Orphans and Dulcimers

       Each March there is a reenactment at a Civil War battlefield site near my home. During this year's visit  I  came upon a reenactor as he listened to a young girl playing a haunting tune on her dulcimer. He seemed familiar with the music and had a faraway look in his eyes as he softly sang the words.
     I felt as if I had been transported back in time. Here was a Confederate soldier longing for home while remembering a more carefree time.
    Perhaps this soldier is a member of the 4th Kentucky Infantry. They were called the "Orphan Brigade" because once they left Kentucky they did not see their homes again until the war ended. Members of this reenactment unit  portray original members of Company "F", 4th Kentucky Infantry and assume the identity (alter ego) of those original soldiers during events. The 4th began the war with 5,000 men. At the end of the war they numbered 500.

Information for this post comes from the book "Uniform, Weapons, and Equipment of the Civil War" by Miller, and the web site for the 4th Kentucky Infantry reenactors, http://www.4thkycs.com/