Civil War Reenacting: Photography

By Matthew Pizzolato

Mathew Brady, 1875.

Modern photography was invented just prior to the Civil War and became the primary means we have of recording that era in history. The daguerreotype was invented in 1839 by Louis Daguerre. He published a booklet describing the process and by 1850 there were more than 70 studios in New York city. The tintype was patented in 1856 by Harold Smith. Both means became popular and many people wanted portraits of their loved ones before they marched off to war.

The most famous of the photographers of the War was Mathew Brady, considered by many to be the father of a photojournalism. Brady took pictures of many famous Americans, including 18 presidents, Civil War officers on both sides of the conflict from Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, to Ulysses S. Grant and George Custer and many more. He also photographed battle scenes and the dead and wounded casualties of the war.

Mathew Brady photograph at Devils Den at Gettysburg.

For some, photography was a money making endeavor as this quote from Scientific American illustrates.

Decidedly one of the institutions of our army is the traveling portrait gallery. A camp is hardly pitched before one of the omnipresent artists in collodion and amber bead varnish drives up his two-horse wagon, pitches his canvas gallery, and unpacks his chemicals. Our army here (Fredericksburg.) is now so large that quite a company of these gentlemen have gathered about us. The amount of business they find is remarkable. Their tents are thronged from morning to night, and "while the day lasteth" their golden harvest runs on. Here, for instance near Gen. Burnside's headquarters, are the combined establishments of two brothers from Pennsylvania, who rejoice in the wonderful name Bergstresser. They have followed the army for more than a year, and have taken, the lord only knows, how many thousand portraits. In one day since they came here they took in one of the galleries, so I am told, 160 odd pictures at $1 each. The style of portrait affected by these traveling army portrait makers is that know to the profession as the melainotype, which is made by the collodion process on a sheet-iron plate and afterward set with amber-bead varnish.

Scientific American, October 18, 1862

One hundred and sixty dollars a day was a veritable fortune at a time when a private made thirteen dollars a month. Mathew Brady, on the other hand, went bankrupt as a result of photography business. During the war, he spent over $100,000 developing his photographic plates and expected the United States government to buy the photographs after the War was over. The government refused.  Brady was forced to sell his business and died penniless on January 15, 1896 following a streetcar accident.

At the reenactments, there are a lot of pictures taken. However, we use modern techniques. Just about everyone at a reenactment will have a camera, especially the spectators. I have been known to sneak a camera onto the battlefield and have gotten a lot of real cool pictures. I've been to Devils Den at Gettysburg and have visited the exact spot where Brady's photo was taken.

At some events, especially the larger ones, there will be people who can take a tintype of you. They use the exact same process that was used during the War. I haven't had a tintype made yet, but that is something that I fully intend to do.

Matthew Pizzolato's short stories have been published online and in print. He is a member of Western Fictioneers and his work can be found in the Wolf Creek series as well as his own publications, THE WANTED MAN, OUTLAW and TWO OF A KIND. 

He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Western Online, a magazine dedicated to everything Western. He can be contacted through Twitter @mattpizzolato or via his website: 

www.matthew-pizzolato.com

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: Sutlers

By Matthew Pizzolato

A sutler's tent during the
Battle of Petersburg

Sutlery during the Civil War highlights one of the vast differences between the availability of supplies in the Union and Confederacy.  The majority of Union regiments were appointed their own sutlers, while very few Confederate regiments had one.  There were sutlers in the South, but they were rare. 

Sutlers provided a valuable service for the soldiers during the War, but there were regarded as more of a necessary evil.  The line of tents where the sutlers set up shop was often referred to as Robber's Row.

They made goods available that weren't provided by the Army.  They were authorized to sell goods on credit but weren't allowed to issue credit that exceeded one-third of a man's monthly pay without the permission of a commanding officer.  Pay for a Union private during the war was exactly $13.00 per month. 

Whenever the paymaster showed up, the sutler set up a table next to his and a large portion of the payroll went directly to the sutler. 

The goods that the sutlers provided included grocery items like eggs, fruit, butter, cheese, and fresh or canned meat.  They also provided dry goods such as playing cards, stationary, needles and thread, toothbrushes, straight razors and everyday items that couldn't be done without. 

The sale of liquor was forbidden but creative sutlers dropped sliced peaches into their whiskey bottles and would sell "pickled peaches." 

Prices were set by the Inspector General Department, but most of the enlisted men couldn't afford the nicer items.  As a way of increasing profits, a lot of sutlers issued change in scrip or tokens that were only redeemable at their establishments.

Sutler's Row at the reenactments of today is an entirely different animal.  By necessity, they cater to both the reenactors and the spectators.  There are modern day foods available as well as toys for the folks who bring their children out to watch. 

The majority of what they sell are period items ranging from any type of clothing to any type of firearm and everything in between. 

The sutlers are the equivalent of "going to town" during a reenactment.  It's one of the ways we pass the time before or after a battle.  

  

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

The Benefits of Civil War Reenacting

Matthew Pizzolato

By Matthew Pizzolato

For me, the joys of taking part in civil war reenactments are more than I could count.  It's a way of stepping back from the hassles of the real world and forgetting all the worries.  It's how I recharge sometimes.  It is a great time with good friends.  It's a lot of things.

There are practical benefits toward my career as a writer as well.  I write Westerns, so being able to immerse myself in the way of life during in that particular period of time is a huge benefit.  I've learned everything from how to fire cap and ball weapons to styles of clothing to understanding marching orders and different manuals of arms. 

Reenacting is a lot more than just firing blanks at each other on a battlefield.  That is actually a very small part of what we do that takes place for an hour or so each day.

A civil war reenactment is a living history event.  We camp in A-frame tents and our manner of living for the weekend is entirely as it would be during the 1860's.  Wearing wool in one hundred degree temperatures is not exactly fun, but it was historically accurate.  Needless to say, my favorite events are the ones during the winter months.

On Fridays, school children tour our camps and we give demonstrations on different aspects of life during the time period.  One of the talks I've given is on the life of a soldier.  Others display the rifles and pistols and show how to load and fire them, with blanks of course.  The favorite among the children happens to be the cannon demonstration.  Visitors can walk through our camps and ask any kind of questions they desire. 

Dances are held every Saturday night to period music and we learn how to dance in that style as well, from reels to waltzes and even the broom dance. 

Then, once the sun goes down and the spectators leave, we sit around the campfire telling stories.  There's something about staring into a fire at night that soothes the soul. 

If you've never been to a reenactment, I highly recommend it, and if you'd like to participate, the more the merrier.

 

I'll be writing a regular column each month on various topics, but primarily it will be about different aspects of the reenactments, from the battles to the dances and everything in between. 

Keep your powder dry, friends, and I'll see you next time.

Matthew Pizzolato's short stories have been published online and in print in such publications as: BEAT to a PULP!, The Copperfield Review, Pulp Mondern, Frontier Tales Magazine, The Pink Chameleon Online, Perpetual Magazine, Long Story Short, and The Storyteller. Matthew is the editor and webmaster of The Western Online, a magazine dedicated to everything Western. Matthew can be contacted via his personal website: www.matthew-pizzolato.com or he can be found on Twitter @mattpizzolato.