153 years ago, the Civil War started when the Union and the Confederacy fought over Fort Sumter and the South seceded from the North, creating two unique countries. On October 25 and 26, people had a chance to revisit that time and experience the life of a soldier in a camp.

“The Allen Heritage Guild– along with the Collin County Living Historians- have been holding an encampment for about seven to eight years. People come out to learn a little history and have good time,” Allen Heritage Guild member Paula Ross said. “Most people enjoy the skirmishes and medical tent.”

Tents were set up with many different activities for both adults and kids to enjoy, such as musket firing and watching the medical surgeon operate on a soldier.

“The main purpose of doing [the encampment] every year is so that people can learn about the past, and hopefully help the future so this kind of war and devastation doesn’t occur again,” Ross said. “Many Guild members have ancestors who fought in the Civil War and had ranks as soldiers, and everyone who is participating is a volunteer.”

At one booth, several older men sat in full uniform, holding replica muskets and explaining the daily life of a soldier. They talked about the weapons both sides used and the type of equipment soldiers took with them.

“During the war, there were about 625,000 deaths, and about half of those were from disease,” the weapons speaker said. “But another reason for that was because of weaponry.”

In another tent, a senior surgeon was performing an amputation on a dummy. He explained the medicine development during the Civil War, and how medicine progressed afterward.

“There were two senior surgeons and eight junior surgeons. Only the senior surgeons could operate and the junior surgeons went to the battlefield to get the wounded,” the medical speaker said. “The main problem was that people didn’t understand the germs and the diseases. Diarrhea killed many soldiers because it was unsanitary.”

Skirmishes between the North and South were held by the Allen Library.

“Every soldier is a volunteer, so we get different numbers every year,” Ross said. “This year we had around 56 people participate, but we have had up to 1,000 people before.”