Civil War Re-enactors Visit Carver Middle School

Chris Howell, NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK --  The Civil War came back to life for students at Carver Middle School in Tulsa on Tuesday.

The students had been studying the Civil War, and re-enactors from the First Arkansas Light Artillery helped bring their lessons to life.

"We like to teach it to kids because there was so much death and devastation," said James Collins, who has been a Civil War re-enactor for 32 years.  "We want to try and stay away from that, we want to try and be more peaceful.  It kind of gives them an idea of how devastating a war can really be."

Students were shown military clothing and firearms, swords and flags, and heard stories of life on the battlefield.  A reproduction Blakely cannon was fired on the field, demonstrating to the students how the beginning of the Civil War may have sounded.

"When you study the Civil War, the first major battle was Ft. Sumter, the first gun to fire on Ft. Sumter was a Blakely," Collins said.

The battery is based in Ft. Smith and makes a trip to Carver to visit the students every year.