The least-expected moments often are the most memorable.

For Brian James Egen, one of those moments — pure coincidence and extreme drama — came during last year’s Civil War Remembrance weekend. (This year’s event begins Saturday through Monday.)

It happened when re-enactors portraying 100 soldiers, weapons gleaming in bayonet drills, marched in precise formation across the Village Green. At the same time, by chance, at least 100 visitors participating as recruits, some with mock drill rifles, also began moving in formation across the green — on course to intercept the soldiers.

For Brian, manager of special programs at The Henry Ford, the scene momentarily transformed the Village Green into what could have been an 1860s Civil War battlefield. Eventually, Jeffrey Przewozniak, the drilling officer, diverted his recruits.

Brian emphasized that although no one was ever in danger, the scene was very moving.

“In Civil War times, there were one hundred men in a company,” he said. “And to see those two companies advancing toward each other on the Village Green was just awesome!”

Last year was the first time Civil War Remembrance weekend included Mustering in and Drill for visitors, and Brian says the activity was wildly popular among people of all ages. This year, the activity takes place five times on Saturday (10:30 a.m., 12:30, 2:15, 4:15 and 5:45 p.m.), four on Sunday (10:30 a.m., 12:30, 2:15 and 4:15 p.m.) and three on Monday (10:30 a.m., 2:15 and 4:15 p.m.).

Here’s how it works:
• A street hawker at the Post Office entices visitors to join the Union army by explaining that the nation is in peril and by appealing to visitors’ sense of duty.
• Once visitors agree to volunteer for the army, they enlist at the Post Office, where they receive an enlistment form and are directed down the street to Dr. Howard, the examining surgeon.
• At Dr. Howard’s office, the recruits receive a cursory check-up to certify their fitness for service, and are encouraged to join the next available mustering in and drill company.
• When the recruits muster in, a sergeant administers a loyalty oath and turns over the recruits to a drilling officer, who leads them to the Village Green. .
• The drilling officer explains the importance of discipline and leads the recruits through maneuvers — march, halt, wheel left, wheel right, about face — before releasing them.

Learning-by-doing activities such as Mustering in and Drill are especially fun for youngsters, Brian says, adding that the goal of the activity, and of the entire Civil War Remembrance, is to allow visitors to experience what Civil War-era life might have been like — and to inspire them to learn more.