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Re-enacting a
bloody past
by
Rob Morano
The
Army of Northern Virginia took one on the nose at Sharpsburg
— again — but don’t blame Jim and Ann
Carr. The Leesburg attorneys did themselves and their
fellow Confederates proud. Setting in motion nearly
14,000 Civil War re-enactors, the husband-and-wife gunners
launched the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam
with a resounding blast from their cannon. “We
got to shoot the first round of that fight,” Ann
Carr says proudly of their role at the September re-enactment
near Sharpsburg, Md. “And we didn’t blow it.”
If
you thought re-enacting was just for good old boys —
or even good old girls — think again. Interest
in Civil War matters is enjoying another resurgence
marked by Antietam and upcoming movies such as “Cold
Mountain,” which has been filmed partly in the
Old Dominion.
These
days, the ranks of the 50,000 Civil War re-enactors
are changing. In the past, troops were often dominated
by colorful blue-collar types who enjoyed getting down
and dirty by plastering their scruffy beards with bacon
grease to enhance the realism. Now, executives and professionals
are joining the fray. With nearly a third of them hailing
from the Old Dominion, there’s a chance that your
boss — even your boss’s boss — may be
a weekend warrior as well. Or even female. “You
hide your hair and ... you don’t wear something
that’s form-fitting,” Ann Carr confides. “I
do this because it’s so very, very different from
what you do in the rest of your life and it gets you
focused.”
Living
history provides a welcome relief from the pressures
of the workplace. “It is, without a doubt, the
most therapeutic thing in the world for me,” says
Lee Watson, a CPA and partner with Cherry Bekaert &
Holland in Richmond. For the past five years, he’s
portrayed a Confederate private at events throughout
the mid-Atlantic. “It’s so nice to go out
on a weekend with no cell phones or TV and absolutely
engulf myself in the 19th century.”
Authenticity
is key: Watson has the wool for his infantry uniform
woven on a period loom and sewn by hand to match his
Confederate-issue hat, boots, musket and Haversack (contents:
crackers, beans, bacon and Johnnycakes — patties
he makes from corn meal, water, salt, brown sugar and
molasses). For cool nights on the battlefield, he also
carries a blanket, but like most Confederate privates,
no tent: “If it rains, I get wet.”
Such
dedication to detail makes possible the “period
rush” re-enactors seek. “I’ve had some
magic moments,” Watson says. “There was the
dawn battle at Cedar Creek, with the moon shining through
the fog. It’s just so eerie to see thousands of
people in uniform heading out in the morning darkness.”
And that afternoon at Spotsylvania: “You can see
the bayonets of the Union troops off in the distance,
with the sun shining off them. Very, very spooky. ...
And I still get chill bumps when I think about the sight
of 20,000 soldiers at Gettysburg” for the 135th
anniversary in 1998, the largest re-enactment to date,
which attracted 100,000 spectators.
Recognizing
the appeal of re-enacting, corporations, chambers of
commerce and tourism departments now routinely sponsor
Civil War events. “You’re seeing re-enacting
become more pop culture,” says Robert Lee Hodge
of Alexandria, a Civil War filmmaker and battlefield
preservation activist. Known in the living-history community
as among the nation’s most devoted Civil War re-enactors,
Hodge was profiled in the 1999 bestseller “Confederates
in the Attic.” With more than 20 years of re-enacting
experience, Hodge says blacks and women are becoming
common sights — on both sides of the battlefield:
“You really have an interesting cross-section of
America.”
Confederate
re-enactors say they aren’t glorifying the past,
just preserving it. “At work, everybody knows what
I do, and I don’t get any negative comments,”
says Gerry Powell, controller of AMF Bowling in Hanover
County. “It’s just another hobby.” A
12-year veteran of the re-enacting scene, Powell rides
his horse in a cavalry unit. “I most enjoy educating
the school kids about American history and the sacrifices
made on both sides.” He and other re-enactors will
even remove their Confederate gray uniforms to bolster
the lines of Federal blue. “This is all just another
facet of exploring the Civil War experience and preserving
it for future generations,” says Jim Maupin, co-owner
of H&B Construction in Richmond. “You can see
it, hear it and smell it. You get caught up in the excitement
and noise and confusion and it gets your heart going.”
Re-enacting for 20 years, Maupin appears as a Confederate
commander in the movie “Gods and Generals,”
due out in December.
Films
and documentaries have opened the eyes of executives
to re-enacting, Hodge says, and he welcomes their well-heeled
support for preserving battlefields, sponsoring events
and keeping re-enacting authentic. “It’s an
expensive hobby,” notes Jim Cochrane, director
of administration at Highway Express in Richmond and
another 20-year re-enactor. On weekends, he leads an
artillery unit boasting four antique but fully operable
cannon that cost $44,000. Like many re-enactors, Cochrane
has ancestors who fought in the war: “I feel it’s
a good way to honor my history and my heritage.”
But
for most professionals, the play’s the thing. Says
Jim Carr: “You get away and step back in time and
have a totally different world that you’re in.
It’s a wonderful escape.”
Return
to Virginia Business - November 2002
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