BY STEVE PEOPLES 
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

NEWPORT - 
The fight will be quick. The outcome is already known.
But the teenagers, guns at their sides, are excited.
"This is my favorite part," says a smiling 17-year-old Danilo Castillo as he loads up on ammunition.
"You know what my favorite part is?" asks 15-year-old Juan Velasquez. "It's when you're dead and they try to steal your stuff."
"They tried to steal his shoes once," says Castillo.
In a few minutes, the boys' unit, the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Cavalry (Colored), will join dozens of other Civil War reenactors for a battle at Fort Adams.
They are spending the weekend at the fort as part of the Civil War Living History Weekend, sponsored by the Fort Adams Trust and the Artillery Company of Newport.
The five members of the 14th who made the trip from Providence will charge into battle under the command of 1st Sgt. Rob Goldman.
They will form battle lines just as the original 14th - Rhode Island's first and only Civil War black unit -- did in 1863. They will fire their.58 caliber Springfield rifle muskets at the "Rebs" more times than they can count.

"I'd prefer to be here than on the 
streets doing something bad"
____________
Daniel Castillo
17-year old Civil War reenactor

And one by one, they will fall to the ground, casualties in a battle with no real casualties, where these teenagers represent something of an anomaly in the world of Civil War reenactment: youth and diversity.
They are dark-skinned inner-city youths on a battlefield full of white middle-aged suburbanites. Most of the 14th speak English as a second language.
While the majority of the reenactors are self-proclaimed history buffs, these boys had very little interest in the Civil War before joining the 14th under Goldman, who serves as president of the nonprofit Living History Rhode Island.
None had known that the original 14th was formed by a governor's proclamation in 1863. Or that a year later 1,800 African-Americans consisting of three battalions took to the battlefield.
In all, the current 14th unit had 26 members during the previous school year. With the exception of one student from Classical High School and another from Feinstein High School, they all attended Central High School, all in Providence. This is the unit's third year in existence.
Most were lured from their schools' ROTC program by Goldman with promises of travel, and more importantly, the use of authentic Civil War weapons.
What they know today of the war, they know from experience. Everything about their weekend at Fort Adams was authentic 1860s -- from the navy-blue wool uniforms they donned to the canvas tents they slept under to the hardtack they ate for breakfast.
"The best way for any kid to learn something is to do it, not from a book or the Internet," said Goldman. "You get out there and you live it, you find out what it's like to sit in the rain for three days, you find out what it's like to wear a hot uniform on a hot day.
"If you ask my guys right now about dates and battles, they couldn't tell you a whole lot about that. But they could tell you a lot about what it's like to be an infantry private."
The 14th often travels to other events throughout New England and beyond. The group participated in a huge reenactment in Florida earlier this year.
The cost to each student was $25. For some, it was their first time traveling by air.
"The best part about this is the places we go," says 15-year-old Velasquez. "My first time on a plane was here. My first time on a ferry boat was here."

Danilo Castillo isn't shy about why he joined the 14th.
"I really like the shooting," he said, looking over at his rifle Saturday afternoon.
In his second year with the 14th, Castillo wears the stripes of a sergeant on his arm, having already worked up through the ranks of private and corporal.
He is perhaps the most dedicated member of the unit, making sure the privates walk in step through the encampment and have enough gun powder before battle. It takes him less than 30 seconds to load and fire his weapon, which puts him among the quickest shooters in his unit.
Castillo, who wants to become a helicopter pilot in the military, said he convinced some of his friends to join the 14th, but that many don't understand.
"Some of them laugh at us, but I don't care," he said. "I'd prefer to be here than on the streets doing something bad."
He said he moved to Providence's south side from New York City two years ago. Like many in the 14th, he was born in the Dominican Republic.
The unit meets almost every weekend for an hour or two to drill, practicing battle formations, marching, and gun handling.
Even if it means paying out of his own pocket, Goldman makes sure his boys have everything that a Civil War soldier would have had.
"They have overcoats, knapsacks, patches, Springfield rifle muskets, everything from the caps of their heads to the shoes on their feet is period-correct," he said.
On the battlefield Saturday, Goldman shook his head while looking at a soldier wearing sunglasses.
"There are some Ramada warriors," Goldman said of participants who sleep in hotels instead of on the battlefield. "But they're dwindling."
"But not our guys, we do it right. We don't use any kind of modern stuff," he said, using the label for non-period-correct amenities, "farb." "Smoking filtered cigarettes, drinking out of Styrofoam cups, sunglasses. We don't do farb. We're getting to the point where we're becoming what we call hard core."

None of the 14th said Saturday that other reenactors give them a hard time for having different color skin.
Members of the 15th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, camped next to the 14th, agreed.
"I think people notice, but I don't think it's an issue," said David Marston, 50, of Royalston, Mass. "Even in the Civil War, once they proved themselves in battle, color didn't matter... Really, it's just good to see that it's getting away from old fat guys like us and back to how it really was with younger guys."
At least two of the 14th plan to use some of their newfound knowledge to their advantage.
Castillo and 17-year-old Daniel Tejeda plan to work part-time as tour guides at Fort Adams this summer. Both also plan to attend the Community College of Rhode Island next year.
"My goal, like these two kids who got the jobs, is just to introduce them to careers," Goldman said. "A lot of them are trying to track themselves to military, but there are so many jobs out there as far as history and preservation."
Goldman said he's proud of his unit, with a few small exceptions.
"My only issue with my kids is... they've got to watch their mouth," he said. "It's not period-correct and a lot of people find it offensive. I tell them you've got to be better than everybody else in every respect because everybody's looking at you."
The 14th spent the entire weekend at Fort Adams, arriving in Newport by ferry on Friday night and returning Sunday evening.
"If we could, we'd stay the whole summer," Goldman said. "Who wants to live in the 21st century? Not that 1864 was any bed of roses, but we love doing this stuff."

* * *

At top, Marco Malena, center, a student at Central High School, in Providence, and a member of the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Cavalry (Colored), a Civil War reenactment unit, stands at ease Sunday during their encampment at Fort Adams, in Newport. At left is Daniel Tejeda. At right is Juan Velasquez. Don Loghry, of Burrillville, lines up a photograph of the regiment.
JOURNAL PHOTOS / KRIS CRAIG