If you are just starting out in the hobby, why don't you tell us what got you interested?

I'll start.

In high school our year was divided up into 4 “marking periods.” As a junior and a senior you were allowed to select “mini” courses, which were 2 marking periods each. In 11th grade I took Civil War 1 & 2 and in 12th grade I took Reconstruction 1 & 2. But it wasn’t just the courses. The teacher I had, Mr. Smore, loved the Civil War time period. And, he was very animated; this wasn’t just some boring history class. We had field trips each marking period (The PA State Museum, a Museum in Maryland I can’t remember, Gettysburg and Antietam).  Living in an area so rich with CW history didn’t hurt either. And, I’ve always read everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with the CW. The first reenactment I attended was 135th Gettysburg, as a spectator. And, frankly, I was very disappointed with the lack of history portrayed at the event. (That’s my opinion. I in no way want anyone to feel I’m talking down to them.) That’s when I decided I was going to do this thing. Finally in 1998, I got a job where I didn’t have to work weekends, and started looking at units. And I finally landed in the Co. K 83rd PV, a group of guys I enjoyed being around and portrayed history in a way that was comfortable for me. And well; some several years later, here we are. I am currently a member of the 83rd PV and Columbia Rifles, both members of the Potomac Legion. I have served two terms as President of the Potomac Legion and am currently serving as Vice President. I've had one article published, in the "Civil War Historian Magazine," on the "Winter of '64" event held in February 2006, thanks to the help of Kevin O'Beirne. I’ve started collecting antiques and documents from the time period. Currently I am collecting information on how goods were distributed from the major depots to the soldier himself.(There's another topic for discussion all together.)  I have been told by my wife on more than one occasion that, “I don’t need anymore Civil War stuff.” She has obviously never herd of the, “He who has the most toys wins” rule.

And I like this hairy dancing guy:

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Ken Cornett wrote : If you are just starting out in the hobby, why don't you tell us what got you interested?

I always enjoyed history.  And growing up in Upstate NY, there was plenty of F&I or Rev War stuff to check out, but I never thought about the Civil War.  An occasional trip with the Scouts to Gettysburg or Fredericksburg.  And then my parents moved to Georgia and said they saw something in the paper about a reenactment.  So they went to it and it was the anniversary event of the first prisoners arrival at Andersonville. And they brought them in on some boxcars and then marched them to the prison area.  

The following summer after college I was living down in GA at home and my dad and I went to a local reenactment and it seemed neat.  And I decided I would find out what one needed to do to participate.  I found a group from my town, joined up and then a year later moved to PA (work related).  I found a group here and have worked my way up from private in the ranks to 1st Sgt and also President of the group.  

At the same time I have also started to go back through my old magazine collection.  And start to build a library (bookcase) of civil war related books so that I can peruse them for information along with my copy of the OR's on CD-rom.

I started out enjoying the blowing of powder but now I have found enjoyment in searching for/ being in the moment.

I just started out by attending the Company Meeting of the 6th OVI in January and attended the winter dust off a week ago.
Civil War history was always my favorite part of history when I was in school.  I read constantly and wish I had kept it up but have forgotton so much it isn't funny.
My dad retired in 1965 and promised to take me on tours of CW battlefields. Unfortunately, we barely ever left the state of Ohio. Anyway, for years I subscribed to CW magazines and always talked about reenacting but work, job transfers and simply not knowing how to go about it kept it a fantasy.  Doing geneaology I discovered that my ggr had joined the 49th KY Vol. Inf (Union) as a musician (drummer) in Sept 1863 and was mustered out 24-Dec-1864 and re-upped accordng to NARA records in March 1865 in Halls Gap Battalion and was mustered out in July 1865 as a private.
Thus, this confirmation fueled my desire to seriously consider getting into the action.  Thus, I was able to contact Ken and others of the 6th OVI and here I am.  There's hardly a night goes by that I don't wake up having had some dream involving a sack coat and going thorugh the Manual of Arms.

Tom,

man that must have been one big "reenacting bug" that bit you!  That's great though, we so desparately need new blood in this hobby.  The folks on this forum will definitely help you out when you have a question.

Well here's my story.

