American Civil War Re-enactment

[nikimcbee]

I've been doing Civil Wat Re-enacting for 10 years now and here are some photos and videos of recent actions. Our unit is Pelham's Battery Stuart's horse Artillery (Confederate) and 1st US battery K (Union).


Confederate infantry
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/4299/csainfantrysz4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://my.imageshack.us/v_images.php)

Unloading a cannon
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/7134/limberactionet0.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://my.imageshack.us/v_images.php)

Waiting for the round to come forward
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/8527/roundforwardjr0.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://my.imageshack.us/v_images.php)

Casualties
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/884/carnagezk5.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://my.imageshack.us/v_images.php)

Ready to fire!
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/749/loadingms6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://my.imageshack.us/v_images.php)


Last years nightfire
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3350/civilwar009fg6.jpg (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/)






Videos

Firing the cannon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsZl3GH6GpA

Nightfire for 4th of July (the screen starts out black)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R272qM0_zE8

unloading the limber
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0RlMRN-Uj4

[UnderseaLcpl]

Great pics. I wish I could afford to be a re-enactor. Maybe when I get some more seniority at the RR......

[joegrundman]

What i want to know is...are you wearing longjohns?

[nikimcbee]

What i want to know is...are you wearing longjohns?

No! Too hot for me:oops: .

[Sailor Steve]

Great shots, mcnik. I always loved the massed artillery barage in Gettysburg. The 'Making of' documentary says that people could here it in town, several miles away.

[nikimcbee]

Great shots, mcnik. I always loved the massed artillery barage in Gettysburg. The 'Making of' documentary says that people could here it in town, several miles away.

Yeah that is may favorite part of the movie.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I don't get it. Why glorify a time period when we were trying to kill each other?

Where is the "glory" killing someone from your own country?

These Civil War re-enactment things are a disgrace - for either side.

It's over with and move on. The most SHAMEFULL thing to happen to the US of A.

Why honor it?

[Sailor Steve]

I don't think it's 'glorifying' it at all. It's nice to remember our past, and shooting cannons is more fun that looking at them in museums. I also kill fictional enemies on a gaming table, and I kill fictional fellow Americans with torpedoes and guns as they try to sail across the Atlantic. Am I 'glorifying' that as well? Should I quit?

[Stealth Hunter]

Steve... just put the u-boat down. Nobody wants anything bad to happen. Just put it down...:D ;)

[Monica Lewinsky]

I don't think it's 'glorifying' it at all. It's nice to remember our past, and shooting cannons is more fun that looking at them in museums.

Don't agree with you at all.

Visited a Veteran's Cementary in Rock Island, Illinois to pay respects to an "Uncle" that was dead before I was born [1953] in WWII he died in a Pacific battle - details unknown - NO ONE in our family knows. He was a lone-r ... i.e. don't bother me.

Found a Civil War section in the Cementary in Rock Island, IL. with 300-500 graves from the Civil War soldiers. ALL Union soldiers had 4-5 foot tall monument grave stones honoring them. Find a Confederate Soldier's grave, .... maybe the grave stone was BARELY 18" tall AND using your imagination for the height- WHY. Made no sense - THEN [2002] and TODAY.

Why carry the hate one hundred years + later?

Got no problem shooting guns and cannons, but dis-respect for the dead - NO WAY.

[Takeda Shingen]

Unless the stones in the cemetary were built and installed by Civil War reenactors, I don't think that it has a whole lot to do with the topic at hand. Nik is just trying to share a hobby of his. Let's not hijack his thread, okay? Start a new one if you want to discuss monumental parity.

The Management

[HunterICX]

:up:
Great pics Nikimcbee

I like the night barrage one

HunterICX

[bert8for3]

Great pics (edit/add: + videos) Nikimcbee, thanks for putting them up. :up:

I've always wanted to go down and see a reenactment live ... one of these days.

[August]

I've always loved to see reenactments. They have annual Revolutionary war versions up here in NE.

The only problem i have with them though is there are far too many old and fat men (like myself) and not enough skinny youngsters as would be realistic.

