Rebel Yell: Europe's Biggest U.S. Civil War Reenactment

Every year, hundreds of people from across Europe and North America converge on a military base in Germany to re-fight a battle from the U.S. Civil War. There's cavalry, artillery, soldiers, and civilians, with meticulous attention to detail right down to the last button.
Story and video:https://www.rferl.org/a/us-civil-war-reenactment/29982466.html

Actually, it looks better than a lot of US reenactments I've seen! These guys are serious about authenticity (not so sure about all that beer guzzling at the end, but it sure looks good!) I've become Facebook friends with Civil War reenactors in England and Poland (both musicians) over the last few years and they've posted some great pictures of events over there. They may not have huge numbers, but they make up for it with enthusiasm. There was a video of some Russians doing a Civil War reenactment a few years ago, and they really went at it, even some very close fighting that could have left some injured, but they seemed to enjoy that. When we had the 150th Gettysburg reenactment in PA, there were reenactors from 35 countries other than the US participating.

My question is--what is it about the American Civil War that resonates so deeply with people in other countries that they want to reenact it? The reenactors I've met online from overseas also do other time periods, as do I. But while I may reenact the Rev War and F&I War in addition to the Civil War, you don't see anyone here reenacting the Napoleonic Wars or the Wars of Austrian Succession.

In any event, here are a couple of pictures from a Civil War reenactment in Poland that one of my Facebook friends posted recently:

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Actually, it looks better than a lot of US reenactments I've seen! These guys are serious about authenticity (not so sure about all that beer guzzling at the end, but it sure looks good!) I've become Facebook friends with Civil War reenactors in England and Poland (both musicians) over the last few years and they've posted some great pictures of events over there. They may not have huge numbers, but they make up for it with enthusiasm. There was a video of some Russians doing a Civil War reenactment a few years ago, and they really went at it, even some very close fighting that left some injured, but they seemed to enjoy that. When we had the 150th Gettysburg reenactment in PA, there were reenactors from 35 countries other than the US participating.

My question is--what is it about the American Civil War that resonates so deeply with people in other countries that they want to reenact it? The reenactors I've met online from overseas also do other time periods, as do I. But while I may reenact the Rev War and F&I War in addition to the Civil War, you don't see anyone here reenacting the Napoleonic Wars or the Wars of Austrian Succession.

In any event, here are a couple of pictures from a Civil War reenactment in Poland that one of my Facebook friends posted recently:

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There are probably as many reasons that inspires them to reenact the Civil War as you can shake a stick at! My guess are some inspired by learning of an immigrant relative in the US at the time or the romanticism of movies like Gone with the Wind, Gettysburg etc. It's so nice to see that the pc police isn't there to hinder their love of history like it's been doing over here in recent years!
 
I didn't even consider that there would be any interest today in Europe or elsewhere about our War much less enough interest to do re-enacting. I knew there was much interest "back in the day" on the progress and outcome of the War. When I joined quite recently I learned that there are many international members and that surprised me. I learn from this forum every time I visit it. Thanks Belle.
 
There are probably as many reasons that inspires them to reenact the Civil War as you can shake a stick at! My guess are some inspired by learning of an immigrant relative in the US at the time or the romanticism of movies like Gone with the Wind, Gettysburg etc. It's so nice to see that the pc police isn't there to hinder their love of history like it's been doing over here in recent years!

Oh the PC Brigade are also over here mate and trying their best to ruin things ..... l had a woman make a complaint at an event saying that the battle flag l was flying was racist.....After receiving one very quick history lesson she disappeared with her tail between her legs ...
 
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I didn't even consider that there would be any interest today in Europe or elsewhere about our War much less enough interest to do re-enacting. I knew there was much interest "back in the day" on the progress and outcome of the War. When I joined quite recently I learned that there are many international members and that surprised me. I learn from this forum every time I visit it. Thanks Belle.

True there isnt as much interest as in previous years, but its still going strong ... Many of us who are still involved had ancestors who fought in the war or have family living in the U/S ....
 
Oh the PC Brigade are also over here mate and trying their best to ruin things ..... l had a woman make a complaint at an event saying that the battle flag l was flying was racist.....After receiving one very quick history lesson she disappeared with her tail between her legs ...
Oh the PC Brigade are also over here mate and trying their best to ruin things ..... l had a woman make a complaint at an event saying that the battle flag l was flying was racist.....After receiving one very quick history lesson she disappeared with her tail between her legs ...
From what you say I assume that you are a re-enactor with a Rebel uniform. Do you have a Yankee one as well so you could play for either side or did you choose to play on the Rebel side? I certainly could have both because I have ancestors that fought on both sides. I don't do re-enactments but if I did I would probably have a Rebel uniform. I always tend to favor the underdog. LOL. Good for you on providing the woman a free education. The PC brigade has been active over here for 30 years or more. The politicians, caving in to the whims of two disgruntled groups of people (primarily in the North and AA controlled cities in the South) are doing their best to remove images of our country's history and distorting the teaching of it in our schools. The sad thing for many of us is that the efforts of these groups is succeeding in many areas, probably most areas. BTW, all of my early ancestors to first come to America from your fine island home that I've been able to trace did so from there over 350 years ago. The later ones all came after 1750.
 
