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Now, the �war� really is civil Jim Craven photo Re-enactors go back in time for Lake Creek battle By JOHN DARLING LAKE CREEK � Rebel infantry, backed up by a mounted cavalry soldier, captured a small band of Union soldiers here and are likely to do so again today. And the public is invited to attend. History-loving re-enactors, including members of a budding Rogue Valley company, donned their woolen blues and grays and took up their musket arms this weekend for the second annual Civil War Re-enactment and History Program on the grounds of the Lake Creek Pioneer Hall. The program by idyllic Little Butte Creek repeats today. "It�s not about taking sides or shooting people," rebel Joseph Bloom of Grants Pass said as he loaded black powder into paper cartridges for his $1,000 replica Colt .58 muzzleloader. "It�s the love of history of a momentous time that changed everything � technology, medicine, industry and the balance of world power." Re-enactors load cartridges with Cream of Wheat on top of the black powder to make a bigger noise and smoke, and they always aim well over the heads of the enemy, said Jerry Eckert of Independence, who has researched extensively to re-create his role as a rebel sergeant with the 1st Maryland Cavalry, Company B. "Today I was a scout," he said, recalling the Saturday morning skirmish. "I saw Union troops and I rode back to the captain and told him there were infantry in a field. He told me to advance on them, so I did a hit-and-run attack. But they saw me coming, so I didn�t fool anyone. Then I ran out of ammo. I saw the Union troops attack my corporal, so I charged in there and we captured a lieutenant and two privates and that was the end of the battle." Jack Bentley, a Union artillery re-enactor from Oregon City, got hooked on living history � not to publicize past wars, he said, but to lift history out of its classroom setting of dates and names and bring it alive to the public. Re-enacting is a "family thing" to Jedidiah Warrick, a student from Molalla who plays a rebel corporal from Maryland. "My dad loves it. We�ve been doing it nine years. It�s taught me to be able to argue really well with my history professors. Sometimes it seems like I�m in the 19th century doing this, but I really like the 20th better." His father, Tom Warrick, plays a captain in the same outfit and, with the help of fellow re-enactors, does historic presentations at high schools. "It�s a great hobby and a historic education," he said. "You really get to know people. It�s like an extended family." To a background of old-time fiddling and the bucolic gurgling of Little Butte Creek, Southern belles strolled about the wartime encampment in crinoline skirts while a blacksmith pounded on glowing horseshoes. If you squinted just right, the 20th century just faded away. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA