Virginia county cancels Civil War encampment

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Updated 6:54 am, Thursday, August 31, 2017

CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) — For the second time in recent weeks, officials in northern Virginia are canceling a planned Civil War encampment.

Judy Pedersen, a spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Park Authority, said Wednesday that re-enactors have been notified that a Civil War Encampment Weekend scheduled for Sept. 23-24 at the Sully Historic Site in Chantilly has been canceled. The note to re-enactors cited "recent events" as the reason for the cancellation.

The decision by Fairfax County comes after the City of Manassas earlier this month canceled a Civil War Weekend, citing the recent national tension over Civil War monuments.

Confederate memorials have been under increased scrutiny since deadly violence Aug. 12 at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Virginia-county-cancels-Civil-War-encampment-12163637.php

---

(Short article, no more at link.)

[underpants]

1. What complete waste of time

[Kleveland]

2. I never really understood the fascination...

With these re-enactments of the Civil War, War Between the States, or War of Northern Aggression or whatever these odd folks want to call it.

It was a horrific time for this country, and glorifying any aspect of it is cruel and unusual.

That goes for both sides.

Remembrance is one thing, we should all be aware of the horrors of war, be it domestic, or foreign.

Yes, there are heroes, of that there is no doubt.

I salute and mourn those who have given their lives for Liberty.

I just cannot wrap my mind around this odd "hobby".

It seems barbaric.

[Kolesar]

4. The reenactors I talked to at the Geauga County 7th OVI were pretty sharp

I am sure that south of the border, there is another "message".

There is a Civil War buff who hangs out at Garfield's home in Mentor. His home is worth a visit. The theme at that site is "aboltion" .

James Garfield was a genius.

[SHRED]

5. I'm with you

Kind of like Germany acting out Hitler in a ceremony.
Morbid.

[FLPanhandle]

8. I would like to see a re-enactment camp of life in WW1 trenches.

Sometimes seeing something in real life is more educational than seeing pictures in a book.

Not glorifying war, but showing how people lived and what technology they used, food they ate, etc.

[Adrahil]

14. Did it. See below.

We actually had a no kidding trench, with wooden parapets, duckboards, and even underground bunkers.

And our luck matched the Brits at Ypres.... it rained the whole weekend (the first time we did it)! By the end of the weekend, I was soaked from head to toe with mud and cold to the bone.

We ate tinned meat and army biscuits. We did weapon demos, and had our "doctor" discussed trench diseases like Trench Foot, malnutrition, dysentery, and "Shell Shock." We actually got quite a few visitors, including one actual WWI vet (this was back in the early 90's) who broke down in tears. He thanked us over and over again for remembering. He kept saying, "I thought everyone forgot!"

[FLPanhandle]

19. I would have loved to see that

Great job! that takes real dedication.

[Adrahil]

11. I did reenactments, including Civil War for a long time.

I got into it after reading my Grandfather's diary from WWI.

I've done a wide variety of periods...

Medieval
17th Century (living history at an early settlement site)
U.S. Civil War (mainly Federal, but occasionally Confederate)
World War I (British actually)

For me, the appeal was trying to relay to visitors the daily lives of the these people. Although we did do battle reenactments, most events I did were "living history" wherein we reenact camp or garrison life and talk to visitors about the daily life of soldiers of the period.

Another part of the appeal was understanding the technology of the period. And, of course, literally feeling what it's like t wear that set of clothes.

You may consider "barbaric," but I found it pretty enlightening. It's hard not to feel for what it was like for these guys after spending the night in a cold, wet, muddy trench. Of course, we just did it for a weekend, and could always leave if we got sick of it, but they couldn't. It's pretty sobering.

I still have a pretty decent collection of weapons from the periods (reproduction and actual antiques), and lots of reproductions of just everyday items that I came to admire or even love (pewter cups and tankards, leather bottles, beautiful hand-blown glass). One of my favorite items is a meticulous reproduction of a 14th century eating knife with silver pins set in the handle spelling out Ave Maria. Just gorgeous.

[BannonsLiver]

12. Thanks for the thoughtful perspective

Never been into it myself, but I'm not going to slur people based on their choice of hobby like some in this thread have.

