Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational or recreational activity in which history enthusiasts and amateur hobbyists dress in period-accurate clothing and recreate aspects of past events or eras. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as a reenactment of Pickett's Charge presented during the 1913 Gettysburg reunion, or as broad as an entire period, such as Regency reenactment.
While historical reenactors are generally amateurs, some participants are military personnel or historians. The participants, called reenactors, often research the equipment, uniform, and other gear they will carry or use. Reenactors buy the apparel or items they need from specialty stores or make items themselves. Historical reenactments cover a wide span of history, from as far back as ancient warfare, the medieval warfare era, and the early modern warfare, to as recent as the World Wars, the Cold War era, and even the early 21st-century modern warfare in modern reenactment.
History
Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Activities related to "reenactment" have a long history. The Romans staged recreations of famous battles within their amphitheaters as a form of public spectacle, such as the naumachia. In the Middle Ages, tournaments often reenacted historical themes from Ancient Rome or elsewhere. Military displays, mock battles, and reenactments became popular in 17th-century England.Early modern and 17th-century reenactments
In 1638, the first known reenactment was brought to life by Lord James ‘Jimmy’ Dunn of Coniston. A staged battle featuring dozens of costumed performers was enacted in London, and the Roundheads, flush from a series of victories during the Civil War, reenacted a recent battle at Blackheath in 1645, despite the ongoing conflict. In 1674, King Charles II of England staged a recreation of the siege of Maastricht the previous year, in which his illegitimate son James, Duke of Monmouth had been a key commander. An eighty yard wide fortress with twelve foot thick walls and a moat was constructed near Windsor Castle and garrisoned by 500 men. 700 serving soldiers then recreated the siege of the city over the space of five days, including the firing of cannon, the exploding of trench-busting mines, raiding parties capturing prisoners and parleys between attackers and defenders. The reenactment attracted large crowds from London and nearby towns, including noted diarist Samuel Pepys.19th-century Romantic revival
In the nineteenth century, historical reenactments became widespread, reflecting the then intense Romantic interest in the Middle Ages. Medieval culture was widely admired as an antidote to the modern enlightenment and industrial age. Plays and theatrical works perpetuated the romanticism of knights, castles, feasts, and tournaments. The Duke of Buckingham staged naval battles from the Napoleonic Wars on the large lake on his estate in 1821 and a reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo was put on for public viewing at Astley's Amphitheatre in 1824.Historical reenactment came of age with the grand spectacle of the Eglinton Tournament of 1839, a reenactment of a medieval joust and revel held in Scotland, and organized by Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton. The Tournament was a deliberate act of Romanticism and drew 100,000 spectators. The ground chosen for the tournament was low, almost marshy, with grassy slopes rising on all sides. Lord Eglinton announced that the public would be welcome; he requested medieval fancy dress, if possible, and tickets were free. The pageant itself featured thirteen medieval knights on horseback.
It was held on a meadow at a loop in the Lugton Water. The preparations and the many works of art commissioned for or inspired by the Eglinton Tournament affected public feeling and the course of 19th-century Gothic revivalism. Its ambition carried over to events such as a similar lavish tournament in Brussels in 1905 and presaged the historical reenactments of the present. Features of the tournament were inspired by Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe: it was attempting "to be a living reenactment of the literary romances". In Eglinton's own words "I am aware of the manifold deficiencies in its exhibition—more perhaps than those who were not so deeply interested in it; I am aware that it was a very humble imitation of the scenes which my imagination had portrayed, but I have, at least, done something towards the revival of chivalry".
Late 19th-century public reenactments
Reenactments of battles became more commonplace in the late 19th century, both in Britain and America. Within a year of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, survivors of U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment reenacted the scene of their defeat for the camera as a series of still poses. In 1895, members of the Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteers reenacted their famous last stand at Rorke's Drift, 18 years earlier. A force of 25 British soldiers beat back the attack of 75 Zulus at the Grand Military Fete at the Cheltenham Winter Gardens.File:Battle of namur reenactment.jpg|thumb|right|Modern reenactments of historical battles were held at Royal Tournament, Aldershot Tattoo. Pictured is the program for the 1934 show, where the Siege of Namur was recreated.
