Civil War Reenacting: Tents

By Matthew Pizzolato

One of the biggest disparities at a reenactment when compared to the War is that for the most part, every reenactor has his own tent.  The soldiers during that time weren't so fortunate. 

When the War began, both armies used Sibley tents, named after Confederate Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley.  The design was based on Native American tepees.  A Sibley tent was a round cone that was eighteen feet in diameter and twelve feet high.  It was supported by a center pole and was designed to sleep twelve men comfortably aligned around the center pole.  However, when supplies were short, they sometimes housed up to twenty a night.  During the summer months, bathing was a luxury for an army in the field so conditions often were intolerable inside a Sibley and many men chose to sleep under the stars when the weather was permitting.

Different sizes of wedge tents or A-frames

As the War dragged on, the large Sibley tent was replaced by smaller tents often called wedge tents or A-frames.  The official size of a wedge tent given by the Quartermaster Department of the U.S. Army was 6'10" long, 8'4" wide and 6'10" tall.  These tents would generally sleep four men.

The reproduction tents used today are somewhat larger, most of them being nine feet long by nine feet wide and seven feet high.  However, they come in several different sizes.

What most soldiers would have used while the army was marching is the shelter tent or dog tent as they came to be called because they didn't require wagon trains for transportation since they didn't use ridgepoles.  A shelter tent consists of two canvas shelter halves (each man would carry one half in a knapsack) that buttoned together and were held up often with freshly cut saplings and rope. They were barely five foot square and only provided enough room to crawl in and lay under and would sleep two men. There was no front or rear flap and on cold nights, soldiers would often throw blankets over the openings.

Those were the regular accommodations for the enlisted men in the Union Army.  Those in the Confederate army weren't as fortunate and due to the lack of supplies, often slept out in the elements with nothing more than a wool blanket.

There were larger tents for officers, known as a wall tents and the largest wall tents often served as hospitals.

Matthew Pizzolato's short stories have been published online and in print. He writes Western fiction that can be found in his story collection, The Wanted Man and the novella Outlaw as well as his newest release, Two of a Kind.

Matthew is the editor and webmaster ofThe Western Online, a magazine dedicated to everything Western and can be contacted via his personal websiteor on Twitter @mattpizzolato.

Civil War Reenacting: Getting Started

By Matthew Pizzolato

The first step to getting started with reenacting is pretty simple. Attend an event.  Reenactments take place all over the country, pretty much year round.  The majority of reenactments are during the fall and winter months, because wearing wool during the heat of the summer isn't exactly fun.

Once you are there, talk to a reenactor.  All of us are pretty friendly and love talking about what we do.  We are always looking for new recruits to swell the ranks.  Anyone can be involved, young or old, male or female.  It's something the whole family can do.

My little baby
sister and I standing in front
of an A-Frame tent.

Most reenactments require participants to be registered before they can take part in an event.  So if immersing yourself in the time period seems like something you'd enjoy, make plans to attend the next local event. 

I can say from personal experience that the first article a new reenactor should acquire is a canteen.  Regardless of the time of year, marching to and from a battlefield is thirsty work.  Unless of course you choose to join the artillery, then you can ride everywhere you go.

The next thing would be clothing.  Period correct clothing can be ordered online or purchased at the events from one of the sutlers.  The next would be a tent.  Tents come in all sorts of sizes, from the Shelter tents, to the A-Frames.  Then there are Wall Tents and even the Hospital Tents, which are huge. It just depends on how much space you want or need. Most of us use the A-Frame, although the average soldier of the time didn't have anything as grand.  When they had tents, it was the Shelter Tent that was little more than a piece of canvas strung across some branches to keep them out of the rain. 

The most expensive thing to acquire would be the musket. There is a wide assortment of firearms that can be used depending on which branch you join. Most infantry use the replicas of the Springfield or Enfield muskets.  The best way is to start small and gradually acquire your gear over a period of time. 

If you are just looking to try out the experience, most reacting groups are willing to outfit newcomers completely their first time, so stop by an event, make some new friends, and then see the elephant!

Matthew Pizzolato's short stories have been published online and in print. He writes Western fiction featuring his antihero character, Wesley Quaid, that can be found in his story collection, The Wanted Man and the novella Outlaw. 

Matthew is the editor and webmaster of The Western Online, a magazine dedicated to everything Western and can be contacted via his personal website or on Twitter @mattpizzolato.