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JOY DAVIS-PLATTThe skies cleared in time for the annual depiction of the 1864 Brooksville Raid, to the delight of those in attendance.
WEEKI WACHEE - Despite a Sunday morning that dawned wet and cold, organizers of the Brooksville Raid Festival say this year's event drew record crowds.
"We decided early in the day that the show must go on," said Jan Knowles, president of the Hernando Historical Museum Association, the main sponsor of the 24th annual Civil War re-enactment. "And we were very glad that we did."
The sky was clear by Sunday afternoon, when re-enactors took to the soggy field portraying cavalry, artillery, infantry and medical units in what organizers call a "typical" Civil War battle. The actual Brooksville Raid was a small skirmish in 1864 that began at Bayport along the Hernando coast and ended in Brooksville with a Union victory.
Knowles said this year's event drew a record 3,200 re-enactors. On Saturday, Hernando County sheriff's deputies had to be posted at the intersection of State Road 50 and Mariner, where crowds were backed up from the Sand Hill Scout Reservation where the Raid is held.
"We just couldn't be happier with the way the public responds to this event," said Knowles. "It's better every year."
As a concession to the standing water in the spot where the battle is normally held, organizers moved to an area just south of the original site for this year's Raid. But Knowles said she plans to move everything back next year, once waters recede.
"If everything is clear, the battlefield will be back to the normal location," she said. "If people didn't like it because they couldn't see as well, that should make them happy."
- Joy Davis-Platt can be reached at 352 848-1435. Send e-mail to joy@sptimes.com