I've had a love of history as long as I can remember.  In my senior year in high school, I took a course the was dedicated to the Civil War.  A whole semester on the Civil War!  The only thing better would have been a full year.  After high school I fell away from it a bit, but I loved to watch the History Channnel, and Civil War Journal.  In '04 my wife and I took a trip to Gettysburg, and the flame was rekindled.  I thought back then about how much I'd like to reenact, but figured I could not afford it, after seeing the cost of the gear at those shops in Gettysburg.  But, I started to read about the WBTS agian.  Fast forward to last October, '06.  I took my nephews to a Reenactment in Fremont OH, at the Hayes Presidential Center.  The smell of the camp fires, the boom of he muskets and cannon, really got to me.  I started thinking about being a reenactor agian.  Now having internet access I set out to research it.  

I sat and thought about thing really hard.  I reach a decision.  I thought about my Mother, who died at age 53, and my father-in-law who past at age 52.  It hit me.  You never know how much time you have on the earth.  So, when your here, if there's something you want to do, DO IT!  I thought about the fun I had singing in a rock band.  It didn't last too long, but If I never did it, I would have regreted it.  Same thing here.  So, seeing as how I now have a decent career started, I started to look around, at various groups.

I picked the 51st O.V.I. because, after talking to the company president(who answered all of my questions and put me at ease about the things that worried me) it seemed like a good fit for me.  Then I set out to find gear that would be of good quality (mainstream mind you, but not junk), that I could fit into my budget.  

So now here I sit, in February with snow on the ground with the worst case of winter blues I've ever had, because I have something to look forward to this spring/summer, besides just the anual family vacation.  Though that's always fun.  I've been a really kind of a shut in recently, and I'm tired of it.  I want to get outside and enjoy myself, get some exercise.  Man!  I can't wait.  

Anthony,

My Mess No.1 mates and I have a slogan: "Beyond the Gear!"  It's what you put into it that matters.

I'll agree whit Ken here. The material culture can be more easily overlooked if one does their best to act like a CW soldier or civilian.

Amen!  But the stuff I got looks pretty good for what it is.  It's from C&C.  I took a big risk getting the unifor package, but I'm satisfied, and I saved a few bucks.

The bug has definitely bitten me Ken.  I wish it had done so sooner when I was a wee bit younger but so be it.  I've been sharing with everyone that talks to me about my "first" opportunity at the Caesars Creek dust off.  Everyone is shocked with the temperature being so cold...but at least we were in the cabin with the fire going but this bald head got cold everytime someone went to the sinks during the night!  My wife's gonna knit me a nightcap from an original pattern we found to solve that problem!
I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas (waiting for my trousers to arrive)!

  I am in my second year of mainsteam re-enacting. I got an interest in the Civil War and it's soldiers by accident.I was visiting the cemetary in Mason, Ohio, (This is where my ancestors have been laid-to-rest for generations.)I came across a large tombstone with my family name on it. The grave had one of those brass Civil War Veteran markers on it.I had no idea who this was. I investigated and found a wealth of information.(Family , County records, Library records and the National Archives)I was hooked. After overcoming some physical problems , I started searching for a re-enactor group.Using the internet, I contacted several regiments. Some have never replied. The "Great" 6th Ohio, Company A returned my inquiries.I went to there January planing meeting and they warmly welcomed me.Their First Sargent,(Ken Cornett) was very helpful and friendly.I am realy too old for the 6th. At 57 and not very physically fit , they made a place for me.I am improving my impression a little each event and am having a lot of fun.That's about it. Keep your powder dry. The Union Forever.

Pvt. Dan Girton
Company A , 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
(Home is Middletown, Ohio)      

It would have been difficult to avoid an interest in the Civil War.  It was almost force fed.  During my childhood and adolescence much time was spent under the tutelage of my grandparents.  My grandmother was one of those saintly ladies who taught school for forty years in classrooms in which multiple grades were present.  She was educated and this was an era in which women were not expected to be educated.  Not only had she graduated from the “Normal College” off down in Hattiesburg, MS, but this grand lady actually had a masters degree.  She was the greatest story teller I ever knew.   She effortlessly entertained the child.  After the child grew up, she could easily distract a busy young man from his conquest of the irrelevant and make him listen to stories from her prodigious intellect.  These wonderful accounts were presented in such an extraordinary manner they are retained to this day.