From what you say I assume that you are a re-enactor with a Rebel uniform. Do you have a Yankee one as well so you could play for either side or did you choose to play on the Rebel side? I certainly could have both because I have ancestors that fought on both sides. I don't do re-enactments but if I did I would probably have a Rebel uniform. I always tend to favor the underdog. LOL. Good for you on providing the woman a free education. The PC brigade has been active over here for 30 years or more. The politicians, caving in to the whims of two disgruntled groups of people (primarily in the North and AA controlled cities in the South) are doing their best to remove images of our country's history and distorting the teaching of it in our schools. The sad thing for many of us is that the efforts of these groups is succeeding in many areas, probably most areas. BTW, all of my early ancestors to first come to America from your fine island home that I've been able to trace did so from there over 350 years ago. The later ones all came after 1750.

Yep lm a reenactor in the Confederate artillery .... Traced my family who initially came from lreland .... some came to the U/K and others went to South Carolina and then to Georgia where they fought in ANV ....Have to ware a Blue Jacket now and again depending on what the scenario is ...
 
… My question is--what is it about the American Civil War that resonates so deeply with people in other countries that they want to reenact it? The reenactors I've met online from overseas also do other time periods, as do I. But while I may reenact the Rev War and F&I War in addition to the Civil War, you don't see anyone here reenacting the Napoleonic Wars or the Wars of Austrian Succession...
As usual, generalizations like this can be punctured: One of my reenacting friends from movie-making with whom I worked on Alamo..., Legacy, and Last of the Mohicans, Benton Jennings, was dedicated to his Scottish heritage and traveled to Waterloo, Belgium to take part in the 175th anniversary reenactment held in 1990. His impression was a company-grade officer in a Highland regiment (that way he didn't have the annoying difficulty of flying with a Brown Bess infantry musket, only a Highland broadsword!) and was able to fall in with a unit of genuine Scots. Below, as he appeared in what was largely his own garb in Last of the Mohicans:

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As usual generalizations like this can be punctured: One of my reenacting friends from movie-making with whom I worked on Alamo..., Legacy, and Last of the Mohicans, Benton Jennings, was dedicated to his Scottish heritage and traveled to Waterloo, Belgium to take part in the 175th anniversary reenactment held in 1990. His impression was a company-grade officer in a Highland regiment (that way he didn't have the annoying difficulty of flying with a Brown Bess infantry musket, only a Highland broadsword!) and was able to fall in with a unit of genuine Scots. Below, as he appeared in what was largely his own garb in Last of the Mohicans:

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Very cool!!!
 
As usual, generalizations like this can be punctured: One of my reenacting friends from movie-making with whom I worked on Alamo..., Legacy, and Last of the Mohicans, Benton Jennings, was dedicated to his Scottish heritage and traveled to Waterloo, Belgium to take part in the 175th anniversary reenactment held in 1990. His impression was a company-grade officer in a Highland regiment (that way he didn't have the annoying difficulty of flying with a Brown Bess infantry musket, only a Highland broadsword!) and was able to fall in with a unit of genuine Scots. Below, as he appeared in what was largely his own garb in Last of the Mohicans:

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When I said, "you don't see anyone here reenacting the Napoleonic Wars or the Wars of Austrian Succession," I was talking about events, not individuals. Sorry that wasn't clear.

I also know someone who has a Napoleonic Wars impression, but he has to travel overseas to find established groups and events to participate in. Pretty cool that your friend went to Belgium almost 30 years ago and has been in movies, etc. but I've not seen an event here where thousands or even hundreds of reenactors have turned out in organized groups to recreate battles from the Napoleonic Wars, the Wars of Austrian Succession, the English Civil War, etc. Since I obviously can't know of every event that's ever taken place, it might have happened, and if so, I'd been interested in hearing about it, but in my personal experience, I've not seen it. That's what I was getting at--there's something about the US Civil War that has broad appeal overseas; I wasn't saying there isn't a single person in the US with an impression from a foreign army of the ancient era.
 
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… I also know someone who has a Napoleonic Wars impression, but he has to travel overseas to find established groups and events to participate in. Pretty cool that your friend went to Belgium almost 30 years ago and has been in movies, etc. but I've not seen an event here where thousands or even hundreds of reenactors have turned out in organized groups to recreate battles from the Napoleonic Wars, the Wars of Austrian Succession, the English Civil War, etc. Since I obviously can't know of every event that's ever taken place, it might have happened, and if so, I'd been interested in hearing about it, but in my personal experience, I've not seen it. That's what I was getting at--there's something about the US Civil War that has broad appeal overseas; I wasn't saying there isn't a single person in the US with an impression from a foreign army of the ancient era.
Admittedly, I've seen most of the representations of "foreign" troops on movie sets, like Alamo - The Price of Freedom above and Last of the Mohicans below. On the above, nearly all the "Mexicans" were portrayed by regular Civil War reenactors like myself, though at the time we consoled ourselves by the thought that we were actually portraying a Napoleonic-era army, regardless of nationality. On Mohicans we portrayed both Seven Years War (here in America called the French and Indian War) British and French, though serving in the Colonies.

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