Some of what visitors to Meadowbrook Farm this weekend will see isn’t going to be real. The guns and cannons won’t be loaded with anything more than black powder. The red-splotched bandages on soldiers will be red only from paint. Men who fall in battle will, at the cessation of hostilities, stand up, dust themselves off, and head back to camp for a meal and to continue their re-enactment of life during the Civil War. Even the name of the event, the Battle of Snoqualmie, isn’t quite true, since neither Snoqualmie nor the state of Washington belonged to the Union during the war.

It’s real enough, for the purposes of the Washington Civil War Association volunteers who will act out scenes from life in this country 150 years ago.

“We try to do everything the right way,” said Paul Timmerman of Snoqualmie, who is coordinating the Battle of Snoqualmie. “We’re not obsessive about it, but we do expect people to recognize that we are representing a certain time, and doing it well.”

Another thing that has become very real for Timmerman is the expression about mobilizing, or feeding, or supplying, “a small army.”

Timmerman is Captain of the Union company, the 20th Main, with about 18 members. However, as coordinator of the entire battle, his army includes not just the unknown number of re-enactors, both Union and Confederate, who could take part in the weekend’s events — he’ll know when they arrive at camp, he says — but also the unknown number of spectators coming to watch.

“With first-year events, you never know,” he said in a phone conversation last week. “I think we’ll get a good turnout… but I’m going to be as surprised as anybody who shows up at what happens.”

On a more serious note, he added that he’s hoping for 200 re-enactors, and about 2,000 spectators.

His preparations for the weekend event have included planning for everyone’s physical needs at the park — food trucks for the spectators, food and water for the army, portable toilets for everyone, and coordinating with all of the other activities that will be part of the weekend.

“The battle is only 40 minutes,” he said. “There’s going to be lots of other things to do there.”

Visitors will be able to walk through the army camps on the way to the battlefield, and may want to stop at some of the displays. These will include presentations by historical figures (impersonators) General U.S. Grant and Washington’s first territorial governor Isaac Stevens, who left the state to fight in the war and was later killed in battle. The Museum of Flight will also have a display on flight during the Civil War era, mainly hot-air ballooning.

In the camps, people will also be able to see common scenes, like issuing ammunition or mail calls, and, most likely, chores.

“There’s lots of things to do in just the normal activity of camp life,” Timmerman said. “There’s wood to carry, water to fetch…”

There’s also, depending on the weather, weaponry to clean. Rain doesn’t bother many of the re-enactors, but it’s a real problem for their carbon-steel muskets. “You can actually see them start to rust in front of your eyes,” Timmerman said.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Battles are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday. Learn more at http://battleofsnoqualmie.com.

Admission is cash only, $10 for adults, $7 for military service people, $5 for children ages 11 to 18 and free for children younger than 10.

Visitors are advised to wear sturdy shoes and to bring folding chairs, blankets or other seating.

Drummers march in the parade.

Spreading the word about their upcoming battle re-enactment, members of the Washington Civil War Association, from left, Audun Holland, Paul Timmerman, Robert Ballard, Ian Melendez and Jack Parsons acted as  as Union soldiers during Snoqualmie’s Railroad Days.