Midwest Art

February 19, 2012

Battle Of Olustee Civil War Reenactment

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   We’ve wanted to go to a Civil War reenactment for awhile but we never expected to find one in rural north Florida. One curiosity was piqued after reading the book    “Confederates in the Attic “. The author Tony Horwitz , who has had an interest in the Civil War since childhood,writes about his interactions with some hard core re-enactors and the lengths that they go to keep everything authentic.

   The Battle of Olustee was just a minor battle which didn’t affect the war at all so we figured maybe a small encampment ,a few guys shooting at each other. Wow ,were we wrong! This is a big deal in this little section of Florida. Hundreds of re-enactors set up completely authentic camps where they live in tents , cook over fires , sleep under wool blankets and feather comforters. Anything that doesn’t fit the time period must be hidden from view. All clothing is made following old patterns using appropriate natural materials. Most people take it all the way down to their underwear.

The battle seemed less authentic. Not just because nobody was actually getting killed (don’t need any more of that!) but because the fighting had to be confined to a small area so that the audience would be able to see.  The Union and Confederate armies ended up very close to each other in an open field having a shoot out. Halfway through they moved a few hundred feet so that all sections of the audience would get the full affect. And nobody died during the first half hour.

  The whole thing was a lot of fun!  More pictures here - https://picasaweb.google.com/tonyandkaren1/BattleOfOlusteeCivilWarReenactment?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

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We have been fulltiming in our motorhome since 1993. We've traveled through all 50 states and most of the Canadian provinces.It's a great life!