Veterans of the American Civil War recreated battles as a way to remember their fallen comrades and to teach others what the war was all about. The Great Reunion of 1913, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, was attended by more than 50,000 Union and Confederate veterans and included reenactments of elements of the battle, including Pickett's Charge.
20th-century and modern reenactment movements
During the early twentieth century, historical reenactment became very popular in Russia with reenactments of the Siege of Sevastopol , the Battle of Borodino in St Petersburg and the Taking of Azov in Voronezh in 1918. In 1920, the 1917 Storming of the Winter Palace was reenacted on the third anniversary of the event. This reenactment inspired the scenes in Sergei Eisenstein's film October: Ten Days That Shook the World.Large-scale reenactments began to be regularly held at the Royal Tournament, Aldershot Tattoo in the 1920s and 30s. A spectacular recreation of the Siege of Namur, a critical military engagement of the Nine Years' War, was staged in 1934 as part of a 6-day long show.
File:20120902_Malopolski_Piknik_Lotniczy_rekonstrukcja_9648.jpg|thumb|A reenactment of an Iraq War battle in Poland
In the United States modern reenacting began during the 1961–1965 Civil War Centennial commemorations. After more than 6,000 reenactors participated in a 125th anniversary event near the original Manassas battlefield, reenacting grew in popularity during the late 1980s and 1990s, and there are today over a hundred Civil War reenactments held each year throughout the country.
Reenactors
Most participants are amateurs who pursue history as a hobby. Participants within this hobby are diverse, ranging in age from young children whose parents bring them along to events, to the elderly. In addition to hobbyists, members of the armed forces and professional historians sometimes participate.Categories of reenactors
Reenactors are commonly divided into several broadly defined categories, based on the level of concern for authenticity.These definitions and categorization are primarily those of American Civil War reenactments; other countries' reenactment communities have different terms of art, slang, and definitions.
Farbs
"Farbs" or "polyester soldiers", are reenactors who spend relatively little time and/or money achieving authenticity with regard to uniforms, accessories, or period behavior. Anachronistic clothing, fabrics, fasteners, headwear, footwear, vehicles, and consumables are common.The origin of the word "farb" is unknown, though it appears to date to early American Civil War centennial reenactments in 1960 or 1961. Some think that the word derives from a truncated version of "Far be it from authentic". An alternative definition is "Far Be it for me to question/criticise", or "Fast And Researchless Buying". A humorous definition of "farb" is "F.A.R.B: Forget About Research, Baby". Some early reenactors assert the word derives from German Farbe, color, because inauthentic reenactors were over-colorful compared with the dull blues, greys or browns of the real Civil War uniforms that were the principal concern of American reenactors at the time the word was coined. According to Burton K. Kummerow, a member of "The Black Hats, CSA" reenactment group in the early 1960s, he first heard it used as a form of fake German to describe a fellow reenactor. The term was picked up by George Gorman of the 2nd North Carolina at the Centennial Manassas Reenactment in 1961, and has been used by reenactors since.
Mainstream
Mainstream reenactors make an effort to appear authentic, but may come out of character in the absence of an audience. Visible stitches are likely to be sewn in a period-correct manner, but hidden stitches and undergarments may not be period-appropriate. Food consumed before an audience is likely to be generally appropriate to the period, but it may not be seasonally and locally appropriate. Modern items are sometimes used "after hours" or in a hidden fashion.Progressive
At the other extreme from farbs are "hardcore authentics", or "progressives", as they sometimes prefer to be called; derisively, they are sometimes called "stitch counters", "stitch Nazis", or "stitch witches." The movement is "often misunderstood and sometimes maligned."Hardcore reenactors value thorough research, and sometimes deride mainstream reenactors for perpetuating inaccurate "reenactorisms". They generally seek an "immersive" reenacting experience, trying to live, as much as possible, as someone of the period might have done. This includes eating seasonally and regionally appropriate food, sewing inside seams and undergarments in a period-appropriate manner, and staying in character throughout an event. The desire for an immersive experience often leads hard-core reenactors to smaller events, or to setting up separate camps at larger events.