[mrbeast]

English Civil War (ECW) is very popular in the UK among re-enactors, American Civil War is quite popular too. I've seen a couple battles.

I saw an excellent ECW re-enactment of the Battle of Manchester. That was a really good show. I think there must have been at least a thousand guys there. Was very loud too, I was only a lad at the time and my ears were ringing from the cannon going off.

Saw a good American Civil War re-enactment too. Me and my father got to chat with a guy from Virginia (needless to say he was playing the part of a rebel) who was there with some of his group. This guy actually lived in the Shenandoah valley, the scene of Jackson's early victories. He told us that he actually used to go hunting with his rifled musket and once shot a deer with it.

I've been tempted to start myself but I can ever make my mind up which period to persue! :-?

[Randomizer]

Outstanding, many years ago I sort of wandered into Western IL (Mount Caroll and Savanna are the communities that I remember now) and a local re-enactor's group had just taken delivery of a brand new cannon for their Union battery. Big parade with speeches The whole area got into the spirit of the thing and it was awesome. Well done to you and thanks for sharing the pics.

[les green01]

civil war reacting is neat and fun,i had kin that fought for both sides and some was kill its my way of honoring them and it also good for teaching kids history,its probly a better way to teach them i would love to do a orgon trail one i also do the mountain men reactments:up:

[nikimcbee]

Imageshack was giving me problems, here's the rest of the photos.

(note, sorry I'll re-size these when I get home off work, I didn't realize they were ginormous size.)

Fun for kids:
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/5177/alexandcannonss8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://my.imageshack.us/v_images.php)


Ol' Fat 1st LT McBee
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/2880/infrontoftentpy6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://my.imageshack.us/v_images.php)

[nikimcbee]

English Civil War (ECW) is very popular in the UK among re-enactors, American Civil War is quite popular too. I've seen a couple battles.

I saw an excellent ECW re-enactment of the Battle of Manchester. That was a really good show. I think there must have been at least a thousand guys there. Was very loud too, I was only a lad at the time and my ears were ringing from the cannon going off.

Saw a good American Civil War re-enactment too. Me and my father got to chat with a guy from Virginia (needless to say he was playing the part of a rebel) who was there with some of his group. This guy actually lived in the Shenandoah valley, the scene of Jackson's early victories. He told us that he actually used to go hunting with his rifled musket and once shot a deer with it.

I've been tempted to start myself but I can ever make my mind up which period to persue! :-?

I've heard that US Civil War is very popular in Europe. I would love to do Napoleonic re-enacting, but it is very expensive.:damn:

If you don't want to sink a lot of money into it, I recommend US Civil War, and any Confederate infantry or artillery (sans cannon:shifty: ) unit. The uniforms, for the most part are very inexpensive and simple. The Union units are very picky on what you need to wear, and needless to say are moderatly expensive. You could probably put together a basic Confederate outfit for around $200 (sans weapon).

[nikimcbee]

Unless the stones in the cemetary were built and installed by Civil War reenactors, I don't think that it has a whole lot to do with the topic at hand. Nik is just trying to share a hobby of his. Let's not hijack his thread, okay? Start a new one if you want to discuss monumental parity.

The Management

@ML
Sheesh, I had interenet problems so I couldn't respond last night. I read your post last night and all I'll say is that I've heard this arguement before. I think I understand your reasons why you don't like re-enacting (Civil War atleast). Per Tak's recommendations:lol: I'll stick to the subject, but 100% agree with Sailor Steve.

Basically, here's my thoughts on re-enacting.


