Cannon fire and Confederate spy

You may have seen that several children were injured in Utah over the weekend when a cannon used by a Civil War re-enactment group accidentally set off an explosion during a parade. When the cannon was set off, sparks landed on a pouch holding extra charges. The pouch blew up, burning three kids on the arms and waists. Last I heard, they were in stable condition, being treated for first- and second-degree burns.

The story caught my eye because Tom and I had gone to the Civil War re-enactors encampment in Sauk City on Saturday. I am happy to report that there were no such problems there. Tom had a long conversation with one of the men in charge of the cannons. We have been to the re-enactment two or three times before, and this was my favorite one. I learned way more about things as varied as how to spin thread from wool to how soldiers were recruited, how they were armed and why the bayonet was the Swiss army knife of the Civil War. I also learned more than I probably needed to know about women's fashions from that era.

The main reason we had gone was to see the presentation on Belle Boyd, the Confederate spy. I had thought that someone would be acting as Belle, but instead one of the women gave a very interesting and entertaining presentation about her. I don't think I learned anything new, but I did enjoy it.

I have written about Belle Boyd here before. You can follow these links if you are interested in what I had to say:
Another tenuous Texas connection
Belle Boyd again
Belle Boyd continues