On Saturday, a few dozen Philadelphia and South Jersey reenactors who portray the 69th in full uniform will march the route of the charge and dedicate the marker they paid for.
"Saving the land [from development] is not enough," said Don Ernsberger, 62, a Lansdale reenactor who helped coordinate the Virginia event. "You have to take the additional step of educating people about what happened there."
The reenactors packed their muskets and wool Union uniforms into a rented van and personal cars for the long trip Friday to Glendale.
"We come from many different backgrounds," Ernsberger said. "I was an educator and a deputy chief of staff for a California congressman on Capitol Hill.
"We have three lawyers, forklift operators, people from many other occupations. All are connected by their interest in the Civil War."
And more than half of them have Irish ancestors.
The members of the original Pennsylvania unit "were all volunteers," said Bob Clements, 59, a Haddon Heights resident and technical editor and writer at Lockheed Martin. "They came from Ireland, got off the boat, and within days, weeks, or months were fighting for their new country.
"That's something people should remember and respect," he said. "It's the right thing to do - to preserve their memory so it does not fade from history."
As dawn broke on June 30, 1862, the 69th had been marching and fighting for four days and had not slept the night before. The soldiers were taking a break after arriving at Glendale when the Confederates punched through the Union line about 2:30 p.m.
