new thoughts on reenacting.

having been a reenactor for 9 years before this internship, I have striven to be as accurate as possible, in how I live, what gear I use, ect, ect.

I have learned a whole ton while I've been here, and I continue to learn.
This learning is what is making me excited to go home and share so much about what I've learned.

Some of the big things I've learned here include:
Social aspects to the Union soldier.

Forms of dress for soldiers and civilians during the time.

How to properly perform the duties of a Provost Guard.

How to perform all the duties involved in a cannon crew.

What it feels like to march in a West Virginia summer while
wearing full equipment.

What a bivouak on an original Battlefield feels like.

What the real soldiers had to put up with in the terrain.

These are just a few, and I'll try and talk about some of these things here in this post..

Social aspects to the Union soldier:
This was interesting, as many people might think that all Union soldiers were driven by some passion for ending slavery and such. Well... thats not always the case. To be sure, there were certainly abolitionist soldiers in the ranks, but many had other reasons for putting on the blue suit, ranging from wanting the extra $13 per month, to thinking that they'd win honor, glory, women, and riches by joining, or simply because they were bored at home. Its interesting to think about all these differences, and I'll probably do another post about the character of these men later on, but for now, this will suffice.


Forms of dress for soldiers and civilian men (I'm not even going near women's fashions):
Now, at reenactments, you'll see men taking off coats and vests when it gets too hot, rolling up their sleeves, and unbuttoning the top of their shirts. You'll see them go about without hats and such, and if they do have a hat, they almost never acknowledge women as they pass with the required tipping of the hat. Now, in the mid 19th century, if you're doing this, you are generally considered not only an arrogant (refrains from further comment), but also a very scandalous and risque sort of person for doing such things as going about without at least a vest, and especially rolling up your sleeves or unbuttoning your shirt. To be sure, if you are in the army, with (hopefully) no women about and you're hauling a cannon up that hill, its only natural to strip down to help in your effort to keep cool while hauling 500+ pounds up that long slope.

The reason for this is two fold: first, living in the 19th century, you are concerned for your health, which explains wearing 4 layers. More on that in a second. Secondly, if there is any skin showing on you at all, it should only be your face and your hands, if you are a fashionable gentleman. If you are one of the Richmond or Boston elite, you wear gloves over your hands as well, and never dream of going outside without them. Any skin other than your face and hands showing should be reserved for interaction with the opposite sex, only in a marital nature.

Okay, if you're wearing 4 layers, why in heavens name does that mean you're concerned for your health?? Well, the simple fact is, germs don't exist in the 19th century. Whats a germ? No such thing, silly, thats an old wive's tale! Whats making me sick is bad air of course! Bad air from swamps, cold air, and such things. Well, what am I going to do to protect myself? I am going to start layering up, so that the air can't touch my skin and it will have a harder time making me sick. I'll start by wearing :cough: long johns, then have my shirt over that. Those will be followed up by my wool trousers and my best, with the shirt being secured by a tie, and topped off by the hat and jacket. There! Now I'm safe, and I shouldn't get sick! ......right?

I'm going to skip over a few that I've kinda already talked about.
What marching in a West Virginia summer feels like wearing full gear.

I'll tell ya, this is a lot different than marching around in an Oregon summer.
First off, its flipping HOT out here.

The average temperature here has been around 93, including several days where we wearing the above mentioned layers in 100+ degrees temperature. Wheras in Oregon, the average temperature is roughly, MAYBE, 70 degrees out. So for those of you who I have heared complaining how hot reenacting has been lately, I respectfully tell you to be quiet. :P

Also, aside from the 4 layers you are wearing, you are carrying an 11 pound musket, at least 15 pounds of leather gear (bayonet, canteen, ammo, ect), and if you're hard core, you're carrying a 40 pound backpack. So effectively you are marching around in hobnailed brogans, carrying roughly 60 extra pounds of weight, and if you are a true soldier, you're doing 20 miles a day, at least.

"Colonel darlin', if you please, would you ride the horse that the good Lord provided instead of marching around in the hot damn dirty dust!?"~Buster Kilrain "Gettysburg"



The last subject I'll cover for this post is
What a bivouak on an original battlefield feels like:
Several weeks ago, I had the great honor and privilage to camp on the Bolivar heights battlefield for artillery weekend, which is exactly what I will be doing come Friday night.

We laid out under the stars, tending a fire throughout the night, and slept not 20 feet from the original Union intrenchments on top of the heights. Looking up at the stars without any city lights nearby, and only a slight rumble of traffic on nearby highway 340, I feel I had a fairly similar experience to both Union and Confederate soldiers alike.

I felt strangely close, like at any moment some soldiers might walk out of the woods and ask to share the fire. Or that I might hear a distant gunshot from the picket line.

At dawn I was up, and I was lucky enough to watch the sunrise come up, with the sky going from dark to light blue, then turning to a faint pink shade which turned into a beautiful bright red.

This is a unique experience to here on the east coast, simply because we don't have large battlefields in Oregon, and the closest things we have are the old forts like Fort Yamhill and Fort Hoskins, which thankfully, I will be able to do living history at when I return. It is a very cool experience, and one that I am looking forward to having again starting Friday night. :)