CAMDEN — This weekend‘s scattered rainstorms weren't enough to drive the Civil War reenactors away from Harbor Park any earlier than planned. This was due partly to the organization’s commitment to schedules — “When we say we’re going to be here this weekend, then we’re here this weekend,” as Reenactor Private Art Custer said — and partly because those white Civil War tents really do keep the rain out, as long as moisture isn’t drawn through the fabric by the touch of a hand. 

“Friday night, my son and I were in the cots, and it was pouring, but we didn’t get wet,” Custer said as the sun started to peep through the clouds Sunday, an hour before the scheduled 12 p.m. decampment.

Custer, a Private of the 20th Maine Regiment, which is the lowest ranking of an enlisted soldier, would not have had the luxury of sleeping on a cot during the war. He would have been sleeping on the ground inside the tent along with six or seven others.

He also wouldn’t have had a street light overhead, doubly amplified by the white fabric of the tent walls.

Saturday night: “I was sitting here by the campfire, basically asleep in my chair, so I went into my tent where it was lighter than it was outside. I went to bed at 9:30 p.m., and I heard the chime for 10, and the chime for 11.” After that, Custer missed the chimes for awhile.

Then: “Because it was so light, I woke up, and thought ‘Gee, I wonder if it’s time to get up?’ and just then it chimed two times.”

Custer was one of seven people to ‘sleep’ on the grounds Saturday night. An additional person camped during the thunder storm the night before, and a few more camped during the day.

“It was tough to get a fire started the first day, not so much yesterday or today,” Custer said.

Not to worry. As much as the 20th Maine regiment reenactors honor the details of the Civil War era, the encampments are meant to educate the public, not for these reenactors to relive it themselves. So when the campfires couldn’t be produced, the reenactors enjoyed foods from the Camden Deli, courtesy of their sponsor, Camden Public Library.

The weekend at the library included a program of mini-lectures, displays, military drill and firing drill Saturday, Aug. 22.

Actor Stephen Collins will also contribute his talents to the Civil War commemoration with his one-man show, “A Search for Justice,” a performance that examines issues of social, political and religious justice, how it relates to Civil War themes, and how it resonates in terms of modern civil rights. The free performance will be Tuesday evening, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m.

Art Custer will return to Connecticut after his final gig of the summer, which is next weekend. Most likely, he will not change his clothes before the long drive. If this is so, he will generate many double-takes along the way. If he keeps his war hat on, he will look like a Civil War soldier. 

“I have been tempted to say, ‘What’s the matter? You’ve never seen a Civil War soldier gassing up his truck before?’” Custer said.

Custer and his son attended the 145th Gettysburg ceremony. After the event, they drove for an hour, still in uniform, before stopping at McDonalds. They entered the restaurant, expecting eyes on their stinking, wet uniforms. Instead, it was Custer who was surprised.

Everyone in the restaurant was in uniform. Though an hour away, the Custers were still on the major road toward Harrisburg.

“Instead of getting ‘Who the heck are you?’ it was ‘what unit are you?’”

Custer’s father used to say that General Custer’s family came over with the Hessians who fought in the Revolutionary War, and that Art’s family came over with William Penn. But then genealogical records evolved to show that General Custer’s family came over with William Penn.

Art Custer is a history teacher in Connecticut and a summer resident of Palermo. General Custer and his wife were childless; still, Art and the General are related from somewhere along the line.

Custer and other members of the 20th Maine regiment participated in this summer’s Thomaston parade, the annual Bucksport Fourth of July festivities, and camped in Rockland during the weekend of the Friendship Sloop anniversary. Look for them in Camden’s Harbor Park again next year, perhaps fighting a few rebels. 

Confederate soldiers supplanted their fare by eating lots of Goober Peas. So much so, that they made a song about it. Here is one verse: 

“Just before the battle, a general hears a row. He says the Yanks are coming. I hear their muskets now. He turns around in wonder, and what do you think he sees?

“The Georgia militia, eating Goober peas.

“Peas, peas, peas, peas, eating Goober peas.

“Goodness how delicious, eating Goober peas.”

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com.