Darleen Brosky, of Zionsville, Pa., couldn?t have been happier as rain fell around her Civil War-style tent Sunday morning in Westminster.
“We always have fun, no matter what the weather brings,” said the Civil War re-enactor, who with her husband, Jeff, spent her weekend living a soldier?s life at an encampment on North Center Street. “If the rain keeps people away, we have a good time with the folks that are here.”
Brosky was one of about 100 people who camped out in Westminster to commemorate the 143rd anniversary of Corbit?s Charge, the minor Civil War skirmish that residents say had big implications for the war.
“If it wasn?t for Corbit?s Charge, we?d all be speaking Southern,” said Stan Ruchlewicz, administrator of economic development for the City of Westminster.
Ruchlewicz and local historian Thomas LeGore, the author of “Just South of Gettysburg,” contend the June 29, 1863, battle, which took place on what is now Main Street in Westminster, was a fulcrum moment in America?s bloodiest war.
Without the skirmish, which slowed the Confederate cavalry of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart from reaching the major Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Stuart?s men might have turned the battle in favor of the South, LeGore said.
“It?s an important little battle,” LeGore said. “It?s starting to get the attention it deserves.”
Westminster tourism officials attracted about 400 people to the three-day event, which included re-enactments, Civil War music, a memorial dedication and walking tours among other activities.
“Each year, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger,” Ruchlewicz said.
Among those coming into town was Sean Lamb, 18, of Bethlehem, Pa., who camped out for more than a day in Westminster playing a volunteer soldier, but said he?d never before heard of Corbit?s Charge.
“I?m a history major,” he said. “Anything about history I?m interested in.”