She loved to tell of her relatives in Pontotoc County, MS, who went off to the war.  That war, of course, happened to be the Civil War.  After the war, these elderly, and not so elderly, veterans would talk and swap stories.  Many of the men came from the same unit and were in the war together.  Mostly, they knew each other before the war.  The young girl who would eventually be my grandmother would listen.  She did not allow a disconnect.  She conscientiously passed these anecdotes on to the next two generations.

There were the stories of her father, Pappy Witt, who surrendered to Grant at Vicksburg one never to be forgotten Fourth of July.  He and his horse slowly walked back to Pontotoc County, Mississippi.  The horse, after being nursed and its needs met, regained its strength and a garden was made that fed several families.

She would tell of teaching school, hog killing, drying fruit, black gum tooth brushes, watching birds, frozen sheets on clothes lines, genealogy, muscadine gathering, bad bulls, black jack timber, pecan leaves falling, mean roosters, black iron wash pots, tomato juice, drawing water, gardens, icy winters, measuring shadows, cutting timber, and dogs.  Places, events, people, circumstances, dates, and incidents were all locked in that incredible memory.

These were not inane ramblings.  These were not folk tales or prevarications.  Not being made up as they were told, no exaggeration or elaboration corrupted them.  No allegories these.  They were full bore narratives with enough body, soul, depth, meaning, and essence to endure long past the telling.  Message, lesson, legend, tradition, instruction, and sermon all blended together.  Not only did they happen, but they happened exactly as she said they happened.  All of them were well marinated in fact and truth.  This was not fiction.

One of my favorites was of a local gentleman who, living in the same community as she, enjoyed reading.  He would gather all of his hand guns and lay them out, fully loaded, on the front porch.  (This was called a front gallery)  He would then settle down and proceed to enjoy Zane Grey.  When the action became tense or animated, so would he.  He assumed the role of the characters in the book.  When the shooting started, so would he.  When he got to the really "good" parts, he would jump up, throw the book in the yard, and shoot toward it.  Fortunately, he enjoyed his reading, so he never hit the book.  (He happened to be an expert with those hand guns.  He regularly took game with these same guns.)  After composing himself, the hand guns were all loaded, he, once again, proceeded to read.  Every one in the community knew when he was enjoying a good read.

Another story concerned one of the young men who came home from the war and never touched another gun.  Prior to going off to war he had been an accomplished hunter.  Much of the meat that his family ate had been procured because of his hunting expertise.  No explanation was offered other than he got enough shooting in the war to last him a life time.  

And then there was Missy.  Missy is a legend in our family.  There are many, many Missy stories.  Her real name was Della Booth, but no one called her anything except Missy.  Missy was born into slavery.  Her mother died as Missy was being born.  Before she died, Missy's mother asked my grandmother's father to take her infant daughter and raise her.  This was the same Pappy Witt who walked home from Vicksburg.  It was he who owned Missy’s mom.  He honored this mother's request and upheld his end of the arrangement.  Missy lived in the same house with his family.  When the family moved from Pontotoc County to Hohenlinden, MS, Missy moved with them.  Missy helped raise the child who later was to be my mother.  She never lived anywhere other than in my grandmother's family.  She lived to be 93.  My grandmother was responsible for putting the marker on Missy's grave in the Callahan Cemetery.

Fast forward to 1993 when my son, who was a middle school student, said, “Daddy, I want to do Civil War reenactment.”  Cut through some more years, a whole lot more stuff, and here on Father’s Day in 2007 that boy has finished his own masters degree is working off in some far away land called Wisconsin.  His dad, that would be me, crippled, dumpy, propped up on a cane, still enjoys that wonderful aroma that others so irreverently refer to as the odor of wet wool.

By the way, not only was the Civil War served up by my grandmother, so was her occupation.  I retired with 34 years in Mississippi public education.  

