The Conclusion of the Battle of Tunnel Hill

Look!  I really did follow through!  I'm giving myself 12.5 gold stars.  So, when we last left our heroine she and her husband were on the battle field.  One thing I haven't yet told you about the battle was that it was the most humid and hot time I have ever spent in Georgia.  Sam and I were trying to stay cool under an umbrella, but our courage waned as the heat and the battle wore on and our confusion mounted.

I knew when I began covering this war that though the battle itself was important, I wanted to capture the gritty truth of the human drama of what was unfolding before us.  The face of an old man watching his son go off to a reenactment,

the worried wife who wonders if her husband will be one of the first to go,

and most importantly the nurses who get out on the battle field in HOOP SKIRTS to tend to the wounded in 90 degree weather!

There is no way I am woman enough for that job.  In fact, perhaps one of the most shocking things about my coverage of this battle is that Sam and I

were so overheated and parched that we went to get lemonade and missed the end of the battle!  Christiane Amanpour never does anything like that.  Oh, the shame!  However, can I just say in my defense that this was the best lemonade of my life and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I really like how they made such an effort to have their products take you back in time.  One of my favorite parts of this event was wandering through the camps (both teams camp out the night before the battle with gear from the time period) and seeing all the fun people were having with historical accuracy.

By the time Sam and I got back to the front, we learned that despite heavy casualties early on the South had won the battle (which means that the North gets to win the next day because in reenactment land you very sensibly take turns).  The conquered blue team lined up to shoot their guns at the end of the battle.

I thought to myself, "Oh good, a chance to redeem my lack of footage of the end of the battle."  I would get a picture of all the guns firing at once.  Instead, I caught this,

which I think powerfully captures how scary and loud it is when a lot of guns are fired at once.

The Battle of Tunnel Hill

Little did I expect when I moved to the south that I would become a war correspondent.  But when I heard that Sam's home town of Tunnel Hill, GA had a Civil War Reenactment coming up, I knew that you would need up to the minute (or at least within the week) coverage.  I woke up so excited--this was my first war!  Taking pictures in the car, I you can see I had all the intensity of Liza Minnelli gearing up for a show:

My sweet Sam was also looking forward to our adventures, but he to had make a stop on the way.  As sometimes happens in married life, one person is really excited and chomping at the bit to get to the scene of battle, and the other person has to go to the bank and do important business and leaves the war correspondent in the car for 45 minutes.  I had to ask myself, what would Christiane Amanpour do in a situation like this?

Perhaps just cover the story that was unfolding before her...

I think the bun is the most compelling aspect of this photo narrative

At last, important business done, we were able to go off to war.  The first thing to note is that the Battle of Tunnel Hill, historically speaking, is just the tiniest bit imaginary.  There were a few skirmishes in the area, but according to Sam no one died and there was never a real battle.  That being said, the fighting was still intense.

What you will notice is that throughout most of this coverage, I have pretty much no idea what is going on.  The blue and grey teams started out shooting at each other from a distance of about 50 ft for the first part of the battle, but no one died.  Sam and I theorized that this could be because none of the soldiers wanted to be taken out that soon.

After awhile people started riding around on horses, and the cannon fire began.

Unfortunately, that's when we started getting some wounded and dead people.  This poor (and ambitious!) guy was blown right off his horse.

The grey team seemed to be losing more people and soon the dead were scattered everywhere.

The great part about being a reenactment correspondent is that there is hope even for the dead, who sometimes miraculously are able to sit up and keep an eye on the battle even in their state of demise.

Still confusion reigned.  Who was winning?  What was happening?  I expressed this to my Sam.

While that may be true, I bet all of you want to know who actually won.  Well, stay tuned because tomorrow I really will tell you.  Now, I recognize that I'm kind of a false promiser.  More than once I've told you I would finish something and (fickle woman!) didn't do it.  Just try to have faith in me.