I know David Owens, have known him for quite some time. He is a Social Studies teacher at the North Laurel County Middle School, and in his spare time, he is either haunting old cemetaries, working on restoration of the grounds and/or providing new stones, or he is writing some aspect of Kentucky History, either books or articles (usually revolving around the Civil War) or he is trying to talk me into joining him on one of his jaunts to one of his beloved Civil War re-enactment events. As a resident of Rockcastle County, he is particularly interested in the little known, though strategically important, Battle of Wildcat Mountain.
It came as no great surprise to me, therefore, when I learned that he was recently appointed, by order of the Adjutant General of the Kentucky National Guard, the position of Kentucky National Guard Military Historian.
To be honest with you, I sometimes think David never got tired of playing Army when he was growing up. I am intertested in history, however, so one of these days I might join him on one of these events. On the other hand, I have to confess, I have to wonder how the long departed spirits of the Civil War veterans of both sides would feel at the prospect of grown men dressing up in authentic Union and/or Confederate regalia, and reenacting hard pitched battles that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, wrecked the health and morale of probably an equal number if not more, left soldiers and civilians embitterred, disabled, and/or disfigured for life, and for the most part at least was certainly a horrific experience to have to live through on a constant, daily basis.
And it has actually inspired an idea, a couple of them really. For one, why not turn this into an extreme sports event. I'm serious. You can have two sides, only instead of getting together for a two or three day re-enactment, replete with booths and concessions, actually set aside a month where both sides actually have to live the way the true soldier of that day had to live-and survive. Taking a minimal amount of provisions, the type that you would find in that day and time, you would have to make do for that period of time. You would in the meantime have to forage for the essentials. You would have to deal with the increment weather in the same way they did. No portable televisions or radios, no internet, no modern cooking or cleaning conveniences, and most importantly, no modern bathroom facilities. It would not be pretty, and it would certainly not be fun, I would wager, to any but the most fanatical enthusiast.
Of course, you could only take this so far. When the two sides eventually met in pitched battle, for example, they couldn't use real bullets or explosives, though by the time it was half-way over, they might feel more inclined to do so than they might imagine they would. And it goes without saying you couldn't-or you shouldn't-take over unsuspecting farmhouses and requisition their livestock and supplies.
Otherwise, such an event might make the Civil War enthusiast truly understand what the Civil War veteran of the past really had to endure-and why by the time it was over they may to a large degree not have felt quite so enthusiastic about it. It would, I am certain, deepen their appreciation for the struggles and sacrifices of the past all the more.
I said something about a couple of ideas. Well, the other idea is for a Reality TV series based on just such an event as I have described. Two teams, lead by two officers, with an equal number of soldiers, roughing it. When the time came for the ultimate conflict, which side would be the winner?
Okay, not such a great idea. Reality TV? Shit, I should be shot for that.
4 comments:
You know, there actually are people who do the kind of "hard-core" events that you're postualting--no audience, no modern amenities--just going out somewhere and doing a particular period of history for a week or so. I've know of events of that type for Civil War, 1860s Oregon Trail, WWI (I've gone and done the WWI trench life thing a fair bit) and Roman Legion on Hadrian's Wall. If you can get into the whole rancid bacon and hardtack in your haversack and shtting in a pit latrine thing, it's fun as well as instructive. Not that different from primitive camping, other than that "people shooting at you" element. For a lot of folks it's a "Kon Tiki" kind of experience--learning how to actually live and work with the technoogy of the period. As far as the reality show concept, that's been done, like the PBS "Frontier House" and "Pilgrim House" shows. There was even a Brit show called "The Trench" that had a group of guys living as WWI Tommies in a trench for a while.
Hi, Heska, thanks for the comments, and for the info. Hadrians Wall, huh? I didn't realize there were events that actually tried to live it the hard way, the way it actualy was. That WWI thing you was talking about sounded interesting. That was an important war, in its own right as important as the Civil War, WWII, and The American Revolution, but it's scarcely mentioned in comparison.
The whole trench warfare thing must have been gut wrenching, and to live it even close to the real thing would be horrendous. Especially if you could figure out a way to safely approximate the feeling of being hit by mustard gas. Now that would be taking reality to an entirey new level.
My dad is a Civil War historian, and has attended, though not participated in, a few re-enactments. He's a middle school social studies teacher. Name a battle and he can give you a ten-minute lecture with bibliography. I love my dad.
There's a recording somewhere of a Civil War rebel veteran telling an interviewer who asked him to do one of the famous "rebel yell," "I can't do it with a mouthful of teeth and a belly full of food." Your suggestion of re-enactors doing it like the soldiers did makes me wonder if those guys could re-enact the rebel yell under the same circumstances. Maybe it simply cannot be done.
I don't know for sure that anybody knows what the rebel yell is, unless an old veteran migth have thought to record it.
Ask your dad about the Battle of Wildcat Mountain. That's a very little known battle, but it was strategically important, or so I've heard anyway.
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