Scouts re-enact the Battle of Walnut Mountain

By Frances Ruth Harris
LIBERTY, N.Y. — Scouts from Goshen, Dingmans Ferry, and Milford on Sept. 23 converged on Walnut Mountain State Park in Liberty, N.Y., for a Civil War Camporee.
They joined 200-plus area scouts from the Hudson Valley to demonstrate scout spirit and skills. The scouts started arriving at 7:30 a.m., setting up tents, camp kitchens, and supplies.
Troop leader Gary Albaugh from Dingmans Ferry was the event coordinator. Scouts and their leaders spent the day going through six stations featured resources and materials from the Civil War era. They were timed and scored on everything from artillery skills to first aid.
Scouts simulated an amputation by sawing through a log. They treated a soldier for shock and applied first aid. They evacuated soldiers from the battlefield.
Scouts used a wig-wag flag for signaling. They constructed a wooden cheval-de-frise defensive line using their knowledge of knots and lashings. They got a cooking fire going to fry johnny cakes, a cornmeal flatbread and 19th-century American staple food.
History repeatsScouts and leaders witnessed a live skirmish between Union and Confederate troops led by the re-enactors of the 143rd New York Volunteers. The program included a lesson in American history with a fictional reenactment of the Battle of Walnut Mountain.
History repeated itself: the Union unit from Dingmans Ferry, Pa., Troop 1174, was the Best Overall Unit for the camporee. Troop 1273 of Scotchtown, N.Y., won the best Confederate Unit award, and Troop 1174 of Dingmans Ferry also won the best Union Unit.
The Delaware River District, Hudson Valley Council, of the Boy Scouts of America serves 1,520 youth through 45 units in the counties of Orange and Sullivan and Pike counties. The district is one of the four districts that are part of the Hudson Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America.