Why do you re-enact

[Buffalo-Guard]

Why did we start re-enacting? Well my reasons start with my parents. My father and mother were born in 1905 and 1909 respective. Both from the south (Virginia & NC) my parents always told me about our heritage but did I listen? No.

I am only in my early 50’s but being that my parents were so old at the time I was born, they knew people and veterans from the war. But being that I was young at the time of the CW centennial, like most kids I was not really interested in the family aspect because there were no Lees or Grants in our family. Little did I know at that time. My parents knew but I again did not listen.

I just liked the playing of Civil War just as you would play Cops and Robbers of Cowboys and Indians. I did not want the facts to get in the way. Just liked dressing up in a uniform or at least pretending to do so and shooting those Yankees.

As time went on I became what I call armchair Civil War Buff. Even becoming the Vice President of our Civil War Club in high school. We openly discussed the war and some of its causes. But at that time the centennial had just ended and history was still being taught as it was and not as it is today. Can you imagine having such a club now days.

I became somewhat involved in living history and reenacting in the 1980’s with a friend of mine in the 5 Georgia Infantry out of St Petersburg, Fla. Did the “Brooksville Raid” and a few other things but my job did not allow for much time. But the passing interest was becoming more that that. I began to read more and more. I also started buying artifacts. Then a few years ago I became involved in doing family research. I wish I had listened to my parents. What a treasure trove I found on both sides.

I found relationships to names such as Daniel Boone, Gen Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Major Robert Anderson of Ft Sumter and Gen. Joseph Anderson of Richmond. Other names such as Patrick Henry and then Cap William Tucker of Jamestowne. Then there was Laura Ingles and Samuel Clemens, yea Mark Twain. I also found slaves and indentured servants of my family.

Then I began looking for way to preserve my heritage and teach about their histories and the history of others. I came across the SCV. And joined them several years.

Now just in the past year I got that reenacting bug again. I wanted to not only teach like in the SCV but take part. So I found an Artillery unit Levi’s Battery and Infantry unit, the 57th NC Infantry Company "A" and joined in on the fun. The 57th was my GGG Grandfathers old command (Lt Benjamin Parnell)

I do it now because of who went before us. Not only for my family but for all the families both north and south. Both black and white. The veterans who can no longer speak for themselves. Their truth and stories need to be told and I am proud in sharing what I know with others. That is another reason I joined the CWHF. To promote the history and story of their times.

So that’s my story……What’s yours?

[IsleGuy57]

I decided to try reenacting because I've always been fond of military history. The gunpowder era, Napoleanic and ACW especially. They are the ancestors to modern warfare and where most of modern tactics/strategies have their origins. It was here that we see the combined infantry, cavalry and artillery forces used in a manner that we can still see today.

I wanted the opportunity to experience even a little bit of what it was like to be a soldier of that time. I speak of the feeling of being shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield, firing at a line only a few paces away. Granted, this experience is very limited when attempted at reenactments. We cannot re-create but a portion of what it was like but even that small portion would be amazing.

Speaking for myself, this is what I seek in re-enacting. This and the comaraderie of the fellows in the unit. I do not need to feel the frost on my face or drink from a frozen canteen. I've done that. I spent 23 years in the Canadian Army Reserves. I don't have to practice to be uncomfortable, that's like practicing to bleed. Anyone can do it. One of my CO's told me that and it's so darn true.

I will will do my best to accurately protray the soldiers of this time because that's what they deserve. Any soldier that serves in time of need deserves that respect. I carried that respect when I wore my country's uniform and I will continue to do so when I wear blue or grey as a reenactor.

[johan_steele]

What was that first moment that led to an interest in the Civil War? I have to look hard to remember. I remember reading a book on the Gettysburg Address as a youth but I don’t really remember being all that interested. At the time I think I was more intrigued with Star Wars and World War Two. I remember well admiring; actually I think it was more awe and hero worship of the Legion members who had served. They were men who dropped their lives for four years to go off to foreign lands far from home to battle an evil the likes fiction has a hard time inventing.



