Reenactments, yee haw

[SirAndrewD]

Possibly not the place to post this.  But Toonces asked in another thread for pictures, videos, stories or whatever from those of us who are reenactors, Civil War or otherwise.

I didn't want to hijack IronX's thread, so here we go, a few pictures of me doing my thing.  And an AMA for the ultimate war gaming experience, actually commanding real people in battle with a very, very low chance of having them killed or wounded.

(Yes, I've seen some really ugly life changing injuries.  It's not the safest hobby in the world).

[undercovergeek]

awesome - now we see the work thats gone into your avatar too!

[MetalDog]

Doesn't look like it matters which side you represent.  ;)

[W8taminute]

Looks like a lot of fun.  Great pics!

[bob48]

Notice on the first picture, several cavalrymen. This is what happens if you lose yer horse in the reb cavalry - if you don't find another one, yer an infantryman.

[SirAndrewD]

awesome - now we see the work thats gone into your avatar too!

Ha!  Yeah, an artist friend of ours did a Star Wars picture of my wife and I.  That was the result.

Every year she makes us personalized Sci-Fi themed Christmas cards.  Awesome lady.

Doesn't look like it matters which side you represent.  ;)

Nope.  My unit is both the 6th Alabama and 10th Indiana cavalry.  We always have both uniforms ready, sometimes we switch day to day.  Not many northern units make it down to the deep south so we always have to be prepped to keep the scenarios properly balanced. 

Reenactor units up north have to do the same.

Notice on the first picture, several cavalrymen. This is what happens if you lose yer horse in the reb cavalry - if you don't find another one, yer an infantryman.

We actually use dismounted Cavalry to represent troops that have dismounted to fight before the battle.  My Company is always dismounted, but we have a mounted company that is in support that sometimes dismounts on the field. 

A lot of the battles we portray in Alabama and Georgia historically had no infantry present at all aside from Mounted Infantry.  The unit we portray as our primary, the 6th Alabama was essentially Cavalry in name only.  Most of the weapons they had were long infantry rifles, and they essentially had no other choice but to fight on foot.   

I do occasionally fall in with the infantry sometimes though.  Cavalry and Infantry are totally different animals in role and practice, and it's cool to change up and do both. 

[bob48]

Looks great, anyway. Would love to be there, although I'm afraid I would be wearing the blue :-)

[MetalDog]

Nothing to fear there, bob.  It was the right side [MD ducks and runs for cover]

[bob48]

^LOL

Just remember where you are - folks down there have long memories!

[LongBlade]

^LOL

Just remember where you are - folks down there have long memories!

Nah, just remember a bit of history.

[SirAndrewD]

Looks great, anyway. Would love to be there, although I'm afraid I would be wearing the blue :-)

Probably.  I'm blue a lot more than grey.  It doesn't bother me though.  I'm a degreed historian, even though I don't work in the field anymore, and I stay objective politically.  History is history. 

I also do 1812 reenactments and a lot of Western Cowboy events.  I'd reenact anything that I can afford.

Nothing to fear there, bob.  It was the right side [MD ducks and runs for cover]

Most in reenacting, at least down South (myself not included), would disagree, but you'd be surprised at those that don't.  There's a great unit, the 1st Alabama Cavalry US, that represents a real loyalist Winston County unit of Federal Cavalry.  The historical unit was all Alabamians, and all fought for the Union. Part of their rules of admittance are that you must be a devoted Unionist as well as a southerner. 

[Airborne Rifles]

SirAndrewD, being from Alabama, have you done any War of 1812 reenacting at the Horseshoe Bend battlefield?

[SirAndrewD]

Requests in the other thread were made for videos, so here's a couple I was in. 

I can find myself in the regiment in the middle on this one.  150th Atlanta, trench warfare.  This was amazing. 

Some close quarters when the federals breached the right wing of the works at 150th Selma.  My company is sadly out of the action, facing a stubborn Texas regiment facing the works on the other side.  Still, great reenactment, especially because of the repeater company that was present on the Federal side.

There used to be a couple of other ones out there, but sadly I can't find them now.  As I said, I don't really have time to take videos myself, I'm a bit busy.

[SirAndrewD]

SirAndrewD, being from Alabama, have you done any War of 1812 reenacting at the Horseshoe Bend battlefield?

No, but we do 1812 Fort Mims every August.

[Centurion40]

So how does the rank protocol work?  Can some rich noob show up in a General's uniform?

I've always wondered that.