SACRAMENTO, Ky. (WEHT) – Some major Tri-State events that were postponed last year because of the pandemic will be back this year. But an event in McLean County that’s become a tradition won’t be taking place.
The reenactment of the Battle of Sacramento won’t happen this year, or in the near future.
It brought thousands to this McLean County town every year since the mid-1990s
“Years ago, we had as many as 3,000 come to it. The reenactors, we’ve had as many as 1,600-1,700 reenactors,” recalled Wendell Miller, chairman of the Battle of Sacramento committee.
“It seems like thousands of people show up,” recalled Odie St. Clair of Sacramento.
But the site of a Civil War battle that happened in that area will stay silent for now.
“All of us knew this was coming. Maybe go a different direction now,” Miller said.
Event organizers called off this year’s edition, which was scheduled for next month. The pandemic lead to the cancellation of last year’s event. Miller says not as many reenactors are participating as they did in the past.
“The last one that we had, it was less than 300,” he said, when asked how many reenactors attended the last one in 2019.
Younger people aren’t replacing older re-enactors who choose to retire from the annual event.
“All the reenactors are my age or older. I’m 68 and a lot of them are older than that. Getting fewer and fewer every year, doing that nationwide,” says Miller.
The reenactment commemorates the battle that happened in this area in December of 1861 between Union and Confederate soldiers during the war’s first year. Miller says the reenactment could return, but if it does it will likely be under new leadership.
“We’re going to miss it and the town’s probably going to miss the financial income from it,” says St. Clair.
While the battle reenactment itself won’t be held for the foreseeable future, Miller says they still want to hold some festivals and fairs around town in the near future.
(This story was originally published on April 23, 2021)
