It was with great anticipation that the 5th grade set off for George Ranch on Thursday, November 7 for their Fall Field Trip, accompanied by Mr. Mac, Ms. Messner and Mr. Swope. 

The boys were treated to a learning experience about the Civil War Battle of Antietam under the guidance of Ms. Polly and Mr. Daniel, two docents from George Ranch. Even before the lesson began—and after a warning from Ms. Polly to avoid ants, snakes and alligators—the boys encountered a dead snake on the path to the battle site. Some thought this might be the highlight of the whole trip…until they arrived at the 1860 Ryon House! Here, the boys each received a satchel containing a card with their new identity: a soldier from either the Confederacy or the Union army! Two boys were even brothers who were fighting on opposite sides. Ruslan B. ended up being the leader of the Confederacy, and Liam C. was the leader of the Union, and both took it seriously to get their troops lined up for further instruction. 

At this point, Mr. Daniel furnished each boy with a rifle. The boys soon noticed that there were fewer troops for the Confederacy and their rifles were not as good. This was an excellent point of departure for discussing the different resources of the two sides. Then it was time to learn how to march! After a few hitches, the boys figured out how to “right face” and “left face” in the correct direction and then they were able to march straight ahead to the strains of “left; left; left right left!” 

Once they knew how to march, Mr. Daniel taught the boys the 9 steps to load a Civil War rifle…not so easy! The boys then reenacted a battle to protect a certain stretch of territory. Unfortunately, the Confederate army lost sight of their objective in the excitement of battle and abandoned their territory such that the Union army was able to simply walk into the territory unopposed for the battle victory. Lesson learned!

After the battle, Ms. Polly brought the boys together again and shared with them the actual fate of the person whose identity they had assumed: some had died in battle, some had died from disease and some had survived. It was a fitting end to our lesson on the Civil War. Julian L. even remarked, “this is the best field trip I’ve ever been on!”

Under ever darkening and rainy skies, we then departed for the Rosenberg Railroad Museum. In the pouring rain, we took cover under the protective awning and had our lunch. The boys also enjoyed playing with the many train model toys and playing on the life-size train. The local guides were very knowledgeable and shared a large outdoor model of 1800’s Rosenberg complete with buildings that were actually still standing today! The boys also enjoyed visiting the luxury train car named “Quebec” replete with wood paneling, restrooms and comfortable beds.

Tired, soaked from the rain, and in possession of our train souvenirs, we all felt that our excursion had been a success, and we look forward to another learning trip next year!