Civil War reenactment returns to Lake County History Center

“Cannons of Conflict,” a Civil War Encampment and reenactment started off Memorial Day weekend on May 26 on the grounds of the Lake County History Center in Painesville Township.

The battle was, of course, the big attraction.

Spectators were lining up at the behind the yellow rope half an hour before the scheduled start time. Even with the eager anticipation, the first blast from the Union cannon startled more than a couple, with a few surprised screams mixed in.

Though the battle and infantry reenactors are a big part of the weekend, there is more to the Civil War than just soldiers and battles.

Pat Emig said he’s the last person in the world you would think to do it. He hates going to the doctor, he admits, but it’s important to show the medical side of the Civil War and how horrific it was to be wounded in battle.

Emig — a Saegertown, Pennsylvania native — was an infantry reenactor in his younger days, but said its harder to march as you get older. He found a new niche representing the medical side of the war.

“People need to be educated on it, even if it’s really graphic,” he said.

Reenactments, Emig said, “are like a living history book.”

Madame Lilly — Valerie Francesangeli of Hinckley — is just a civilian this weekend. Normally she runs the Chateau de Repose brothel.

The brothel is something she’s been running at reenactment for about a decade. It started as a way to cool down: it gets hot sitting in those clothes all day she said. Dressed in undergarments, her and the other woman in Chateau de Repose will give men a wet cloth to cool off and give shoulder massages. They serve lemonade and plumb cake using a recipe from the 1860s Francesangeli found in a Civil War cook book.

According to Case Western Reserve University’s Dittrick Medical History Center, the Union army started government sanctioned prostitution after facing an epidemic of venereal disease. These were set up in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee from 1863 to 1865.

“Col. George Spalding, Provost Marshall of Nashville, introduced a system of licensed prostitution, with periodic medical exams and hospital treatment for venereal disease,” according to the center. “The number of licensed prostitutes rose and fell with the transit of troops through the city, but the incidence of disease declined sharply.”

When the Chateau de Repose is running, Francesangeli will have a doctor in the camp sign a medical certificate and she’ll post it on a pole in the tent.

Francesangeli said she has run into some trouble. Some reenactments don’t allow the brothel, other times they’ve been pushed to the edge of the camp. As time goes on, however, she’s found that people are more receptive to women’s issues during that time period. Educating people about the women’s rights movement of the mid-1800s is important, she said.

Francesangeli goes to one reenactment a month during the summer months. She started going to reenactments through a man she used to date, but after that relationship ended, she kept going. She enjoyed the comradery formed with other reenactors.

“It’s like a whole new family,” she said.

The event continues May 27, including another battle reenactment at 2 p.m.

Don’t miss