Historical figures, battle reenactments planned as Huntington Beach Civil War Days turns 30

President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address began, “Four score and seven years ago.”

The Huntington Beach event that portrays that time in American history is now firmly halfway between its first and second score.

Huntington Beach Civil War Days, which will take over Central Park this weekend, turns 30 this year.

The free-to-the-public living history event, put on by the Huntington Beach Historical Society, is the largest Civil War Reenactment in Southern California. Participants are getting their muskets ready for action.

“It’s come a long way,” said Darrell Rivers, Historical Society vice-president. “It began behind the Newland House in Bartlett Park. It had one cannon and maybe 50 guys and a horse. And now, we take over all of Central Park and people come from all over the country. Every year, it evolves.”

The Civil War Days has been a family historical project for Rivers’ family for the last three decades. His late grandmother, Maureen Rivers, founded it with Carl Clink in 1993. Now Rivers and his mother, Kelly, who is the Historical Society president, run the event.

Two Union soldiers battle a rebel fighter at the Civil War Days reenactment in 2019.

(File Photo)

“My grandmother was from Lexington, Mass. and I think she felt surrounded by American history in Massachusetts,” Darrell Rivers said. “When she moved out here, she wanted to kind of continue that tradition. She worked on the bicentennial in Massachusetts in 1976, and I think she was interested in bringing that out here.”

This weekend’s event features a full schedule on both Saturday and Sunday. Battles are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

People portraying historical figures like Lincoln, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will also be present. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is set to close the event at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday.

New this year, Rivers said, is a group portraying the Black soldiers who fought in the Civil War. They will give a talk, as will someone who speaks on the engineers of the war.

“In the last few years we’ve done a lot more educational programs and lectures,” Rivers said. “You have people that are really interested in a particular subject … There’s kind of every level of history there. If you’ve never seen a horse before, a cannon fired, if you want to see what a solider wears or eats, there’s all of that. There’s a lot of kids activities, but then, for the people that are really into it, there are full-on discussions of the logistics of Grant’s Tennessee campaign.”

An actor portraying Abraham Lincoln cheers on the Union army at the Civil War Days in 2019.

(File Photo)

Rivers personally will be portraying Grant’s chief of staff and close friend John Rawlins. He said the amount of time people put into researching their characters is another fascinating part of Civil War Days.

There’s even someone portraying a Harper’s Weekly reporter of the time, who does sketches on the side of the battlefield and interviews people.

“I’ve grown up around this event, and so many people have grown up around this event, actually,” Rivers said. “I really love how I hear people were inspired to work in history or teach history from this event. They went and met Lincoln, and they developed a life-long love of history. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Public parking for Civil War Days is available at the Huntington Beach Central Library, while paid parking is available at the Huntington Beach Sports Center.

For more information, including a full reenactment schedule, visit hbhistory.org/civilwar.