Alex Opryszko

Describe an important event or factor in your life.

The Seventh

They bust into the camp in the early evening, six cavalrymen, their butternut coats

flapping in the wind, yelling, and brandishing revolvers. From behind us in the woods,

gunfire erupted, the smoke from their blanks lingering among the trees. I buttoned up my

blue wool coat, fastening my belt around my waist. The Seventh Maryland Volunteer

Infantry marched toward the trees, stepping to the time of the drums. There were eighteen

of us that night, eighteen men fighting a battle that had happened one hundred and forty-

five years ago. The evening tactical of the Battle of Chancellorsville had begun.

Looking back, it shouldn’t have been a big surprise that I would become a Civil

War reenactor. I have always had a fascination with history, and in particular with the

war that tore this nation in half. I have been with the Seventh Maryland for three years

now, and it has had a huge impact on me through discipline, leadership, and research.

Though we are a club, we use a period-correct chain of command, allowing us to remain

disciplined on the field, while teaching us discipline in the other aspects of our lives.

This chain of command also teaches leadership, with the officers commanding the entire

company while in the field, and the NCOs (non-commissioned officers) keep the privates

in line and run our camp. In order to correctly portray the soldiers we honor, each one of

us does a large amount of research into the Civil War as a whole, and into the lives of
 Alex Opryszko

soldiers, recreating how they lived and acted. I have found that, as I delve deeper into

researching this time period, my researching techniques for school and other areas has

also improved.

The sound of the receding battle faded into the distance. Our squad of five men

trapped back to camp, muskets trailing, or swinging from our backs. After an hour and a

half of fighting through thick underbrush we emerged from the woods, weary yet

unbroken. As night fell, the camp became lively again, soldiers laughing and sharing

stories of the recent battle. Gradually the camp quieted, the silence broken by a distant

harmonica. For this weekend, I am Private Alexander Opryszko, of the Seventh

Maryland, Company A, of the National Volunteer Brigade, and I never wanted to be

anything else.