What Role do I Want to Play?

This is a very good question. It can be answered by what you want to do. Most people believe that reenacting is just a bunch of guys with uniforms and rifles playing at war. I can understand this first impression given that the guns are the loud smoking things on a battlefield. Men walking in ranks and firing in unison is an eye catching sight. Once you get past the glitz and glitter of men in full wool marching in 98 degree heat to fire blanks at each other you will see a large group of non-uniformed people.

Civilians: in my unit these people are in the majority. Camp wives, city civilians, photographers, ministers, and general town folk make up the civilians. These people will cheer passing troops, know what was eaten by common folk and how to prepare it, know stories of life at home during the war. Being a civilian is perfect if you don’t want to march everywhere or carry a rifle, or you find that the era was much more interesting on a whole. Civilians are an important part of the reenactment world to bring to life the whole of the period and educate the populous about this aspect of the mid to late 1800’s .

Musicians: Play a fife, drum, guitar, banjo, or almost any other form of instrument that can be traced back to the civil war or before? Then the musicians’ life may be for you. Civilians and Military had their own bands. Most reenactments have Balls in the evening and almost every battle has a band playing troops to the field and in some cases during the battle.

Medical Corps: This is almost always a military group. Surgeons, nurses, orderlies make up the medical corps. These people also move with the military onto the battlefield and will give “aid” to the wounded. They will educate the populous about Civil War medicine. Some will recreate a surgeons tent and explain the methods and tools used.

Military (finally): I left this to last because I wanted to make sure that people read the other choices that are out there before they went to the what is probably the main reason most people first become reenactors. There are also several different kinds of military you can join.

1)      Infantry: The back bone of the military. In the Civil war more than 3 million men combined north and south in the infantry. Marching, drilling, rifle practice, major engagements. This is the life of the infantrymen. It is also the group who can get closest to the action. The ones who will die at the feet of the enemy. This is the roll I chose to portray and truly enjoy it.

2)      Cavalry: Now I am out of by depth a little. During the Civil war the cavalry were the eyes and ears of any army on the march. They were the fast flanking movement and the delaying action. I do believe that to be in the cavalry you will need to provide your own horse. I will have conversations with members of the horse brigades as I meet them to find out. I do know that many of the northern cavalry had the first breach loading rifles during the war and were experts at dismounted actions.

3)      Artillery: The cannon on the field. These units unload their ordinance on approaching infantry, or weaken held positions before the infantry go in. It is an expensive part of the hobby as that each time a cannon fires the unit spends about $7. This can add up over a weekend of firing. They are loud, require much training but I do have a few friends who are in artillery units and they tell me that they would never do anything else. “It’s all about the Boom!”

4)      Navy: I must admit that I know nothing about the navy aspect. I do know that they are out there and that there very well may be a ship or two. That is about as much as I know.

What ever you chose to portray there is a spot for you. I chose infantry because of a couple of reasons. I enjoy the tension of fire and run. It seems that for a ll the time in preparation the battle tends to move very fast once it gets going. I also have a unit right here in my town. I was approached by my fiends about the artillery but they travel about an hour for meetings. I have about a ten minutes drive. This is a personal preference thing.

Next time I will talk about what you need to become a reenactor.

Till then I am your obedient, Pvt. Smith 21st GA Inf.