4 Things to Learn from a Historical Reenactment

Last week we had the opportunity to go to the 235th anniversary of the Battle of Guilford County Courthouse – a rural battle of the Revolutionary War between General Nathaniel Greene and Lord Cornwallis.

I’ve never been to a real battle reenactment before, and it was fascinating!  There are many things you can learn from living history events, and the same is true of a reenactment.

Here’s why you should find one and attend with your family soon:

1. Your senses take over.  Good books make you picture the scene, but you can’t truly image the scene until you’re there.  The smell of the gunpowder, the blasts of the cannons, the heat of the sun – there’s a lot happening out there, and it can overwhelm your senses.  I can’t imagine how confusing it must have been to be a soldier actually on the field, but it couldn’t have been easy to keep to your task with all of that going on.
2. Battle strategy suddenly makes sense.  I’ve never really understood who goes where and why in a battle.  Reading about a thousand men moving up and down hills and the like is hard for me to picture, and I’m a very visual person.  Though I get that battles are rough and ugly, it was hard to imagine the purpose of the movement – until we had a front row seat.  The battle we witnessed was sped up to take about an hour.  We could SEE who was going after whom and why people had to move.  It was great!
3. You can hear about it from an expert.  I had no idea that reenactments have narrators, but ours did!  He stood at the edge of the battlefield in full British uniform, microphone in hand, and explained everything we were watching.  We learned about the uniform colors, where each regiment came from, why people were going where – it was amazing.  We all learned more than we expected.
4. The actors wake up afterwards.  Some little kids near us were concerned that people were dying for real – they were very young and couldn’t tell the difference at first – but it is all an act.  The soldiers that we saw were willing to answer questions and to pose for pictures afterwards.  Who knew you could get a photo with your favorite soldier?

What would you add?

Some people go all out for the reenactment.  Get your supplies here!

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