Be Excellent To Each Other

Someone *actually* died for real, others were set on fire & a horse also died? Seriously?

With that number of participants, it's probable that accidents might happen. Question of whether they were accidents or the result of lax safety procedures within their groups.



Heh. Re-enacting's great for surreal moments like that.

So it's accurate then? Blimey.

Don't want to come across as all Disgruntled of Tunbridge Wells here , but on the face of it, I'd have to be concerned about animals getting killed over this. To my mind, people have the ability to weigh up their own personal risk assessments as long as they're made aware of the likely hazards beforehand and have the correct training and information etc. (I suppose thrill sports are of a similar vein, at least to my eyes), but it's not like horses etc. get a choice in the matter. Doubtless quite a few could also be distressed by battle scenes, explosions and stuff?

(I realise, of course, that horses routinely die in horse racing events, Grand National etc., but then I don't agree with that either).

I don't do cavalry but from what I'm aware of the horses have to be specially trained to tolerate the sound of gun fire and cannons etc, very much like police horses. I remember my platoon once being asked to form up at attention whilst a new horse was led up to us and examined us all over to start recognising things (unless that was an elaborate prank).

I've seen horses bolt and run before, and once had an argument mid-display with a sergeant about continuing to fire with animals approaching (well, I say 'argument' but it was more like me saying words to the effect of 'no I won't, please go and commit an anatomical impossibility' and didn't).

I would hope that a good horseman would take very good care of their animals and not involve them in something they couldn't tolerate as they would have to spend a lot to equip, train, and tranport them. The large cavalry battles I've seen in the US were very impressive.

Course, the whole point of being a cavalryman is to look pretty and prance about in front of female members of the public

Fair enough Kern.
I know absolutely nothing on this subject; was just a bit surprised by Grim...'s revelations.

The horse died of sunstroke - it was properly hot.

Apparently the person who died had a heart attack on their way to hospital after suffering burns from a leaking pyrotechnic flamethrowing thing.

The event has had good coverage on the news if you'd like to search for it, and apparently Mrs. Grim... snr had her photo in the Daily Mail (spit) on Saturday.

As for it not being fair on the animals, maybe so - but bear in mind that if they didn't want to do it, they wouldn't.

I've stayed out of the recent uproar amongst the colonials over the use of the Confederate battle flag*, other than to answer questions from colleagues and as a helpful way for identifing people to unfollow or defriend on sinister Facebook . But news that South Carolina has voted to remove it from the statehouse is the right decision and a step forward for that state's attempts to grapple with their past.

My view is quite simple: use in the historical context, say at a museum, a re-enactment, or even next to a war memoral is fine, otherwise I don't like seeing it.



*Vexillological errors are unforgiveable, frankly

I was with them right up until Dukes of Hazzard reruns got pulled.

That too. And the desecration of one of the coolest cars ever was even worse.

Don't care much for over-the-top reactions either.

It's interesting to note the differences between Germanys treatment of their old flag to that of the confederate states (and similar non-flag postwar issues), and the consequent effects this has seemed to have.

Aye. How the war is remembered, and how American and, especially, Southern identity is shaped by it, can be just as fascinating as the events themselves.

Germany is a good comparator, because after the war, (especially in the former West Germany - the GDR considered itself born without sin) a lot of effort and pressure was put to admit the crimes of the past.

In the former south, after the Reconstruction period ended in the 1870s, the old order more or less reasserted itself and remained in control until the civil rights movement.

If you are interested in such things, the CW Memory blog often has interesting posts on this topic. I really recommend the Horowitz book ('Confederates in the attic') that got me into this period too.

Grim..., I think it's time we met your Mum. Can she come to the BBQ please?

I'm pretty sure she turned up on Sunday morning last year.

Anyway, she can't come. Who'd look after the Grimlet?

Your Dad?

