By Raquel DeSouza
Fairfax resident and retired attorney Bill Scott has been in the Confederate Black Horse Cavalry re-enactment group since 1999. Scott was riding his horse in Bull Run when another re-enactor asked if he was interested in representing the cavalry that was founded in 1859 in Fauquier County. He said yes because he has been riding since his childhood and currently owns eight horses.
Scott shares what it is like to portray a military unit that was on Northern Virginia’s grounds over 150 years ago. He will perform along with the Black Horse Cavalry at the Civil War encampment weekend in Chantilly.
What is the Black Horse Cavalry performance like?
We attempt to portray Civil War period cavalry soldiers, and we attempt to have camps that are relatively period-correct, except for some of the modern conveniences required at some events and a few that we do for our own comfort. Obviously real soldiers didn’t have the comfortable chairs that we sit in sometimes at events or coolers with ice in them.
What are you re-enacting at Sully Historic Site?
There wasn’t any Civil War action at Sully, although some troops may have camped there, so we’re just doing a scrimmage. There will be Federal [or Union] versus Confederate troops, and we’ll do demos, artillery will do demos, and the infantry will do things with the kids. We’ll have a mock battle—it won’t be a re-enactment of any specific battle. That’s why they call it a Civil War encampment.
What draws people in to watch the encampment at Sully Historic Site?
I like Sully plantation because it’s a smaller event, and it’s a good place for some of our newer men to get started and to start new horses because it isn’t quite as much noise, but at the same time there’s more noise than you can train with on your own.
Who do you perform with for the re-enactments?
Normally for a re-enactment we have both sides [Confederate and Federal]. Sometimes when the sides are uneven or there isn’t anybody there on the other side, we’ll do what we call a hobby galvanize, and most of us have both a blue uniform for Federal and a gray uniform for Confederate. Last year at Sully, we used both for the battle. We started as Federals, captured a couple of cannons and then changed our jackets to the Confederate jackets and recaptured those same cannons.
What’s the most challenging thing in these performances?
Making it look as realistic as possible and at the same time being as safe as possible. And sometimes the most challenging is riding a new horse. Last [year at] Sully, I only had a horse for about a week that I was riding and trying to get trained. Our vice commander was next to me, and he had a new horse too, and we were very close to the Federal cannon that was going to start the action. The vice commander [Lee Towne] actually said to the troops “eyes right” because we suggested there might be a rodeo about to start. The cannon went off, and fortunately both of our horses were very calm and did a good job … We like to say we’re not so sure that our horses are bomb-proof, but they sure are cannon-proof.
What’s your favorite part about participating in these events?
Probably the comradeship with members of the cavalry and with other units. We know a lot of the Federal troops and the units that portray Federals, and we get along with them well. It’s much better on the field when you know other people—sometimes we do a charge, and we’re asking “How’s your wife?” and other things because we haven’t seen them for a long time.
Civil War Encampment Weekend
Sully Historic Site
Aug. 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Aug. 16, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.