The annual Tres Pinos Civil War Event at the San Benito County
Historical Park this weekend will allow visitors to step back in
time to get a realistic glimpse at life and combat, 19th Century
style.
The annual Tres Pinos Civil War Event at the San Benito County Historical Park this weekend will allow visitors to step back in time to get a realistic glimpse at life and combat, 19th Century style.
The park opens at 9 a.m. Saturday and begins with a flag-raising at 10 a.m. and a morning parade at 10:30. Tours of the soldiers’ camps will be offered from 11 to noon, with the first battle reenactment taking place at 1.
Confederate forces will be occupying the historic reproduction of a town, while the federal forces will be camped to the south.
Weapons firing and clothing demonstrations are scheduled in the afternoon, along with a second battle with cannons and real gunpowder, along with an authentic field hospital set up at the park’s boarding house.
General admission is $5, with children under 12 getting in for free. Parking is $3 at the park, which is located at 8300 Airline Highway, south of downtown Tres Pinos and north of Bolado Park.
Sunday’s event features 10 a.m. church services, which are open to the public, a morning parade at 10:30 and camp tours from 11 to noon. A game of rounders between Confederate and Union forces will precede a potluck picnic lunch for participants, with the public invited to watch. A battle will be held at 2 p.m. and the event will end at 3:30 p.m.
Civil War Days is sponsored by the National Civil War Association, a Northern California organization designed to educate the public about a war in which 3 million Americans fought in 10,000 places, with more than 650,000 fatalities over four years.
The nearly 500-member organization puts on reenactments around the state throughout the year. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the conflict between the North and the South.