Relatedly, people are campaigning to remove statues of Cecil Rhodes here in Oxford. Yes, Rhodes was a nasty little shit. But so were most of the university's donors over the past 800 years. People aren't waving statues of him as an incitement or provocation, and the things are in the historical context. Unless you know where the statue is and who he is, you're likely to pass straight by it, and he's part of the town's history, for good or ill.

Heads up, y'all, but I may be having that US Civil War exhibition this year as part of Diffusion's 'Looking for America' photography festival here in Cardiff. I'm in talks and should know more by the time of the BeexBQ, hopefully.

Kern, if it goes ahead feel free to have some crash space and a great quantity of free beer if you'd like to attend the opening night at the start of October. I'll have a book for you too.

Man, there'll be a hell of a lot to do to prep it, and it'll cost me a fair whack in the end... but exhibition!

Oh, forgot to say, I'm kind of hooked on this:

http://civilwarpodcast.org/

I'm 30 episodes in and it is really rather good. Well worth listening to, each episode is half an hour long and it is both easy to follow and very entertaining. Bonus points for the husband-wife team who host it, as the man sounds just like the dude from Portlandia, and so now I imagine it's them two from the top hipster-mocking TV show.

Excellent stuff!

I'll check out that podcast too. Looking at the episode list, it seems they cover a lot of ground.

kern, just wanted to mention that dutch radio programme OVT (onvoltooid verleden tijd, simple past tense) made a show on the first negro battalion in the civil war..



you an listen to it here, it is of course in dutch, but the interview are in english so still thought you might like it

http://www.npogeschiedenis.nl/speler.RB ... 76316.html

Thanks, will check it out later. Always interested in stuff about the USCT althogh sadly I don't think I've ever met any re-enactors of them when I've been over alas (though I'm aware some do exist)

'Glory' is one of the best war films ever made. I've watched it several times and still get emotional over it.

Opening night tonight! Congratulations Pete.

Being thinking very hard lately about whether it's time to hang up the musket for good. I'm finding it hard to explain this sense of ennui with the hobby (at least in ways that don't sound harsh on people I consider my friends), but at the moment it feels like I've taken it as far as I can. Might just go to one or two events once the season starts in the spring and see if that is sufficient to change my mind, although the ones I went to last year didn't help me regainmy enthusiasm. And if I do retire, I'm only going to have to find a new outdoorsy hobby to occupy my weekends and I still don't want to return to Scouting just yet.

That's a shame, but you should only really do something if you enjoy it.

Well the answer is obvious:Real life Malicool simulator.

You too can reyreat to some strange parallel universe.

LARP, innit?

Dear god, no.

Incidentally, my nose still occasionally hurts after "be"ing, Mali last year.

Thinking about it, I don't recommend Mali LARPing or Mali Cosplay.

You mean "when I think of Mali, my nose twitches".

You don't smell that bad, mate.

I'm sorry to hear that, Kern buddy, but then if you're not feeling it anymore I guess it's worth considering. As for a replacement pursuit, have you thought of photography? *Cough*

I reckon I'll do the reenacting circuit again this year and get more material, though I'll have to get on top of things and contact the guys. I'll see what's doable. Maybe I'll get a pup tent and a new civilian uniform. Anyway, I'll definitely see you at Fortress Wales if you're going. Oh, and how about an Oxford meet in the coming months, most likely a few weeks after Easter?

No, I mean '"be"ing Mali gets you punched hard in the face'

I found "be"ing Mali rather than myself I actually fared less well with Wendy than normal.

Laughed at, and politely asked to leave. The clubs (and when I've been at stuff in the US, the event organisers) have rules about this. But anyone who thinks they are commanding men is seriously misguided. As one of the people in the hobby I most respect once put it 'every order at an event contains a silent 'please''. It's not the military, after all.

Personally, I would rather put my effort into doing one impression well: if there's nobody in the ranks who knows what they're doing we're going to be putting on a poor show for the public.

