What Really Happens at Civil War Reenactments

What was it that Mattie Ross opined? ¨I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains.¨ :bounce:

Nah - you 125th cycle reenactors are pure pikers. Truth be told, every reenactment in the 1970s was an absolute bacchanalia.
 
Now that we have established that ritual inebriation & alcoholic amnesia was the goal of a certain class of individual, perhaps we can move on to the interesting side of re-enactments.

The people who plan the battles & give the orders do actual staff work. Months of planning go into even relatively small events. For large events, thousands of volunteer hours are logged. On the morning of the first day, written orders, verbal briefings preceded the command to march.

Serious re-enacting groups are filled with individuals who invest time & money over long periods of t to achieve their impressions. The cavalry & artillery groups make investments that add up to real money. Getting it right & making it authentic is expensive financially & personally.
it is the amalgam of management & personal dedication that creates the experience that is the payoff for reenactors.

This is not something unique to the US. Pickett’s Charge is re-enacted at Hastings in England on the 4th of July. On the North Sea Coast of Poland the largest reenactment occurs annually. There are Viking ships, Roman legions, 7th Cavalry & plaines Indians, barbarians & World War reenactors. There is something universal going on, fellowship & personal satisfaction are the underlying principles.

On a purely personal level, What goes on at re-enactments & living history events is a lot of standing & sitting around wearing itchy clothes, terrible shoes that make my feet ache, sweating or freezing while waiting around for a few minutes of action. It is a sort of contest to see how many times you can grin & bear it when a visitor asks if a wool uniform is hot on a July day in Tennessee. It is also sitting around a fire while a man you have seen five or six times a year for decades retells the same story that always makes you laugh. It is also the exquisite relief that washes over you when you take off those awful shoes & shed that sweat soaked itchy hot pair of pants, get into the car & turn on the AC. The 19th Century is a great place to visit, but I would not want to live there.
 
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One of the coldest events I was ever at was actually in Louisiana, near Deridder, the last event they had there, (and only one I ever got to attend). I burned the soles of my cheap sutler row brogans trying to keep my feet warm, those brogans looked ragged and hurt my feet trribly, but two events later I got introduced to the excellent shoes from Robert Land, which I still wear those shoes.

Funny part about Deridder, I was still in High School and thus excluded from the drinking, but one fellow who used to pop up at events out here, who dresses up as General PGT Beauregard, and looks just like the real Beauregard, (I think he's creole just like Beauregard), was in camp and he got hammered. Finally towards the end of festivities "General Beauregard" tripped and fell right into the fire and had a heck of a time getting out!

Funny as can be, and I got bragging rights. I know what General Beauregard would have looked like drunk falling in a fire! But my God that was a cold event, I don't think I slept that whole weekend it was so cold.
 
I remember the 125th of Franklin cold as hell on Saturday night. Then we had a fire that night caused by the wind. After everyone was too cold to sleep, so we spent the rest of the night burning the soles of our shoes trying to keep our feet warm. One guy's shoe started burning, and he didn't even feel them burning. Then a guy across from us had a heart and died. To top it off a sutler got drunk and froze to death underneath a tree, they didn't find him for three days. All in all it topped most of the reenactments I had ever been too. I actually enjoyed the weekend. Too cold though. It made having the overcoat worth all of the money I had spent.

I've heard a lot from the old timers that got me into reenacting about that event. Something of a horror show from all I've heard temperature wise.
 
Enjoyed reading this thread

I am General Scott's age, and while I might ride a horse, I shall not seek the joys of re-enacting.
 
See they cancelled PG this year due to Covid.

Has anyone done the Dec reenactment there, would think it could get chilly at nite, probally not as bad as actual battle though, figure few there may do the motel thing..
 
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