The Sword! The Sword!

There is a ritual performed annually just before the afternoon battle each year at Olustee. It is the part of the entire re-enactment I look forward to each year. I make sure each year that I am in attendance, that I stake myself out by the familiar pine and wait for Major General Todd Jesse. This tradition had it origins, according to Major Mark Rominger of the Florida Battalion Infantry at the 125th Battle of Gettysburg re-enactment. Some Union soldiers at the time attempted to steal the Confederate colors and Jesse came to the rescue, taking out his sword and hitting the thieves on the blunt hilt of the sword, keeping this abomination from seeing fruition.
Thus, each year, as Major General Jesse comes to inspect the ranks, a whispered chant begins, the sword! and grows into a rousing roar, THE SWORD! THE SWORD! Gen. Jesse goes to his horse, pulls the sword from the scabbard and walks down the line, holding the sword in the manner he did when thwarting the Union despots. Many of the soldiers kneel, others bow, most wave and cheer with a rebel yell.
If I see no other part of the battle, seeing this gives me satisfaction.