Wheeler Living History Draws Another Crowd!

    Presented by members of the 45th Alabama Infantry Regiment, the event transported visitors back to a time when the South was in the throes of the Civil War, battling against Northern aggression in Alabama. Re-enactors, dressed in period clothing, based the event on Confederate General John Bell Hood’s thwarted attempt to drive Northern forces out of Decatur.

    Picture if you will the following scenario: the Confederate Army of Tennessee had just finished several months of battle, from May to September, 1864, during which time they were trying to defend Atlanta from Union forces.

    While Sherman was about to execute his march through Georgia, Hood planned to launch a strike into Tennessee, hoping to lure Sherman out of Georgia and retake Nashville.

    However, standing in Hood’s way were 5000 Yankee troops occupying Decatur. After a grueling four-day battle at Decatur, Hood reconsidered his plan to cross the Tennessee River there.

    He lost 15,000 men in what was to become known as Hood’s Middle Tennessee Campaign. On October 29, 1864, Hood and his forces retreated toward Tuscumbia, reaching Courtland at the end of the day’s march.

    According to re-enactor David Tilson of Gurley, a member of the 45th, the event held on this Saturday picked up where the scenario left off.

    The troops at the Wheeler Home were part of a picket post at the extreme rear of the Confederate Army, guarding the army’s flanks against Federal troops coming from Decatur.

    "Hood’s army had attacked in Decatur, and they didn’t have a very good day," explained Tilson. "He headed back to Tuscumbia. He had a rear guard that set up a picket camp. Here they rested and got something to eat before they went back into battle."

    Tilson and his fellow re-enactors set up a camp scene and presented rifle demonstrations every hour.

    The re-enactors described for visitors the daily lives of the soldiers, detailing what they wore, ate, and the jobs they performed.

    Other re-enactors with the 45th Alabama Infantry include Capt. Mark Hubbs of Madison; Danny Curtis of Huntsville; David Sanders of Harvest; and David Weiss of Florence.

    There were also women taking part in the living history. Phyllis Hubbs and Bonnie Sanders played the roles of Confederate refugees who set up camp with the men.

    "We came here from Madison Station, which has been occupied by Federal troops since 1862," explained Hubbs, fully immersed in her role. "We heard the Confederate Army was camped here, and we came to see if we could get news of our husbands who we haven’t seen for three years."

    The women also cooked for the soldiers, making do with only the basic cooking tools available to cooks during the 1800’s.

    Curtis said they try to make the events as authentic as possible. He even goes as far as grinding coffee beans with his bayonet, then boiling them until he derives the same type of coffee the soldiers drank back then.

    To make the event even more realistic, the Confederates "captured" a Yankee deserter, played by Laddin Montgomery, President of the organization, Friends of the Wheeler Plantation, and held him prisoner.

    Wheeler site director Melissa Beasley said the event, which also featured tours of the Wheeler Home, attracted a rather large crowd of about 125 people.

    Billy and Millie Blanton, whose father, John Wheeler, was from Lawrence County, came all the way from Nashville for the event.

    According to Mrs. Blanton, her father’s parents died when he was about four years old. Her father then lived with a local (Courtland) doctor until he was a teenager, at which time he left this part of the country and struck out for Texas and Louisiana.

    The Blanton’s grandson, seven-year-old Austin Blanton Pelaze, was enthralled by the soldiers, especially the captive Yankee.