Historical reenactment
[1] 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.
[2] An eighty yard wide fortress with twelve foot thick walls and a moat was constructed near Windsor Castle and garrisoned by 500 men.
[2] 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.
[2] The reenactment attracted large crowds from London and nearby towns, including noted diarist Samuel Pepys.
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.
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.
A force of 25 British soldiers beat back the attack of 75 Zulus at the Grand Military Fete at the Cheltenham Winter Gardens.
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.
"Farbs" or "polyester soldiers",[15] are reenactors who spend relatively little time and/or money achieving authenticity with regard to uniforms, accessories, or period behavior.
Anachronistic clothing, fabrics, fasteners (such as velcro), headwear, footwear, vehicles, and consumables (such as modern cigarettes) are common.
The origin of the word "farb" (and the derivative adjective "farby") is unknown, though it appears to date to early American Civil War centennial reenactments in 1960 or 1961.
[18][21] 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.
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.
Occasionally, storytelling or acting sketches take place to involve or explain the everyday life or military activity to the viewing public.
[29] Finally, "First-person" interpreters "feign previous folk 'from outward appearances to innermost beliefs and attitudes,' pretending not to know anything of events past their epoch, and engaging with audiences using antiquated dialects and mannerisms.
[29] In the United States, the National Park Service does not allow for battle reenactments (simulated combat with opposing lines and casualties) on NPS property; however, there are exceptions, such as Sayde[30] or the Schloss Kaltenberg knights tournament.
The specific German approach of authenticity is less about replaying a certain event, but to allow an immersion in a certain era, to catch, in the sense of Walter Benjamin the "spiritual message expressed in every monument's and every site's own 'trace' and 'aura'", even in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
These demonstrations vary widely in size from a few hundred fighters to several thousand, as do the arenas used (getting the right balance can often make or break the spectacle for the public).
Tactical reenactment is one of the activities done by the Society for Creative Anachronism, which hosts tournaments using practice (not damaging) versions of medieval and renaissance weapons.
Many castles that offer tours, museums, and other historical tourist attractions employ actors or professional reenactors to add to authentic feel and experience.
In 2008, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve and North Carolina's Tryon Palace staff and buildings provided the period backdrop for early 1800s life depicted in the Mystery Mardi Gras Shipwreck documentary.
The Medieval Soldier by Gerry Embleton and John Howe (1995) is a popular book on the topic, which has been translated into French and German.
The goal to be as authentic as is possible has led many serious reenactment societies to set up their own research groups to verify their knowledge of the uniforms, drill and all aspects of the life that they strive to portray.
One exception is the book I Believe in Yesterday: My Adventures in Living History by Tim Moore, which recounts his experiences trying out different periods of reenactment, the people he meets, and things he learns whilst doing so.
[36] Motion picture and television producers often turn to reenactment groups for support; films like Gettysburg,[37] Glory,[38] The Patriot,[citation needed] and Alatriste[citation needed] benefited greatly from the input of reenactors, who arrived on set fully equipped and steeped in knowledge of military procedures, camp life, and tactics.
[29] Further, others worry that the focus on historical accuracy in the details, such as dress, obscure the broader historical themes that are critical for audiences to understand; this worry is more acute for certain forms of reenactment, such as American Civil War reenactment, that elicit strong feelings and have real impacts in the present-day world.
For example, in Britain, a high proportion of Napoleonic War reenactors perform as members of the 95th Rifles (perhaps due to the popularity of the fictional character of Richard Sharpe), and medieval groups have an over-proportion of plate-armoured soldiers.
[44] Reenactors may be accused of being, or actually be, aligned with the political beliefs that some of the reenacted armies fought for, such as Nazism or the Confederate South.
For example, U.S. politician Rich Iott's participation in a World War II reenactment in which he was in the group that portrayed the German 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking side excited media criticism during his 2010 Congressional campaign.
[45] Similar accusations have been made against Igor Girkin, a Russian reenactor who has led Russian-aligned forces in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
