First Documented Large Civil War Reenactment

[OldmanReb]

The first large scale Civil War battle reenactment was of the First Battle of Bull Run, and it lasted two days. 60 years ago today I was sitting on a picnic bench, eating sandwiches, and watching a large scale reenactment for the first time from the hillside. Was a mystical thing. You can look it up for more details. Just thought I would share.

 

[redbob]

Perhaps the oldest and possibly the largest (participant wise) reenactments were held by the Marine Corps at Gettysburg (and other battlefields) in the 1920"s.

 

[OldmanReb]

Perhaps the oldest and possibly the largest (participant wise) reenactments were held by the Marine Corps at Gettysburg (and other battlefields) in the 1920"s.

Sounds interesting, thanks for the correction.

 

[redbob]

Sounds interesting, thanks for the correction.

They may have been closer to war games than reenactments.

 

[OldmanReb]

They may have been closer to war games than reenactments.

So like what me and my brothers did growing up?

 

[redbob]

So like what me and my brothers did growing up?

The key point was that they marched from Washington DC and back and performed their 1922 "war games" for the president (Harding I believe). Aircraft, tanks, trucks and machine guns were also featured. There is an excellent book on the subject titled: The Last To Fall by Richard D.L. Fulton & James Rada Jr.

 

[Vicksburger]

The first large scale Civil War battle reenactment was of the First Battle of Bull Run, and it lasted two days. 60 years ago today I was sitting on a picnic bench, eating sandwiches, and watching a large scale reenactment for the first time from the hillside. Was a mystical thing. You can look it up for more details. Just thought I would share.

I think its interesting that the "realistic" reenactments are kind of a modern thing, maybe the Centennial was what generated the interest to get it authentic. Did the one you are referring to have authentic uniforms, weapons, etc.?

 

[7thWisconsin]

I think its interesting that the "realistic" reenactments are kind of a modern thing, maybe the Centennial was what generated the interest to get it authentic. Did the one you are referring to have authentic uniforms, weapons, etc.?

Yes - it was definitely a product of the centennial. ¨Authentic¨ is a bit of a relative term, though. There were few reference guides to work from, and few reproduction items. What was a very common combination was blue or grey work clothes from Sears, with an original firearm and original leather gear. A friend of mine wore a blue suit coat with the pockets sewn shut and the flaps removed, with original buttons. There were a fair number of 1903 Springfields and 1917 Enfields that went on the field because they just wanted the numbers. Kind of reminds me of wargaming when you paint one set of figures in different colors to represent a different nationality or time period, and just ignore some other details. There was virtually no period drill, so drill was cobbled together from bits and pieces found in books and what everybody remembered from basic training. I´m not disparaging, or making fun of that effort; I remember how hard it was to do research in the pre-internet days. You can find pictures of the centennial events in older books on the Civil War - they´re great to look at and see how different reenacting was then.

 

[Story]

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/centennial-reenactment-first-manassas

In July 1961, Manassas National Battlefield Park hosted the first, and as it turned out, only reenactment of a Civil War battle in a National Park. The event was a logistical nightmare. There were not enough reenactors to accurately portray both armies. In addition, there were so many people, participants and observers, the Park Service was not able to provide adequate facilities. Several visitors and reenactors were injured. And, all of the modern intrusions had to be screened. Further, the reenactment was viewed as an entertaining event, rather than as a portrayal of a deadly serious battle in which thousands of men were killed or wounded.

Some period photos here
http://nps-vip.net/history/1961/

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

The first large scale Civil War battle reenactment was of the First Battle of Bull Run, and it lasted two days. 60 years ago today I was sitting on a picnic bench, eating sandwiches, and watching a large scale reenactment for the first time from the hillside. Was a mystical thing. You can look it up for more details. Just thought I would share.

What did you think of it at the time? We'd love to know your thoughts and what made you be there to watch it.

 

[OldmanReb]

I thought I was back in 1861. It was such a fun and unheard of event at the time. I was their because of a family vacation we went on in summer in between my professing job in Wisconsin. It was widespread before the event, so we booked reservations to watch. The humidity was barbaric, and I remember getting sun poisoning afterwards because of some brutal sun burns I received that came with blisters. But in all, I met with some of the reenactors, and had a presentation about it at the start of the teaching session two months later. Was so fun and amusing at the time, but nowadays they are so common it is just different then it was.

