FARMINGTON — A Civil War reenactment group will camp at Abbott Park this weekend to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the University of Maine at Farmington and the Battle of Gettysburg.

The approximately 20 men and women of the local 15th Alabama Company G wanted to tie in their interest with the celebration at UMF, Nicholas Bucci, a private in Company G and a UMF sophomore, said.

The 15th Alabama Company G will be at the park from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26. People will have an opportunity to learn about Civil War soldiers and their life, he said.

Some members of Company G will camp at the park Friday night. On Saturday, they’ll provide musket/rifle firing demonstrations every two hours starting at 9 a.m.

The public is welcome to attend and ask questions. There will also be a tent with military outfits and period dresses.

A surgical tent will display instruments used during the war, Bucci said. Assistant surgeon Michael Pratt will answer questions.

Bucci said he expects they’ll march to the Civil War Memorial in Meetinghouse Park.

Bucci, of Gardiner, first became interested in being a Civil War reenactor after reading a book about it in fourth grade and having a reenactor come to the school, he said.

He was a freshman at UMF when he participated in his first reenactment with the unit, a train robbery at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. in Portland, he said.

He takes part in in drills for rifle positions and marching.

“It’s a group of awesome people with a common interest,” he said. “It’s like a family.”

His hobby is also an opportunity to learn Civil War history, he said. The unit charged Union Col. Joshua Chamberlain’s 20th Maine Regiment at Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg, he said. There were 13 Mainers who became Confederate generals, he said.

The local 15th Alabama Company G participates in a Civil War reenactment every other year at Norlands Living History Center in Livermore, Bucci said. As a new recruit, his first battle there meant he was one of the first to take a hit and land in the surgical tent, he said.

Bucci said re-enacting a Confederate unit isn’t difficult.

“We respect the other side,” he said.

Along with his studies in creative writing and political science, Bucci started a Civil War Club at UMF.

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