Worst event

[bayonet]

the musket fire hung like a pall and no one could see what they were doing.

So what's the problem! That's how it was back then. Did the Antietam back 25 plus years ago. Due to the tall corn field we could not see and come to find out were firing into the backs of another regiment. Fun

 

[7thWisconsin]

early 90s I joined a REV War outfit but the outfit Leader was more interested in doing paid living histories than battlefields. Guess he needed the money to pay his rent and for the upkeep of his horse. Threw in the towel when at 1 event there was a report of rain (which it did not) so I was the only one to show up. He didn't care how Farby an event was as long as he got paid, and they were FARBY!
So I tried ACW reenacting by joining the 27th Connecticut and it was great! No Farbyness at all. I did it until it was time to quit as I approached 50.
I did give Rev War 1 more chance by joining a Militia outfit but all the members were heart attacks waiting to happen and Diabetes candidates. Along with several tents set up there was a guard tent, a triangle. No room to lie down in it only stand. I peeked inside and there stacked 3-4 feet high were cupcakes, cookies, danish, donuts, brownies, etc. That was my last and only event with them!

That's a bell of arms! You're not supposed to sleep in it; it's for musket storage. (I'll give them points for creativity, but it's not for dessert ration storage either! )

 

[7thWisconsin]

Thanks for the reply. I'm assuming from your user name you were on the Blue team? I'm glad you got more out of it than me.
Our group was disappointed, but later agreed cutting short the first day's battle was needed for safety. It took place inside the woods. According to the guys we talked to, the musket fire hung like a pall and no one could see what they were doing. Plus the artillery was having a hard time trying to find a safe beaten zone to fire into. Couple that with the ticks that got literally shaken from the trees.
There was also concern that the woods would actually catch fire just as in 1864.

Between the foliage and the smoke, no. You couldn't see anything. A pard and I drifted from our company and ended up fighting with some unit I'd never seen before. I didn't see any artillery firing, except from the road that led to our jumping off point.

 

[bayonet]

Between the foliage and the smoke, no. You couldn't see anything. A pard and I drifted from our company and ended up fighting with some unit I'd never seen before. I didn't see any artillery firing, except from the road that led to our jumping off point.

Did a reenactment on a beach supposed to be the 54th Mass assault of Fort Fisher. They actually bulldozed big sand mounds to create a fort and obstacles. We did it at nightfall. It was so confusing next thing I know I got Union troops besides me a different color than me!

 

[SgtDarby8OVI]

For me it was no contest the 125th Wilderness/Spotsylvania in the 80s.
This was when reenactments morphed into little more than choreography for Classic Images to film us for free.
Day 1 our division (Confederate) marched in circles for an hour in 95 degree heat to position ourselves for a flank attack and wait for the signal.
That signal and the attack never happened because they pulled the plug due to heat.
Next day was setup for the "General Lee to the rear" scene. Units were chosen and held back for this portrayal. We missed the main battle that day (and witnessing the cavalry battle) because the some of the key players decided to go AWOL and watch them first themselves. This was not the way it was laid out for us or we would not have volunteered to help out.
As it turned out, so many of them were there that they filmed the scene on the other side of the battlefield. Again no one told us.
Day 3 Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania.
We were excited about this as they had made up some pretty decent looking breast works and trench setups. To make up for the earlier fiascos, we were supposed to be the counter attack to drive into the Union assault.
But the officers on both sides didn't follow the plan, the map nor the script. A good portion of the Union force and most of the mounted ended up emerging from out of nowhere behind us and our group was surrounded and overwhelmed before we even left the rear area or realized what was happening. For safety reasons, we held our muskets overhead in surrender. As you can imagine the "battle" quickly lost its historical perspective after that and simply became a large scale skirmish.
Drove 12 hours from Canada and never fired my weapon once in 3 days.
To add to the misery:
Shortly after the battle ended there was a cloudburst and everyone who parked in the open field overflow area ended up sunk to the axles in red mud when they tried to leave.