How did I get started?
Along with most everyone else here, began with a deep seated affinity for history. As a child, I became an avid reader, and sharpened my affininty to American and then American military history. Numerous trips to Gettysburg and Colonial Williamsburg planted the seeds in my mind. I grew, through my reading, facinated with the 19th century. This facination developed over time into an effort to try to understand how those people lived, and what made them do the things they did. Reading only gets you so far, there aqre some things you just have to experience. My initial foray into this arena, was with the N-SSA, competatively live firing the weapons from the era. It was during this phase that I began to look into the material culture side of things. Sutler row uniforms were too uncomfortable and my experiences did not correspond with what I had read. I became determined to further my knowledge and researched uniform patterns and materials. Next came the desire to expeience what those brave men experieinced and to try to learn the why behind the whats. A defect in my vision, precluded me from competing any longer and this gave me the push I needed to get into the field. At first I fell in with a few infantry units looking for a home but always felt something was missing. A rediscovery of my other childhood passion, led me to the cavalry and its where I feel the most at home. Attending events while living out of the saddle, learning how to use only the gear that was issued and how it was intended satisfys my quest for knowledge, for the time being.

It was after I began to reenact that I learned that my family supplied soldiers to both sides of the conflict, a company officer in 1st Maine Cavalry and an ordinary private in 34th VA Infantry.

Dave Myrick

I haven't really gotten started yet. I'm looking for a group in my area.

I've been reading the Authentic Campaigner boards daily, and have gotten a copy of the Columbia rifles book. Certainly learing a lot.

What made me decide to start reenact...

I've been a Civil War buff since I was a boy. Almost got into the hobby in the early 90's, but joined the real Army instead.

I took the family to Gettysburg this passed summer and almost bought a '61 Springfield.  Just for target shooting really.

Since getting out of the Army, i've not only grown older, but also rounder. So I promised myself I'd by the rifle, only after I dropped the weight.

So here I sit. Checking my e-mail to see if any groups have replied, as I sip my frosty cold can of Slim-fast.

You may have seen the other post I made regarding the movie Gettysburg and "fat Rebs". Ironic, aint it?

Mr. Osman,

What type of unit are you searching for? Mainstream or campaign?

I'd love to find a Federal Campaign group in my area. If that should not work out however, a mainstream Federal or Federal/Confederate group would do nicely.

I'm still finding my way to be sure. But I seem to notice quite a number of "progressives" belong to two groups. A mainstream group for local events, and an Authentic group for larger, more distant events. Is this common?

On a side not, I thank you all for this forum. I just found it yesterday thanks to Robert Simmons and the 8th Florida/13th Indiana newsletter. I've been reading the AC forum for a couple of months now, but they make it pretty clear they don't want newbies posting.

So this forum is wonderful for folks like me. Thank you kindly!

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Everal wrote : I'm still finding my way to be sure. But I seem to notice quite a number of "progressives" belong to two groups. A mainstream group for local events, and an Authentic group for larger, more distant events. Is this common?

Of the four male moderators on this Forum, three belong to two groups. I'm not sure "progressive" is correct term. Folks who belong to two groups are often called a number of things, "Fence Sitter" is one of our nicer titles. People belong to two groups  to allow them to attend a varity of events across the authenticity spectrum with people they know and who know them. In most cases, I don't think it's a planned thing. You go to events and meet people you "fit" with. After a while, it's just a natural progression to join their group, even though you really don't want to leave your old friends behind.

Glad you are enjoying the Forum. Tell your friends.    

Mr. Osman,

If you take a good look at that article in the 8th Fl 13th IN newsletter article I think you may find something rather familiar about the person who wrote it. (hint, look at my signature line)   If you are interested in campaign events as well, give me a shout since I am the resident fence sitter in the 8th Fl 13th IN.  

Glad you liked the newsletter. Rob is currently our Captain and is an outstanding fellow. He took me under his wing when I started in the hobby. You will find that although we camp mainstream, we are very good on the field. Wait until you meet Mitch    

--Last edited by toptimlrd on 2007-08-10 17:49:48 --

Heck didn't anyone get into the hobby just to justify thier black powder gun collection, or just to fire them?  Or how how about just a way to justify spending money on a new wardrobe?
Or even the travel, just one way to get days of work to go play and see the country?
I'll bite thats why I got into the hobby.....  I just enjoy standing around in my 100% wool clothes in 100* heat with humidity in the 90's.  Is this a fun hobby or what??

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Poor Private wrote :   I just enjoy standing around in my 100% wool clothes in 100* heat with humidity in the 90's.  Is this a fun hobby or what??

Chris,

Back in the day when I was still in the Army Reserve; there was one nignt when I was laying on the ground wrapped up in a rubber blanket, as the rain poured down. I remember thinking to myself, "Man, next weekend they're going to pay me for doing this".