There is more to re-enacting than the fighting. You have the civilian side, and general camp life.
I'd say that most re-enactors (>90%) have a very deep respect for the people, time period, and subject matter that they are trying to potray.
Re-enacting (living history) is a great way to generate interest in (US) history. We do school presentations. It is also a great way to combat revisionist history.:stare: Some school districts have tried to dictate what we can and cannot present:stare: . I believe we have boycotted these districts. Basically, they want us to represent the South as a bunch of racist ya-hoos or only talk about Union stuff.
There are three basic types of re-enactors: 1. Hardcore. They are contecting with their past relative's adventures. The only eat stale 2 year old hardtack and saltpork. They embrace chiggers and ticks. They piss on their buttons, so they look authentic. (you get the drift). 2. The weekend warrior. This is the opposite of #1. (and they don't play nicely together BTW:dead: ) They are basically camping with guns and gunpowder. They have little knowledge of the history, but they love shootin' the guns and the uniforms look cool. 3. The historian. They have their inflatable matress' and ice chests hidden in their tents. But they have a keen respect for the subject matter and accuracy w/o pissing on their buttons or eating 2 year old hardtack for each meal. I'm a #3 and 1 and 2 are the minority I think, they don't mesh well with others.
You can't beat the comradery around the campfire each night. Or the Period dances, or unit traditions.I'd invite you to come out and try it out with us. There is nothing cooler than firing a 12lb 1857 Napoleon:up: . Ride on the limber. Sit around the campfire and BS til 1 am. Participate in a pirate attack on the civilian camp:hmm: . Mostly, it's a great time and has very little to do with the actual fighting.

[Monica Lewinsky]

For you Civil War nuts:

http://learnabit.homeserver.com/lab/gettysburg.jpg






http://learnabit.homeserver.com/lab/Lincoln.jpg

[Kapt Z]

Does your battery ever fire live rounds on a target range?

I looked into a local artillery group here in Jersey some years ago and they were very proud of the live round target competitions they had taken part in. They had large size sheets of paper with life size representations of either a cannon or a group of troops. Pretty impressive accuracy too.

I always thought re-enacting was the best way to excite kids about history. It can be hard to look at a empty field and try and explain what it went on there. Always looked like a lot of fun too. Wish I had the time!

[les green01]

it is alot of fun

[Captain Vlad]

The reenactment thing also lets you get some...hint, some barest fraction of an idea of what people on both sides went too. Sure, no one really dies in a reenactment, but late that night, when you realize how many people were make-believe killed, you start thinking about what it would've been like if all those people today never got up again.

[horsa]

Wow, living History ... that's the way to do it :D

Fascinating insight into the diffferent types who do this sort of thing. I did tabletop wargaming for a number of years and sometimes got the "unhealthy blood lust " arguement levied at it. Made me laugh ... mildest bunch of pussy cats you could ever wish to meet. Some of them did immature very well, but blood lust .... nah .

BTW, Jason, are you the cool dude in the photo above .... the one with the chest pains ? :D

[horsa]

ML above ... now that's funny :rotfl:

[nikimcbee]

Wow, living History ... that's the way to do it :D

Fascinating insight into the diffferent types who do this sort of thing. I did tabletop wargaming for a number of years and sometimes got the "unhealthy blood lust " arguement levied at it. Made me laugh ... mildest bunch of pussy cats you could ever wish to meet. Some of them did immature very well, but blood lust .... nah .

BTW, Jason, are you the cool dude in the photo above .... the one with the chest pains ? :D

yup, that's my Napoleon look.:smug: If I had blue eyes, I'd buy me a grey coat and be Napoleon. I hear he was pretty short, so it would be a perfect fit.:)

[Safe-Keeper]

There isn't a Civil War FPS game/mod out there someplace, is it? Would be quite interesting.

[joegrundman]

Although it's not ACW, the nearest thing for musket and cavalry would be the Napoleonic mod for Rome Total War

[Sailor Steve]

BTW, Jason, are you the cool dude in the photo above .... the one with the chest pains ? :D

yup, that's my Napoleon look.:smug: If I had blue eyes, I'd buy me a grey coat and be Napoleon. I hear he was pretty short, so it would be a perfect fit.:)
Yeah, that's him all right. And now you have a real (i.e. non-doggy-head) picture to show!:rotfl:

[les green01]

one thing to think about more troops for both sides die to diseases and such than battles,also i think there a lot of misunderstanding about the battle flag