blog post- revised
The civil war was the one of the most gruesome wars the US has ever been in. It was fought in over 10,000 different locations. To today, it is the war with the most amounts of US casualties, over 650,000 soldiers killed. It seems as though it would be a difficult task to completely turn oneself into a person of the 1800’s. But with lots of practice and studying, civil war re-enactors are able to recreate history. Civil War reenactments are meant to teach educate the public about the war because re-enactors do not want it to be forgotten. Reenactments are an amazing teaching tool; it is as if having the war happen right in front of your own eyes. A re-enactors goal is to educate you on the war that overwhelmed our country from 1861–1865. The main purpose of a Civil War re-enactor is to keep history alive and keep today’s generation from forgetting about the most devastating war the US has ever been in.
They bring a piece of history back to life in a way that a movie could never do. There are four main categories of Civil war re-enactments:
Living Histories- this includes weapons demonstrations(how to shoot and load a gun), and portraying the everyday life on a normal soldier. These re-enactors use the same types of equipment, such as guns and tents, and eat the same food that was around during this war.
Public Demonstrations- smaller versions of scripted battles. These battles are more loose interpretation of actual battles of the war.
Tactical battles- These battles are not open to the public. They are fought like real life battles and each side must come up with they’re own strategies to beat the enemy. While scripted battles and public demonstrations are done for public interests, tactical battles are fought for private viewings.
Scripted battles- These battles are planned so that each side fights the same way the actual Union and Confederate soldiers fought. This type of battle is most often viewed because of safety and public satisfaction.
Civil war re-enactors are only able to reproduce a small part of the Civil War, but that small part that they are able to bring back to life is done with such accuracy that it leaves one to believe they are actually witnessing a war. Civil war reenactments offer much more than just a battle. Some had only the battle of its hometown, while many others had duels, fashion shows, and meet and greets with a person or soldier of the civil war period. They demonstrate the creation of different tools that were needed and even practiced church services. Re-enactments are available almost anywhere. The National Civil War Association even has links that can help one organize events for schools.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_reenactors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War
http://www.ncwa.org/index1.htm