is far too hot for such nonsense.

All ribbing aside (and it is good-natured....I am cool with reenactors, so relax) delaying the reenactment was probably a good idea. Wearing a wool uniform and marching about in the 100+ degree weather with limited shade is a really bad idea. So I am going to give the thousands of Gettysburg reenactors a pass on this one. But the next time I go to an encampment and see "authentic" recreations of Civil War soldiering replete with fast food, laptops, and cell phones the gloves are coming off.

Peace,

Keith