IN PROGRESS

 

MYTH: Reenacting is a boys' club.

REALITY: Women run the show off the battlefield.

 

Being one of only four women in the Battery, I spent about fifty percent of my time at the reenactment working in the camp – cooking, cleaning and tending to the fire.  There were 15 men in the camp that we needed to feed and clean up after according to their battle schedules.  The first morning at the camp I woke up to find an outfit laid out for me in the main tent that included an apron.  I was not planning on any activity for the day that would involve an apron as I was anxious to take part in the battle, but the Weidrich’s women had other plans for me.  Under the guise of wanting me to get all of the “real” reenacting experiences, I was put to work cooking, washing, hauling and hiding the inaccuracies of our camp from spectators that may be exploring.  After making three dozen scrambled eggs and several pounds of bacon, I thought my scullery duties were over but then we needed to replenish the water supply from the “water buffalo” and carry 10 pound bags of ice from the delivery service’s golf cart to the camp.  After that, it was just about time to prepare to do the whole process over for lunch. And dinner.

 

Before I went to Gettysburg, I was unsure of why women would want to reenact “civilian impressions” and not fight in a battle or do another impression that would get them out of the camp.  After that first morning, I was even more incredulous.  This was, in my opinion, no way to spend a long weekend – doing all variations of “housework” except without the house to at least protect you from the elements.  During one interview, Allen told me that her reason for reenacting was simple – “I promised him [Steven, her husband] I’d follow him anywhere.”

The other two women in the battery, one a wife and mother of reenactors in the group and the other the youngest child of Steven McNally, Megan, spent all of their time during the reenactment reenacting female civilians. I had interviewed Megan about her reenacting in March of 2013; at that time, she had never dressed as a male soldier and had never fired any of the cannons that lived in her parent’s garage.  I was a bit surprised to hear this when I first interviewed her; but her reply was simple:

 

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In June, Megan emailed me that I would have to interview her again as now she had not only dressed as a male soldier, but was able to fire the cannon for the first time.  After hearing this, I thought that I would have another female with me reenacting as a soldier at Gettysburg, but Megan spent her time as a female civilian and at the camp during the entire weekend.  I asked her why she did not go out with the men again and she said, “

                In the reenacting world, “cross-dressing” does not mean donning the garb of the opposite se, but rather putting on the uniform of “the other side”.  So, while I was dressed as a male Union soldier, I was not cross-dressing, just reenacting.  1724 – 1808 bk int