History brought to life at Civil War battle sites

PETERSBURG, Va. | During the week, Patrick Lacey is a history teacher. But on the weekends, he trades in his briefcase for a bayonet.

As a “living historian,” he falls somewhere between a teacher and an actor.

“With living histories, you can give a lot more, teach a lot more, than you can just standing in a classroom showing pictures,” Mr. Lacey says. “People can actually come up to you and look and touch and feel and see, and be, like, ’Oh my god, they actually wore that?’ And you can be, like, ’Yeah, they actually did.’ It adds a whole new dynamic to being able to teach something that’s actually very interesting.”

He and other participants at a recent “Living History” event at the Petersburg National Battlefield resembled Civil War scholars with a penchant for the dramatic, there to enact and educate.

“Not only do I learn more and have a greater appreciation for those who fought in and experienced the Civil War, which really made the nation what it is,” said Matt Semple, a Civil War enthusiast, “but by doing the reenacting, doing living histories like this, you get a chance to interact with the public, to pass on what we know and have researched and experienced. One of the biggest travesties that could ever happen with history is forgetting it. So that’s really why I re-enact — and because it’s fun, really really fun.”

Most of the living historians at the event conducted individual research and compiled their findings to create a meticulous portrait of daily life at City Point, a portion of the Petersburg National Battlefield in Hopewell, Virginia, that served as Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters, a Union supply depot, and a holding area for Confederate prisoners.

Unlike traditional Civil War re-enactments, the living historians don’t simulate fighting. Instead, they take a slice-of-life approach, mimicking everyday life on the battlefield.

Union soldiers clustered around one tree were preparing to punish one of their own who had paid another to do his duty for him. A few feet away, two soldiers leaned against a tree for an afternoon nap.

Across the field, a suspenders-clad man tended to an open fire outside a large canvas supply tent, while a nearby group of hoop-skirted women talked among themselves, nibbling cornbread and sipping water from tin cups.

In the words of Anita Henderson, a medical doctor who says being a living historian is her avocation: “This is a living history, so it’s more like show-and-tell for adults. This is more of a general living history interpreting what life at City Point would have been like.”

The renderings spare no detail. For example, the hoop-skirted women, who were representing the U.S. Christian Commission, an organization of middle- and upper-class women who provided aid to soldiers, stood around a table overflowing with dishes of cornbread, watermelon, cherries, and cucumbers.

“We are trying to bring food that not only do we know the Christian Commission did distribute, but that they distributed at City Point and what was in season at that month,” said Julie Herzig, a living history participant who also teaches history at James Madison University and serves as the costumer at the Frontier History Museum in Stanton, Virginia.

“So everything you see is something that is in season right now. You would not see strawberries — strawberries are not in season at this point in the summer, so that’s why we don’t have them,” she said. “Blackberries just went out of season a couple weeks ago, so you wouldn’t have those here either. We do a lot of research to make sure we have as close to what they would have been experiencing as possible.”

The event’s laid back atmosphere, coupled with the historians’ choice to speak in third-person rather than first, makes the living history an effective educational tool rather than simply a spectacle.

“One thing that’s different at this type of event is that were are not saying ’I, such and such,’ and we are not surprised that you are holding a piece of technology,” said Adrian Robertson, one of the hoop-skirted Christian Commissioners and who is also the public programs coordinator at the Library of Virginia. “For this particular event, the idea is that it is for the public, and that it is easier to ask questions of a person who is able to make connections to the modern world.

“So we are talking in third-person, saying ’This person did this and this person did this,’ instead of adopting a character, trying to be a certain person,” Ms. Robertson said.

While all living history participants share a deep enthusiasm for Civil War history, the passions of some are more personal.

John Griffiths, 76, is one such participant. “I have three ancestors who were in the Union Army, two from Illinois and one from Wisconsin, and you may have heard of the one from Illinois,” he said. “His name was Ulysses Grant. He is my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side.”

If you have a question about the Civil War, these historians probably have an answer. However, the query they find themselves responding to most frequently is “Aren’t you hot in all those clothes?”

For the women, the heat isn’t an issue.

“These are natural fibers,” said Ms. Herzig. “I am wearing 100 percent cotton, and even if it is 100 percent silk or 100 percent wool, it’s still natural, so it breathes.

“Modern clothes have things in them like polyester and nylon, which is essentially plastic — imagine being outside wearing a garbage bag or a shopping bag. It traps the heat. And so because it is those natural fibers it breathes. I can’t speak for everyone right now — but I’m cool,” she said to a chorus of agreement from her hoop-skirted companions.

Soldiers, too, claim that their thick wool jackets, long pants and high boots actually serve as defenses against the summer swelter.

“We drink a lot of water, but these uniforms are actually not as hot as people think,” said Michael White, a living historian clad in full Union soldier regalia. “A lot of times, especially on sunny days, the people in short sleeves and shorts are hotter than we are because the sun is coming down on their skin. We sweat of course, but it’s not too terrible.”

Living History events are presented in conjunction with the National Park Service at historic Civil War sites across the United States. During the warmer months of the year, multiple events are held each week.