The public always seemed impressed with the fact that CW soldier on the march, lived with what he could carry on his back.

I always had fun on the preservation marches. Living under the stars. Of course it never rained on these marches. And they never lasted more than a couple days. But they were fun none the less.

When I was ranting about the CW camp, I had a particular camp in mind, but the same basic rules can apply. A Civil War unit would carry enough to do what it had to do at that time. If on a campaign, it would be light and more primitive. If they were representing a garrison unit, even for a short time, they would have more equipment, boxes and etc. around the camp. For example, period axes and even a crosscut saw. When they took the rails off Farmer Smith’s fenceline, they would want to cut them up to usable length before the provost caught them! Period cooking equipment is another example. They had to eat and if they were in one place for a while, it would probably be more elaborate, even if they had to requisition it from Rebel civilians.

As Misha points out, I have a large WWII setup. I think this may be a reaction to the fact that the Fritzes always have so much stuff for the public to look at, while we poor proletarians come out somewhat on the short end, particularly with vehicles. Also, since I am out here away from most other Red Army reenactors, I have had to be pretty self-sufficient as far as collections go for local events. (Although, I do have some great volunteers helping me here.)

I think there are two approaches to living history and both are valid. One is the Spartan approach which Misha mentions. This gives the average spectator a picture of what life was really like for the average grunt and is very real.

The second is what I will call the ‘museum’ approach. It is kind of a case of “I’ve got it and I would like to share the experience with everybody else,” thing. I may go overboard, but I think there is room for both philosophies.

Maybe the best rule of thumb is to ask yourself, “Does this help in some way to really bring history alive to the public?” If the answer is yes, then we probably are living up to the goal of memorializing the brave, fascinating people we represent at our various events.

And of course my pet peeve. Getting within 50 yards of the enemy and blasting away. 450 yards were probably more realistic.

I agree our camps could be better. That’s an age old argument and one which some reenactors get upset about. It seems we could strike a balance between a hard core camp and the 21st century camp.

Another issue which bothers me a bit is reenacting during a time when our nation’s troops are actually engaged in combat. During the first Gulf War, I refused to participate. I didn’t think it right. Well that war didn’t last long enough to cause me to miss an event. Then afterwards some vets of that conflict said that they appreciated my thoughts, but really didn’t mind or even think twice about reenacting taking place during the war. Still I wonder about it now.

I think the Civil War vets, for what I have read wanted to be remembered. They wanted the nation to remember the sacrifices they made and they wanted the nation to confirm what they did was right and what they fought for was necessary. Certainly most would look at reeancting as a way of remembering and honoring what they did.

You are really on stride here. Yes, you do travel heavy and I always seem to bring the rain forcing you and John (Evan) to grab the tarps. Your displays really draw them in and I too find them fascinating. Anyway, being new to the scene as you know I am, I can take more of an outsiders point of view here. I enjoy the displays but I find “spartan” in the living quarters more realistic. I don’t always see this and it bothers me when I see office boxes and plastic soda bottles and convience store wrappers lying around. Wood rather than aluminum cots would be more appropriate as well. I’m not pointing to our unit so much here but I do wander through the camps and see things from all that aren’t on the mark.
Consider that many of these armies we reenact were on the move. “Spartan is best.” Even when I was fortunate enough to spend 30 days (max) in one area during my time in service (in the field at least) we didn’t have a lot of stuff haning around and always kept things ready to pick up and move. Yeah we would have a little cooking area, some tents and a place to wash set up, maybe a building appropriated but we wouldn’t be mulling around either. There would be guard duty/perimeter watch. Sure space is limited, esp at living history events, but it is something that is doable and adds to the realism. It was something I tried to present at the door of out little school house at OBV until the sun got the better of me.
I hope I’m not getting off base here.

As a visitor, the campsites I find best are the ones that get the public involved. Like we try to present to folks at 193rd events: “come on in, we’ll sign you up, eat our borscht, break bread with us, come around the camp fire and talk of glory.” Most people like to interact but are too shy to come up and get involved in it. Not all reenactors go out of their way to make them feel welcomed either. I feel as a reenactor I’m there to learn, to teach, and to have a great time and I hope it rubs off on the public and my fellow reenactors alike.

As you can tell by this I like to talk. We also have to make the newer members feel welcomed as it takes time and money to build a good impression so the experienced guys can help here by guiding the newer ones along not asserting there ideas on them. Cliques are bad for reenacting, too. Sure it happens in the service as well sometimes but these are not true units, at least not the ones you go into battle with. I’ve experienced both…I know who my brothers are and would trust my life. If I should have fallen they would have taken care of mine as their own. we had that understanding. Hopefully this comraderie can come through in reenactment. That’s realism but then again perhaps it’s idealism…there’s something to chew on.