EDIT: Plus I really can't be bothered to take on any more responsibilities than I currently do, and I certainly don't want to learn another set of drill commands.

Finally able to get to an event this year! I'll be at the Rempstone Steam Rally in Leicestershire with my friends in the 118th Pennsylvania and the ACWS. If you're in the area, do drop by. Looks like quite a good line up.

It would take just over eight hours to get my tractor there

Really glad I went. I was initially planning on just daytripping but stayed for the whole weekend. The weather was pretty bad Saturday morning but got better in the afternoon and stayed fine until the tents were took down on Sunday afternoon (always the most annoying time for moisture). The site was pretty boggy, however.

Due to the conditions we only did one battle on the Saturday, but were able to do both a battle and a firing display on Sunday. For the latter, rather than just go through the various types of firing before setting off the cannons, the society decided to demonstrate for the public the likely affects of various types of cannon fire (grapeshot, canister, ball). We all lined up facing the cannons and as each type was described and the cannon fired, prearranged sections of the line fell. A novel way of illustrating it.

Flicking through a stranger's photos on Flickr, came across this shot, and thought of you (it was quite jolly to watch it pull it up the slope).

And, er, 'sarge, what am I supposed to do with this long thing you've given me?'

My brother has a model traction engine.

Tasty.
I recently threw out a batch I made in 2012: even after four years it was still just as rock solid as ever.

In London to see an ACW play: 'Father comes home from the war'.

Obviously rather than dwell on any important themes of slavery, family, denial of rights etc I'll be concentrating on the accuracy of the uniforms.

The play was excellent. The nature of a master/slave relationship is seldom explored, and the show did this well. It took me a little while (almost all of the three hours!) to grasp the Homeric parallels in the story but that didn't really affect my enjoyment or understanding of it.

Essex Live: WW2 re-enactors caught up in pyros

Oo, nasty. Haven't watched the clips, mind.

As for me, I haven't been out in uniform this year, due to being busy with other exciting hobbies and stuff. I'll probably renew my ACW membership for next year and probably consider attending something depending what my schedule is like, then see how I'm feeling come Autumn 2018. I kind of miss the hobby, but don't regret not attending anything this year. The current political climate regarding the historical memory of the American Civil War does offer ample opportunities to engage the public, and it's the educational side of it all I tend to prefer. Might clear out some books though to make room for other stuff.

I went to an interesting lecture at the weekend about people in Britain and Ireland who received pensions from the US government after the American Civil War, and what these files tell us about migration and the life of the poor in the 19th Century. The speaker's website has an extensive selection of articles and maps as a result. As a big fan of maps and visualisations there are some excellent examples of how these tools can be used when presenting and discussing history.

I was particularly interested in his work on Cornish emigrants, who would mostly be drawn from mining communities in places like Wisconsin.

It's helping rekindle a previously dwindling interest in the period for me, and it's always good to have another well-presented website to dive into on cold nights.

After a long absence, I'm finally getting to a reenactment. Off this weekend to make America great again at the Bloxham Steam Fair here in the Shire.

Now, I probably should use this week to check that my uniform still fits and hasn't been a snack bar for the moths over the past couple of years.

I hear those old uniforms can shrink around the middle some times....

5% loss in girth each year I hear, due to Brexit.

Had a fun time at the steam fair.

First event for me in about two years. I'd forgotten how uncomfortable wearing heavy wool is on hot, dry days, especially when combined with how warm the barrel gets after only a few rounds. We only had one half-hour show each day, and due to the conditions only did about an hour's worth of drill each morning. Once I got in line I remembered all the drill and procedures, and powder was as tasty as it always is when I bit into the cartridges to load.

The heat drained enthusiasm for doing much afterwards but I spoke as many passers-by as I could about the period and also had wander around the rest of the show too. I rather enjoy looking at working steam engines and the smell is wonderfully evocative.

Do you do an accent when talking to normies?