Badgers for the Union & Sisters of the WI Homefront: A Civil War Encampment

Join the Badger Light Infantry as they portray a section of the 5th Wisconsin Light Artillery. They will be conducting cannon firing demonstrations and artillery drill demonstrations as well as interpreting daily life as experienced by soldiers from Wisconsin during the American Civil War.

Also onsite will be the Sisters of the Wisconsin Homefront, a group of female reenactors sharing the stories of women during the Civil War period!

At the onset of the American Civil War, opportunities for women to be of service to the war effort were few and far between. But less than two weeks after the firing on Fort Sumter in April of 1861, Governor Randall appealed to the patriotism of Wisconsin women, likening them to the noble women of Sparta, “bitter as the parting may be to many, I am assured that you will bid them go bravely forward for God and Liberty, to ‘return with their shields, or on them.’ I commend the soldiers to your kindness, encouragement and prayers…”

They plied their patriotism to minister to their loved ones by providing support from afar, pooling their resources to give both encouragement and physical items to promote the welfare of their soldiers. Aid societies began to pop up all over the northern states and Wisconsin was no exception. Women began to organize regardless of social class or faith to do what they could to assist with the needs of the men they so recently sent off to war. At first an unorganized system, these women birthed multiple institutions that not only would benefit their loved ones directly but would promote the health and well-being of the Union Army as a whole.

• August 9, 2025 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
• August 10, 2025 @ 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm

General admission applies and may be purchased day-of.

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