With a sigh, he nestles his 1853 Enfield rifle-musket in his lap. At more than 10 pounds of polished wool and steel, and a few inches shy of 5 feet long, the .58-caliber is big, beautiful and deadly.
"These cotton flannel drawers are supposed to help keep you cool," Lelegren smiles, lifting a leg of the gray wool pants that match his uniform coat to tug at a thin, white fabric. "But it still gets pretty hot sometimes under all this."
Nonetheless, Lelegren and his comrades will give a good account of themselves when the damn Yankees appear on the battlefield green nearby. Then, the war cries of North and South will disappear in the clouds of black powder smoke and the crackle of musket fire.
Thank God, the 34-year-old Lehi man says, it's all make believe. Some 140 years ago, lines of soldiers in gray and blue were being scythed like wheat as torrents of the 1-ounce, soft lead Minie balls fired by the Enfield found their targets.
On Saturday, Lelegren and 13 other members of the Utah Civil War Association supplemented their ranks with dozens of children. The battle was the highlight of the third and final day of the annual Camp Floyd History Camp, where youngsters learn about life in the army during the Civil War era.
Mark Trotter, manager of the Camp Floyd-Stagecoach Inn State Park, located 40 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, says the program's schedule is full, and the information and experiences of the children are priceless.
Reliving history, Trotter says, drives home lessons like no amount of classroom reading can. Since day one, Thursday, they have seen army recruiters visit, luring the kids to promises of glory and adventure. They were issued enlistment papers, blue or gray caps, haversacks, canteens and wooden rifles, then drilled in camp life and military demeanor.
They had time to write a letter home - with a quill pen and ink - picked up by a Pony Express rider; build a wall with adobe bricks they made themselves, and mine for faux silver and gold.
It's all been fun, says 11-year-old Nick Killpack of Orem, one of the Confederate States of America's finest this mid-summer day in Utah County's high desert. But he liked the fighting best.
"We had a lot of wars, like we'd hide over there by the bathrooms and fire if we saw any of the blue hats," the boy grins. "Then we'd take them prisoner and made them turn their caps around backward."
Camille Sanchez, 8, wore the blue. Demonstrations with the ancient replica muskets, and the lessons on firearms safety that came with them, impressed her most.
"I learned not to play with them," she says. "But it also was real fun sometimes . . . especially learning to shoot the old guns."
Few of the children would like to travel back in time to fight in real battles of the era, though; not after seeing Union Maj. Mike Moon, the camp surgeon, at work.
Moon, an emergency room nurse when living in the 21st century, affects an authentic Irish brogue as he proudly shows off his collection of antique, 19th century surgical instruments - knives, bone saws, probes and scalpels.
During the War Between the States, the wounded could look forward to little more than amputation, fever and - if they survived post-operative infections that came with the filth of a battlefield hospital - life with one arm, or a wooden leg.
"Aye," Moon mugs, hefting a blade. "A chance to cut is a chance to cure, and the only way to heal is with cold steel."
Out of character, the 50-year-old West Valley City man says he delights playing the role of an army doctor - but it's the educational aspect of this that is most important.
"This," he says waving at the re-enactors, pitched pup tents, his own hospital setup and the children, "is telling the story, and that's what makes history fun."
Reenacting is not a cheap hobby, though. Lelegren - who also role plays in Indian battles and World War II recreations - put about $700 into his musket, $300 into his uniform and another $200 for hobnailed boots styled true to the Civil War era.
A number of Internet-based "sutlers," or suppliers of historical weaponry and clothing, outfit re-enactors nationwide - including the 50 members of the UCWA.
Chase Pinkham, a 14-year-old West High student, has been in the re-enactor organization for several years. He began as a fife and drum boy, and donned a Union soldier's uniform a year and a half ago. All told, it cost about $1,800 to turn him into a member of the UCWA's 81st Pennsylvania, Company B.
Admiration for the tough generation of men who fought in both blue and gray drives his interest in recreating history.
"It was an interesting, climactic period that shaped America," he said. "And it . . . well, fits. It just feels right for me, to share the experience and be able to educate [the younger children]."
