8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment re-enactor Roland Wood of Wonder Lake and his horse, Champ, left, and Garth Kisel of Yorkville on his horse, Colonel, ride through Langum Park in St. Charles during "Train the Troops" day Saturday.
Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
The Camp Kane Heritage Foundation and the 8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment presented a "Train the Troops" event at Camp Kane in St. Charles' Langum Park Saturday.
Civil War cavalry troops lined up in formation as the American flag was raised begin the event. Throughout the day, recruits demonstrated several actual drills from the era including uniform and weapons inspections, firing and saber drills, marching drills as well as horse-mounted drills.
Bob Johnson of Batavia, president of the 8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, engaged young and old alike at the event, sharing a wealth of historical facts of the regiment and time period to visitors.
"To our guys and organization, this is pretty close to hallowed ground," Johnson said. "More than 1,100 men from all around this area lived and trained on these very grounds for service in the Civil War. It is the last remaining undeveloped Civil War training camp in Illinois."
For information, visit the Camp Kane Heritage Foundation website at www.campkane.org.
8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment re-enactors Barry Burgett of Mundelein, left, and Mike Taylor of Huntley raise the flag in a ceremony at Camp Kane Heritage Foundation and the 8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment's "Train the Troops" day Saturday at Langum Park in St. Charles.
Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment re-enactor Roland Wood of Wonder Lake and his horse, Champ, meet Korean War veteran William Zimmer of Geneva during the "Train the Troops" day Saturday at Langum Park in St. Charles. Wood and Champ have been re-enactors for 16 years and travel the country to different events, including twice to Gettysburg.
Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment re-enactors, from left, Mike Narske of Schaumburg, George Bruckert of Lisle and Tim Keierleber of Star City, Indiana, sit on the stoop of the historic Jones Law Office at Langum Park in St. Charles before the start of "Train the Troops" day.
Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com