125th Wilderness was my very first event. I'll never forget being in a line of battle in the woods as Union troops retreated through our line followed by a solid line of Confederates who emerged out of the smoke like phantoms. I went down with the heat but was well cared for and recovered to hike back to my camp. The rebs had a water trough that they offered to dunk our heads in to cool us off. The portajohns were disgusting. One of our guys lost and recovered his forage cap from the top of the cone. We never took ice out of that hat again. The Laurel Hill fight was interesting. This time is was the rebs who circled behind the spectators and attacked our reserves. For a newbee, being told by the officers to ingnore the several hundred rebs that were shooting at us seemed pretty silly. Ultimately, the sight of one wave of Yankees after another slamming into the rebel works was memorable. The Mule Shoe was spectacular. Up well before dawn, we moved into position, formed columns of divisions, and went over the works with a "hurrah." The rebels counterattacked in waves and the fighting was heavy. I went through my whole cartridge box and my Enfield was hot to the touch. The sunrise on that smoky field was quite a sight and we managed to skedaddle before the rain. With all due respect to the OP, that event still ranks in my Top 10 after a nearly 40-year career.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

So what's the problem! That's how it was back then. Did the Antietam back 25 plus years ago. Due to the tall corn field we could not see and come to find out were firing into the backs of another regiment. Fun

Potential accidents aside, that's certainly enlightening about what the soldiers experienced in 1862!

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

@captaindrew didn't you have one bad reenactment in Rhode Island that you sent a picture to me of? I thought it consisted of an evening of your crew eating beans and everyone sleeping in a circle under a tent like thing because of the cold and wind.

 

[captaindrew]

@captaindrew didn't you have one bad reenactment in Rhode Island that you sent a picture to me of? I thought it consisted of an evening of your crew eating beans and everyone sleeping in a circle under a tent like thing because of the cold and wind.

I wouldn't call that bad but it was certainly memorable. It would rival the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles. That one came up over the weekend at Cedar Creek, the Holler Boys came up with another creation to keep warm, I safely stayed under my own shelter.

 

[7thWisconsin]

125th Wilderness was my very first event. I'll never forget being in a line of battle in the woods as Union troops retreated through our line followed by a solid line of Confederates who emerged out of the smoke like phantoms. I went down with the heat but was well cared for and recovered to hike back to my camp. The rebs had a water trough that they offered to dunk our heads in to cool us off. The portajohns were disgusting. One of our guys lost and recovered his forage cap from the top of the cone. We never took ice out of that hat again. The Laurel Hill fight was interesting. This time is was the rebs who circled behind the spectators and attacked our reserves. For a newbee, being told by the officers to ingnore the several hundred rebs that were shooting at us seemed pretty silly. Ultimately, the sight of one wave of Yankees after another slamming into the rebel works was memorable. The Mule Shoe was spectacular. Up well before dawn, we moved into position, formed columns of divisions, and went over the works with a "hurrah." The rebels counterattacked in waves and the fighting was heavy. I went through my whole cartridge box and my Enfield was hot to the touch. The sunrise on that smoky field was quite a sight and we managed to skedaddle before the rain. With all due respect to the OP, that event still ranks in my Top 10 after a nearly 40-year career.

Yes! That Laurel Hill fight was a memorable Charlie Foxtrot. I remember not engaging that mass of Confederates too, so we must have been pretty close together. The unit from California that I was with at the time often fired heavy loads. When the predawn order to "Load" was commanded, it was quickly followed by "For you guys from California, that's a regular load!" LOL

 

[RetiredCanuck]

125th Wilderness was my very first event. I'll never forget being in a line of battle in the woods as Union troops retreated through our line followed by a solid line of Confederates who emerged out of the smoke like phantoms. I went down with the heat but was well cared for and recovered to hike back to my camp. The rebs had a water trough that they offered to dunk our heads in to cool us off. The portajohns were disgusting. One of our guys lost and recovered his forage cap from the top of the cone. We never took ice out of that hat again. The Laurel Hill fight was interesting. This time is was the rebs who circled behind the spectators and attacked our reserves. For a newbee, being told by the officers to ingnore the several hundred rebs that were shooting at us seemed pretty silly. Ultimately, the sight of one wave of Yankees after another slamming into the rebel works was memorable. The Mule Shoe was spectacular. Up well before dawn, we moved into position, formed columns of divisions, and went over the works with a "hurrah." The rebels counterattacked in waves and the fighting was heavy. I went through my whole cartridge box and my Enfield was hot to the touch. The sunrise on that smoky field was quite a sight and we managed to skedaddle before the rain. With all due respect to the OP, that event still ranks in my Top 10 after a nearly 40-year career.

Great post that illustrates a large scale event can have vastly different outcomes for different people. Glad you had a good time on your first event!