Why become a reenactor?

That is a question. I think that you may find several different answers. Among them would be an interest of the era, a fascination with military way of life, a fascination with the ways civilians lived, a love of history. I would think that you will find that every reenactor has elements of all of these. It would be foolish to dress and live the way they did 150 years ago without loving it in some way. The reenactor doesn’t just show up in costume and do things for the public. There are, as I understand it, three levels of reenactors.

Farbs: These people don’t try to be accurate in their reenactment. They have obviously machine made uniforms, they don’t spend a lot of time learning about the period or the people of the civil war. Picture the guy at Halloween who dresses like he was from the Civil War. The term “Farb” is used to describe something that is not period correct, Polyester and zippers for example.

The second level is probably the largest group. These are known as Mainstream: These are a combination between Farbs and Authentic campaigners. These people will look the part on the outside but may be wearing superman underwear. These people also in my experience will interact with the general public more accurately than the Farbs and more easily than the Authentic Campaigners.

The last group is obviously the Authentic Campaigners. These people live the 1860’s their dress is dead on accurate, their way of camping is dead on accurate, and their food is dead on accurate. It is the hardest form of reenacting because these people will lie down in the rain wrapped in a blanket and gum blanket and go to sleep. They are a great group and know more about the day to day life of a civil war soldier then anyone. 

Next I will talk about what role you may want to choose when reenacting.

Until then I am your servant, Pvt. Smith 21st GA Inf.

Why am I doing this then?

I am doing this blog because there are many websites out there for reenactors and they all have advice on how to start reenacting however, they all seem to be written by someone who has reenacted for a while. My first (and at this point in time, only) event was in September of 2010 in Angelica NY. I will say this if you are starting. I got this advice from the guy who brought me into the unit and I paraphrase here. Make your first small but established. If you can make it near where you live on the off chance that you hate it and want to go home. This makes perfect sense to me and pass this on to you as well. I am going to post what I buy and from where. I will give estimates on how much this will cost. I have found that there are many aspects to the hobby that i have never thought of. Someone needed to tell me, some of it I figured out myself, some of it I haven't run into yet. I will begin the list of things that I have found out later. Until then, I am your servant, Pvt. Smith 21st GA Inf.

Well isn't this new.

I have begun many blogs in my life. None of them have gone anywhere but then again I really never had a reason to have a blog. I have decided that I will try again as that I now have something to write about. in 1998 my brother and I went to Gettysburg National Park. I was 29 years old and my brother was 38. There on the battlefield was an artillery reenactment group. They were a New York unit of a number I do not remember. I do remember them being from New York because that is the state I am from. They went through the methods of firing a cannon and what the advantages were over the cannon from Napoleons age. I was absolutely enthralled with the idea of recreating this time period. I am an eighth grade history teacher now though at the time I was a movie theater manager. Now back in 1998 I had no idea how to get involved with something like reenacting and so this yearning to become a rebel or yank was placed on the back burner of my life as I attended to other things. About four years ago I was talking to a friend of mine who is also a teacher. During that conversation I told him the story of that artillery demonstration. He smiled and said that he belonged to a Union artillery reenactment unit. I was very excited about this and told him that I would love to be apart of this. He stated he would call when his unit was going to be in the area. I waited. Last year I was in a meeting and a member of my department told me that he was a member of the 21st Georgia Infantry Unit. I explained that becoming a reenactor was something I always wanted to try. He let me know that he would call when an event nearby was going to take place. I waited and then the phone rang. So last year in September of 2010 I was uniformed in borrowed cloths, out fitted with borrowed leathers, fired a borrowed 1853 3 band Enfield rifle, and slept in a borrowed tent. This was a great weekend and two weeks later I submitted an application to join this unit. The reason I am starting this blog is to discuss events I go to record the way in which I become a full fledge reenactor. This is my first post. I will add pictures of that event and others as I go to them. I also want to talk about the experience of joining this hobby. Being a teacher this is truly a challenge in time and money, more on that later. Until then, I am your servant, Pvt. Smith 21st GA Inf. Be Well