Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, a Union soldier, a housewife, a social director and field doctor Mary Edward Walker — the only woman ever to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor — were also out on the field.
For any given character, students were always within minutes of a surprise, from line dancing to a blank gunshot from a Civil War-era musket.
And then there was the underwear.
Playing the part of a wife left behind by a husband at war, history teacher Chris Collins-Cross paced around a group of 50 students in her frilly, bluebell dress as she listed off what women wore and how they acted.
"What did women in 17th century America wear? Well, here you go!" she announced as she lifted her dress up to her chin, exposing students to multiple layers of white, full-coverage undergarments.
Jaws dropped, mouths gasped and Collins-Cross carried on as if nothing had happened.
Demonstrations like hers helped provide an insight that might otherwise be impossible to glean from pages in a history book, students said.
"You actually get to see what they looked like and stuff," 14-year-old Sophia Vines said. "It's a lot of fun."
It's also a lot of work, Principal Sally Buckley said.
The school's history teachers decided on the concept as way to bring the Civil War to life after field trips to local museums left them wanting more, she said.
"We couldn't find anything that could give students the depth of U.S. history," she said.
For history teacher Glynn McGinnis, who has overseen the event for the past five years, it also brings a personal, human element to a war that, due to the passage of time and sheer magnitude, might be hard for some students to wrap their minds around.
"Most of the kids don't look at this as sitting in the classroom, but as a teacher, I do," he said.
Although the event has cost thousands of dollars to produce over time as the school acquires more costumes and props, the benefit to the students and their teachers has been undeniable, Buckley said.
In this setting, all students hear and experience the same thing, which allows history teachers to know exactly what to reinforce back in the classroom, Buckley said.
As she stood on the grass field with her back to a group of 30 students listening to the Union soldier, Buckley jumped as the soldier shot off a blank black-powder shot from his musket, which sent several students falling back in their chairs in exaggerated surprise.
She turned to scold the students, but could hardly wipe the smile off her face.
"Obviously, the students get really into it, too," she said.