 

[captaindrew]

Sounds interesting, thanks for the correction.

Here's a couple old threads about the Marine's reenactment in 1922 you might find interesting https://civilwartalk.com/threads/u-s-marines-attack-gettysburg-in-1922.161089/#post-2108368 and https://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-picketts-charge-reenactment-of-1922.142719/#post-1746468

 

[James N.]

The first large scale Civil War battle reenactment was of the First Battle of Bull Run, and it lasted two days. 60 years ago today I was sitting on a picnic bench, eating sandwiches, and watching a large scale reenactment for the first time from the hillside. Was a mystical thing. You can look it up for more details. Just thought I would share.

What did you think of it at the time? We'd love to know your thoughts and what made you be there to watch it.

I've mentioned this several times before, but I was there too... In July, 1961 I was fourteen and my long-suffering divorced mother agreed to drive us all the way there from our home in a suburb of Dallas, Texas via Gettysburg and many other stops along the way there and back. Unfortunately for some reason I didn't take any photos at Manassas, but here are a couple taken elsewhere in Virginia from our trip, my mother beside Stonewall Jackson's original gravesite in Lexington and me at Jackson's headquarters in Winchester.

Arriving somewhere near Manassas NBP it was beastly hot that morning - traffic on the two-lane roads gave the appearance of a Civil War Woodstock. We had to park in a field some distance away and walk. We never got near the "battlefield"; the Stonewall Jackson statue and park Visitor Center (which was closed and inaccessible for the event) were both covered with camo netting to minimize their appearance from the distance where the bleachers had been erected. We were near the Robinson House which then was still standing and had yet to be torched by an arsonist. I remember three reenactors there at the house, a natty Confederate cavalryman and his horse, a disheveled old Reb campaigner, and Stonewall Jackson; all the others were way off in the distance.

I remember virtually nothing about the battle itself, which was scripted and was described blow-by-blow over a PA system like a football game. Probably the most impressive thing about it was seeing all the ORIGINAL artillery pieces, some of which were horse-drawn onto the field during the battle. As has been mentioned above, this was as much a pageant as a historical reenactment so "authenticity" was definitely secondary and numbers were what counted most. I DO remember that it was VERY HOT sitting in the shade-less bleachers - it got up to around 100 that day. By the time it finally ended I'm pretty sure I was ready to leave, but that involved another long hike back to our car!

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Civil War Woodstock.

LOVE this!

 

[John5thNJ]

described blow-by-blow over a PA system like a football game

That is hilarious.

 

[7thWisconsin]

I was not BORN until 4 months later, so all I remember is seeing photos from the Centennial in the old Nat Geo coffeetable book on the Civil War, and in the old, old, old Osprey titles. Those pictures, though, made me want to be there. The pocket sized souvenier booklet on the event was still available for sale at the NP Visitor´s Center in the early 1970s (I want to say the first time I was there was 1974. Maybe) It was a tiny red book with a welcome from President Eisenhower, a pretty good description of the battle, some stuff about flags and uniforms and some random fun-to-know Civil War facts on the end. I read it until it fell apart. I would probably find it way too basic now, but I thought it was the bees knees then.

 

[Championhilz]

Photo of the reenactment of the battle of Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi, in 1954.

 

[Copperhead-mi]

Photo of the reenactment of the battle of Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi, in 1954.

View attachment 409165

1903A3 Springfields?

 

[Story]

Photo of the reenactment of the battle of Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi, in 1954.

View attachment 409165

This looks like it could have also been the Battle of Athens 1946 (no, I did not transcribe those digits)

 

[James N.]

I was not BORN until 4 months later, so all I remember is seeing photos from the Centennial in the old Nat Geo coffeetable book on the Civil War, and in the old, old, old Osprey titles. Those pictures, though, made me want to be there. The pocket sized souvenier booklet on the event was still available for sale at the NP Visitor´s Center in the early 1970s (I want to say the first time I was there was 1974. Maybe) It was a tiny red book with a welcome from President Eisenhower, a pretty good description of the battle, some stuff about flags and uniforms and some random fun-to-know Civil War facts on the end. I read it until it fell apart. I would probably find it way too basic now, but I thought it was the bees knees then.

I don't have a copy of nor even remember that one; however I did purchase for the hefty sum of $1 a larger "official" program, which of course I still have and have posted before, plus our 2 tickets that gained us admission to the bleachers: