Reenactors Bashed Again

[Greg Carter]

When I arrived home from work this evening I found the newest edition of FHM Magazine sitting on my desk. After passing the adds, technology articles and some photos of scantily clad pop celebrities, I found a bookmark left by my roommate on page 80...

REBELS WITHOUT APPLAUSE
They've got muskets in their pickups and cell phones on the battlefield: FHM discovers why people make fun of Civil War reenactors.

The article goes on for several pages bashing reenactors, or really bad reenactors, generally. It is colored with comments about both reenactors and spectators alike and features commentary by preservationist and hardcore reenactor Robert Lee Hodge. The article was photographed for at the 140th Gettysburg event in 2003.

Some choice comments-

"I'm hit!" cried Randall Sullivan, clutching his stomach and collapsing to the ground. "Corpsman!" he screamed. "Corpsman!" Hundreds of bodies were splayed on the battlefield. Sullivan tore at the soft ground, digging up clumps with his fingers. Advancing Confederate soldiers stepped over his convulsing body, bayonets pointed forward, charging through thick smoke toward the enemy. But as Sullivan gasped in the throes of death, all he could think about was lunch. The fog of war can do horrible things to a man, but the unmistakable smell of steak sandwiches cooking at a nearby concession stand can do far worse. Such is the life of a Civil War reenactor.

"This is about touching the past," explains Sullivan a half-hour after taking an imaginary bullet in the Friday morning battle that kicked off the weekend's events.

The main problem lies in getting soldiers to die. Fifty thousand men were either killed or wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg, but the reenactors fare far better. It's a lot like "The A-Team"- lots of shooting but nobody actuary getting hit. Since no real bullets are fired, the soldiers die when they feel like it, or at least when they don't feel like running around in the sun anymore.

"All the fat guys die first."

"They certainly didn't look like that tub of S - - - [expletive deleted here]," he says, pointing to a dying, supersized Confederate who seems in danger of exploding out of his authentic, hand-stitched wool trousers.

The reigning king of reenactment is Robert Lee Hodge, the focal point of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Confederates in the Attic.



And to think that people wonder why our hobby is in danger. Time to sell my stuff and get out while I am ahead.

GMC

[Robert Braun]

Greg.. an interesting article. Speaking as one who has participated more than a quarter-century in Civil War reenacting, I can offer you some additional perspective...

1. The hobby has ebbed and flowed depending on a number of internal and external variables. Indeed, in many ways the hobby mirrors the business cycle or the product lifecycle model. External variables include things like national wars (Vietnam seriously crippled the hobby after the Centennial), the Ken Burns series, and of course movies like "Gettysburg." We have seen internal factors affect reenacting... the rise of larger and larger reenacting entities, and the most stunning revelation to hit the hobby-- the internet.

2. In many ways, reenactors are their own worst enemy. "Authenticity" is first a state of mind... and too many reenactors (not just those in ACW) seem more focused on what "cheats" they can get away with than determining how best to solve problems the way their ninteenth century ancestors would. The more serious hobbyest will limit as far as possible modern intrusions, "cheats," and anachronisms to better fit his or her mental picture of the past. The less serious hobbyist will not-- and of course it is these folks that end up in the newspapers, magazines, and on the 6 p.m. news.

3. Another serious dynamic is at work in ACW reenacting, one so insidious that most aren't realizing it's taking place. This is "generationality." ACW is now populated by several generations... the largest of which is the tail end of the so-called 'baby boomer' generation. As these warriors age and eventually leave the hobby, there are frankly less and less people to take their places. Many (not all) of these new hobbyists know what they know from scanning internet pages. They didn't dig for the information themselves; didn't acquire the discipline necessary to patiently assemble data and make informed decisions... they simply stand on the shoulders of giants, read someone else's findings, and then take the next step. And too many times... as you have found in your article, the next step is backward. Why? Again... no sense of "process." They have no awareness or sense of taking step A, then step B, and testing these steps against the historical record. As such, too many plunge blindly ahead, and certainly seem determined to make every reenacting error in the book. And they wonder WHY they get lampooned by the press?!?

