Recently, Christopher Valenza presented a Civil War assembly to the Upper School students. Christopher is a Civil War re-enactor who portrays a child soldier/musician. He has spoken at historic sites such as Governor's Island, Grants Tomb, NY Historical Society Museum, Ft. McHenry, Gettysburg, and Old Bethpage Village Restoration.
Christopher explained how boys, too young to carry weapons, were trained to be fifers, drummers, or buglers and actually led the troops into battle, signaled for help by music, and carried the wounded off the battlefield. Through his uniform parts, he explained how the boys made it through the war. For example, the hats they wore are called Forage caps because they carried berries to eat; the bags they carried were waxed to hold water, and their shoes had horseshoes on the bottom for wear. Christopher showed an authentic re-creation of 119th NY company H uniform, which was the Long Island infantry from Hempstead during the Civil War. He also played the bugle and fifer for the students.
East Woods would like to thank Christopher for the wonderful presentation, and Mrs. Valenza, the school nurse and Christopher's mom, for arranging the assembly. |