[paleotn]

15. Living history is interesting...

...but I get your point. Reminds me of when I told my dad years ago about WWII reenactments and he responded with "What the hell for?! If they'd seen the real thing, they sure as hell wouldn't want to reenact it...ever!". Makes me wonder what the people who were alive during the Civil War, particularly those directly involved, would think of our sanitized reenactments. Probably the same as my dad.

[politicat]

16. Experiential history is sometimes the only way to learn it.

I'm not a CW reenactor (grew up in the wrong part of the world) but I've done both pre-modern (what people usually call medieval) and Napoleonic Wars, and as an undergrad, participated in a pit house construction using Hohokam methods and tools.

We have to know the labor debt of a society to understand how that society functioned, or failed to function. What does it cost to build what keeps the rain off? How does that initial building evolve over time, and under what conditions? What does it cost to transform fiber to yarn, yarn to cloth, cloth to clothing? How much spare human capacity must a society have to go to war? What does it mean to migrate in those conditions? (I grew up mostly in the West, where one of the biggest mass experiental history events is the re-enactment of the Mormon handcart migration.)

There's a lot of knowledge being reconstructed by re-enactors. Everything from how to effectively hand-sew seams (fun fact: with a sewing machine, you sew the seam first, then finish the seam allowance; when hand-sewing, you finish the seam allowance first, then sew the seam) to how to maintain cast iron through rain, mud, and smoke, to how to maintain sanitation when there's no running water. In doing the work, it becomes really easy to see what fragilities in human nature can cause failures. That's valuable.

[FakeNoose]

3. This is a wise move

...these Civil War re-enactments used to be for the history buffs to dust off & wear costumes for a weekend.

Not any more! It's getting too political with the neo-Nazis and white supremacists trying to take over. They want to make these things into rallies for Trump but that was never the intent.

It's better to just call the whole thing off.

[Calista241]

17. Re-enactors, by and large, are very serious about their craft.

Re-enactors and cosplayers are cut from a similar cloth and are pretty fanatical about it. A friend of mine does it, and they have super long debates / arguments about the accuracy of a uniform button, or the sewing pattern used to sew on said button.

Re-enactors are typically history buffs that enjoy getting together a couple times a year to do this stuff. They are not racist, and they don't support racist causes. And it's not like they majority are confederate soldiers, since they're super big on accuracy, most of the soldiers are union soldiers.

I live in Atlanta, and Dragon-con is this weekend. I view both as harmless fun for the participants.

[FakeNoose]

21. Sure I get it - the re-enactments are meaningful

...but no political statements are being made. It's for preserving history and for carrying on traditions.
We have several groups in Pennsylvania who do the same thing.

Their weekend would be ruined in a heartbeat by these white supremacy people, and nobody needs that.

[Kolesar]

6. Key and Peele does Civil War reenactment

A way of life so pure and beautiful, that no government can take this away from us

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/6cv74p/key-and-peele-confederate-reenactors

[FLPanhandle]

7. I've seen one once and it was educational

They cooked and served the types of food the people ate, had the same style tents and equipment. All fascinating to see in person and more educational than seeing picture in a book.

Alas, in today's climate the folks doing it for historical reasons are going to be overshadowed by those who have different agendas.

[Igel]

13. I've only known a few people in these things.

And they always have the Northern side (in the South) and the Southern side (in the North), keep them fairly well balanced, insist on historically correct garb or something approaching it, and the victory always goes to the (historical) victor.

Even if those involved are inveterate racists, they get to see their side trashed (if it was trashed 150 years ago), and even if they're civil rights fighting for the Union Army, if their side lost during a battle they get to lose to the Confederacy.

That washes out the dilettantes.

[jl_theprofessor]

9. Well this is silly.

Reenacting history is fun and educational at the same time. It's interesting to see how life was like around the grounds.

[obamanut2012]

18. Except it isn't silly

[Crowman2009]

10. These encampments aren't very accurate.

For two reasons:

1) The reenacted camp doesn't smell like a combination or human & horse shit.

2) The reenacters aren't loudly coughing when they wake up in the morning.

[jcmaine72]

20. Another silly excess in the wake of a horrible tragedy.

There's a right and a wrong way to handle everything, including hate. These historical reenactments are not glorying monuments to the CSA or slavery. Quite the contrary, they serve to bring that period of our history to life in a way that even the most informative history books and well calibrated professorial lectures cannot achieve.

I fully understand the need to be sensitive about such things, but these excesses are getting a bit silly.