In some segments, the hobby has grown exponentially interms of real knowledge. Unfortunately, the translation of that knowledge into real interpretation or fieldcraft, remains an open question.

Yours...

Bob.

[Greg Carter]

Bob,

I agree with your synopsis completely. You can see at any event (and I can't speak for Rev War or 1812 or a few other periods) that there is a section of big tents full of "old people" who sit around and gripe then don't want to participate in anything, and there are the young who are just lazy or bored, doing their own thing somewhere else. Most reenactors I observe at stream events who are young and energetic are either mis-guided or so poorly schooled in history that they can't do things right.

I also find that with most reenactors younger than I (and some older) the focal point of a reenactment seems to be when the tators are removed from the park and the beer cans come out, or waiting for the older guys to fall asleep so the kids can sneak off into the dark with a reenactor of the opposite sex for a night of inappropriate behavior. Definitely disappointing.

In their defense, however, I recall in 2001 when I started this grand adventure, nobody helped me much either. (Bob I am sure you remember the dis-satisfaction letter I sent you when I reached "wit's end" about some things.) I think that has something to do with the younger reenactors stumbling off the path and cheating their way to doing things.

With that in mind, I am going to go and put my grill out by my tent. It's cold and I don't want to dig a fire pit.

GMC

[Robert Braun]

Greg... please! A grill outside your tent?

Could we at least us a hay bale or two? It would go well with your 1800s Sioux choker, 1750s weskit, Scots bonnet, 1850 Hawkin Bros. "Saint Lewee" percussion rifle, French Marine cartidge box, plug bayonet, basket hilted broadsword, neck knife, breechcloth, and... oh yes...

...one moccasin. ;D

Saw a real beauty of a reenactor at a recent Scout "Klondike Derby." When asked "Hey! Were's your coat?" our 'Mr. History' responded "Voyageurs were too poor to afford coats.'

I then in the space of a heartbeat IMMEDIATELY harkened back to your encounter with the famed Mactown Skinner... who had no idea what shoes, if any, were worn in the 1830s.

Ahhhh.... "rationalization." Mankind's second oldest endeavor.

Sorry. I am off-topic. We were lamenting about "Silly War," weren't we?

Apologies.... Bob.

[Jeffrey]

NOW ONLINE: Patriots Diary

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: PATRIOTS DAY

Premiering on PBS Monday, April 19, 2004 at 9pm ET (check
local listings)

PATRIOTS DAY, a one-hour reality-style documentary, follows
Revolutionary War reenactors as they prepare for and engage
in the annual Patriots Day reenactments in Lexington and
Concord, Massachusetts.

What do reenactors do to prepare for their roles? How do
they juggle 18th-century activities with 21st-century lives?
From now until broadcast, read regularly-updated diary
entries from Wayne McCarthy, a teacher and the captain of
the Lexington Minute Men, and Paul O'Shaughnessy, an
electrical engineer and the commanding officer of His
Majesty's Tenth Regiment of Foot.

Patriots Diary:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/patriotsday/diary.html
---Jeffrey Chown

[mpcavanaugh]

Several years ago I saw a similar type program that revolved around a Confederate foot solider and a freed black man (I think thats what he was). The foot solider came off a bit....well weird. When he would change for an event he would flip over a sandtimer and before starting said that when the sand was in the top bulb he was in '2000' and by the time the sand ran out he would be dressed and in '1864.' Personally it was a bit much for me, I guess I don't quite need to go into some sort of Zen like trance to get into the appropiate time frame.

Although I just bashed this guy it does bring up an interesting question, what do you do to get 'ready' Listen some period music, read a favorite journal passage or like me are you listening to whatever is in the CD player?

Mike

[Greg Carter]

Mike,

When I am getting psyched up for an event, all I have to do is look forward to the calibre of people I am going to be hanging around with, and the level of authenticity. I will admit grudgingly that I enjoy riding to the event or driving rather, and sharing qoutes from the favorite books, and occasionally some sea chanties or fife and drum music in the background.

Seriously, just packing my stuff into the back of my yellow bird gets me worked up, then as I near the event site and begin seeing the signs on the roads and what-not, that is all I need. I start getting the "seasonal itch" about mid-February, and it carries me through the whole year.

GMC