So where did my fascination with the Civil War begin? I don’t think it was a s youth, but in college my fascination was still with World War Two and the Mongol Conquests of Asia. My father asked me to see if I could find some information on family members who had served. I was very little help. I needed an American history class for my major and the chair of the department was offering a 2 credit winter coarse on the Civil War. Professor Lybarger was a man who gave simple but poignant lectures with only one or two text books and a lot of suggested readings. The text was the very readable Battle Cry of Freedom and the Ken Burns Video series. We were given several options for our final, one was to pick a very specific portion of the war and research it or to pick a mistake or error in Battle Cry of Freedom or the Ken Burns Series. Others chose specific bits of the Ken Burns series and picked it apart. I chose the firearms of the era and learned a lot from William Edwards, Civil War Guns. That class and that book started a passion in me but it was a slow starting seed.



Years later while stationed in South Carolina I developed a taste for Maurices BBQ and through a strange happenstance found a young lady working at the South Carolina Historical Society. She introduced me to some microfiche of period newspapers and letters. I enjoyed studying the words of men who had been there. Those letters were written by men not at all unlike me or those veterans of World War Two. They were my age with dreams and hopes like mine. It was a slow growing interest that turned into a passion. Now through books and Living History my passion has grown almost to an obsession. The more I learn the more I want to know about those men. Luckily my passion has grown to encompass my entire family.



I have gained an understanding of the day to day life; day to day trials and tribulations that still haunt the average soldier. All in all I have garnered an understanding of our history; a knowledge that the more things change the more they have stayed the same.

[johan_steele]

What is it we, as re-enactors, are trying to do? We dress in the gear of a Civil War soldier; we try to live the life of one for a few days. We read books such as Hardtack & Coffee and All for Union along with scores of other books to give us an idea of the experiences of the men. We research roles and try to grab a fleeting moment of history and hold it close to our breast. For we are only grabbing a moment; a moment that might help us to understand the feelings and motivations of the men who fought and died so long ago.

Why do we, as re-enactors, do what we do? That is a difficult question to answer. Is it to learn and understand something new? Is it to teach those who don't know? On the other hand, is it to try to live a moment of history? Perhaps simpler reasons: the fun of dressing up as one of a different era and playing at war as we did as children. We have to decide why we are re-enactors.

Many of us try to live that moment as a Union or Confederate soldier and to understand his motivations and their sacrifices. To do so we dress in the clothing he would have worn carry the gear he knew so well. We live a day or a weekend as he did trying to understand or relive his actions. However, we know in our heart of hearts that we are going home on Sunday evening. We need not worry about dysentery, typhoid fever, the measles or other lethal diseases. There are no bullets marked to whom it may concern or one addressed specifically to us. We miss the truest understanding of the men who faced such terrifying experiences. Can we ever truly understand them? We face powder, minus the deadly minnie ball. We face a weekend under canvas or the night sky without the lethal consequences. We play at war without all of the nasty experiences, without getting dirty, without the pain. That makes what we do incomplete, a pale shadow of the real experience. Nevertheless, it also makes us appreciate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers all that much more.

Can we improve upon that understanding? Does it come with comprehending Hardees or Casey's manual or the regulations familiar to the Civil War Soldier? No, it comes from the pure unadulterated terror that comes with combat, working your hands raw digging rifle pits and company sinks. Thank God that fear and terror is something we cannot duplicate. Most importantly, we lack an understanding of the sacrifice that comes with being away from loved ones and family for months and even years on end.

What can we do to bring ourselves closer to that magic moment? That fleeting moment when we are truly men of 1863. That moment of intense stress and anxiety that comes from seeing a line of gray and butternut emerging from the mist with bayonets fixed and murder on their minds. We can approach that moment; but only with the realization that there really is no danger inherent to what we are doing. We are safe in knowing that home and a job awaits us on Monday morning. We have something going for us that no soldier in the Civil War did; we have safety and an assurance that no one is really trying to kill us.

Does that somehow cheapen what we are trying to do? No, for with understanding of that horror that we do not need to fear or worry about; we garner a bit more respect for those men who did face such dangers. The mere understanding of what they faced is a start; coupled with what we do attempt to replicate we come that much closer to them. We, as re-enactors, help to bring history alive for the public and ourselves. A public that lacks an understanding of the sacrifices made by the men of the American Civil War or even those on the Sharp End today. We are living Historians trying to do justice to men dead a century and more. Most importantly, we do not want their memory to fade from the American conscience nor their sacrifices to have been in vain. As re-enactors, we try to bring history alive and keep the memories of their sacrifices from being relegated to the dustbin of history.