RALEIGH – When today’s 27th North Carolina Troops re-enactors participate in a program at Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 23, they will wear the same kind of uniforms and carry the same kind of weapons as did the 27th North Carolina Troops during the Civil War. The original 27th was with the Army of Northern Virginia at Petersburg at the time of the Battle of Bentonville. On the 144th anniversary of the battle, the re-enactors will be at Bentonville. The 27th re-enactors are from the Raleigh area and do programs in mostly in eastern North Carolina. Rather than farmers and laborers, today’s 27th may be professionals, lawyers to landscapers, practicing a hobby they have come to love. Those who want the South to rise again need not apply.
“They’ll find out we’re not politically motivated,” explains re-enactor Dean Harry of Cary. “We just want to keep folks interested in the history of the period.”
Civil War re-enactors are a dedicated group. The 27th re-enactors are seeing more action in North Carolina than did the originals, and will present programs all year. They started at Fort Fisher and Fort Anderson State Historic Sites in January and February, and will do programs at non-state historic sites, including Fort Branch and Fort Macon. This year the group also will participate in a large re-enactment in Spotsylvania, Va. Bentonville Battlefield Site Manager Donny Taylor started the group in 1985 in Kinston. Taylor is colonel of the 1st N.C. Battalion which includes the 27th troops. The group will do three programs at Bentonville this year.
For 16 years, Harry has been a re-enactor. He says the camaraderie and getting to learn about the period keep him involved. He is trained lawyer, wine wholesaler and captain with the N.C. 27th re-enactors, elected to the position just as the officers of the Civil War era were. “As a captain, I had to do a lot of study and practice,” he recalls, “to know what to say, how to say it. That’s part of the fun.”
Brian Craddock of Cary, now a 1st Lieutenant, visited a Civil War re-enactment at Bennett Place State Historic Site at the suggestion of his girlfriend while out bird watching in 1998. He enjoyed it more than she did, and didn’t want to leave.
“I met several members of the 27th,” he recalls. “They were just so nice. I got some names and they called me the next day, saying I would fit in with the group. I already knew I was hooked when driving home.”
These men volunteer for this duty, and this can be a demanding hobby. Harry points out that wearing a wool uniform in 100 degree weather can be challenging, or your water canteen can freeze in the cold. “The most physically challenging can be firing muskets moving around the field for an hour or two, and marching in the uniform all that time.” These would be big battles, and participating in those rewarding.
“It’s most memorable being with up to 15,000 re-enactors, say at Gettysburg, or 10,000 like at Antietam,” Harry says.
Harry and Craddock are among the 40 re-enactors in Company D, 27th North Carolina Troops. The unit does a program or event every month, sometimes two. In addition to the time commitment, the monetary commitment can be considerable. Harry explains that the clothing and gear are authentic period reproductions. The muskets come from Italy, the cloth is made in North Carolina and hand dyed.
The shoes are manufactured in the U.S. It can easily total $2,000-$2,500 for the military outfit.
“We have loaner gear to get people started,” Harry adds. “We also require people to come to three events before they join, to see if they are a good fit.”
Sometimes Harry and Craddock take the opposing side. “There are people in my group that do impressions as both Union and Confederate soldiers,” Harry says. “I like the Confederates because the uniforms are more unique.”
“I always said I would never do Federal,” recalls Craddock, “Then you realize there’s no one to fight. Northerners are not going to come South, say beyond Sharpsburg or Gettysburg. We have to do it ourselves.”
In addition to infantry and weapon demonstrations, the 27th explains about life on the home front, and sometimes women present candle making, cooking, crocheting, or other period domestic skills.
“The men have to learn to cook on the campfire too,” Craddock adds. “It can be funny to watch them learning around the campfire.”
Craddock is a landscaper who also teaches history, and uses other skills. He plays the tin whistle, an Irish instrument, in the band Huckleberry Brothers, which plays Civil War period music. He has by default come to call Civil War period dances. “There was a void. People were all dressed up, and there was no one to call the dances,” he remembers. “I’ve been teaching clogging for Raleigh Parks and Recreation for 30 years. People would say ‘You can call the dances.’”
The re-enactors look forward to the dances, the battles, and mostly to being together. “It’s rewarding being with the fellows. It becomes a family,” Craddock says.
“The biggest thing we enjoy is sharing with the public,” Harry observes. “We love to educate, we like an audience, and for them to ask questions. We enjoy the people coming to the programs.”
Additional information on the Civil War programs at State Historic Sites being presented at Bentonville, Fort Fisher, Bennett Place, and the CSS Neuse throughout 2009 is available at www.nchistoricsites.org, and click on Select a Site. March Civil War program information at the N.C. Museum of History is available at www.ncmuseumofhistory.org, including a lecture on “Antietam and the Archaeology of Tactics” with Stephen Potter, Ph.D, with the National Park Service on March 28. The Historical Publications Branch offers Civil War titles at www.ncpublications.com, click on “Online Store” and the Civil War listings.
Information on the 27th NC Troops is available at www.d27nct.org, and on the 1st North Carolina Battalion at http://www.1stncbattalion.org/1st_NC_Battalion/Home.html.
For additional information on the Bentonville Battlefield, call (910) 594-0789. For other information call (919) 807-7389. The Division of State Historic Sites is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Now podcasting 24/7 with information about the Department of Cultural Resources, all available at www.ncculture.com.