Calm Photos

Summer in Ohio is chock-full of opportunities for colorful event photography, from county fairs to small town festivals to art shows to music performances.

This past Saturday was the reenactment of Morgan’s Raid at the Gorman Heritage Farm in Evendale, near Cincinnati. For those who may not know their American Civil War history too well, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan was the cavalry raider who personally brought the Civil War into Ohio through a daring incursion that involved nearly 2,000 rebel troopers, skirting the northern neighborhoods of Cincinnati on July 14, 1863. The raiders traveled light and fast, taking what they needed in the way of food and fresh horses as they went. Unlike Lee’s much larger and more spectacular invasion of Pennsylvania just a few days prior, Morgan’s objective was not to actively engage in a fight but rather to divert Union forces away from their campaigns in central Tennessee. Morgan and his men were eventually caught. To this day his famous raid is still marked with several reenactment events in towns along his route.

Although I’m not quite yet to the point of dressing in a wool uniform, eating hard tack topped with weevils and collapsing from heat stroke under a July sun, I do enjoy attending Civil War reenactments. Not only are there some wonderful opportunities for candid and event photography, but these events are also a great way to learn about history and get a glimpse of just how difficult life was in mid-19th century America and the physical, mental and emotional price paid by those who served in what I consider the one conflict that truly defined the United States of America.

At the event at Gorman Farm I had also had the opportunity to meet Civil War author and researcher Richard Baumgartner who recently wrote a fascinating book titled “Buckeye Blood,” published by Blue Acorn Press. Richard did the research for this book, which is a complete account of all the Ohio regiments that served at Gettysburg, over a period of seven years. I literally devoured my copy when I got back home that afternoon. The first-hand accounts of the battle, as well as the profiles of individual soldiers and officers serving in these units, were fascinating to read, especially from the viewpoint of the citizen-soldiers who came from my home state.

The Gorman Heritage Farm was the perfect setting - restored barns, rolling fields and gardens full of summer flowers. Most of all I was impressed with the friendliness of the staff and volunteers - quite welcoming, cheerful and helpful. Perhaps because they knew I wasn’t there to steal their horses and raid their crops, unlike a previous visitor who came through during another July morning back in 1863.

The gardens and grounds of the Gorman Heritage Farm -