Top Ten FAQs of Civil War Reenacting
Is that a real fire? Is that a real gun? ARE YOU HOT IN THOSE CLOTHES?
What’s Civil War reenacting really like?
Is it all Gone With the Wind cosplay and meaningless droning about dates of battles and watching grown men charge each other with smoking weapons on national park grounds?
Some of it, yeah.
Some of it, not so much.
I’ve been involved in American Civil War reenacting since 2013. In that time, I’ve attended battle reenactments, participated in living history programs at historic houses, camped outside museums, and marched in parades. One of my favorite aspects of this hobby is the interaction I have with visitors to these events and the opportunity to answer their questions. Though every person who comes to a museum or battlefield brings their own unique perspective, I’ve noticed a pattern of typical questions over the years.
Some are wackier than others.
The type of reenacting that I do is confined mostly to the “living history” scenario. I do my best to recreate a small snapshot of daily life in the 1860’s…
