By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co. A Once a battalion is formed in line, its commander may wish to change his battalion’s formation from line into a column depending on terrain and the tactical situation (see School of the Battalion: Forming the Battalion for a description of forming the battalion into line). While columns can …
By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co. A A scorching sun beat down on the men of the Stonewall Brigade as they made their way along the dusty roads towards Spotsylvania Court House on May 8th, 1864. They had spent the previous three days fighting in the tangled undergrowth of the Wilderness, as the Army of …
By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co. A A battalion marching in a column has several options to return to a line of battle, formed to the left, front, or right of the column’s original line of march (see School of the Battalion: Forming the Battalion for a description of forming the battalion into line and …
By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co. A One of the most challenging aspects of accuratly protraying Confederate infantry is the wide variation in uniforms and equipment based on location and period in the war. A member of the Army of Northern Virginia in 1862 looked vastly different from the same individual in 1865. To improve …
By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co. A People come to Civil War reenacting in a myriad of ways. Perhaps you have a friend in the hobby who has encouraged you to give it a try. Perhaps you attended a reenactment as a spectator and found yourself wishing you were in the midst of the smoke …
By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co A Civil War reenacting is a broad hobby with a wide spectrum of participants who all want different things out of the hobby. Just because you joined a particular unit doesn’t mean that it is necessarily the best fit for you. Maybe you’ve started to notice that the other …
By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co. A Before a reenactor infantry battalion can be marched the drill field or battlefield, its various component companies must first be formed into a cohesive single unit. Soldiers during the Civil War likely formed their battalions thousands of times over the course of their service, rendering it a habitual …
Winter is a great time to work on improving your impression. A big part of our ability to accurately portray veteran soldiers from the Civil War era is to ensure our drill appears as accurate and as practiced as possible. We’ll never get as good as the men who practiced and drilled for hours and …
As living historians, no tidbit of historical minutia is too insignificant to escape our attention. We work hard to present an impression of the past with as many details backed up by research as possible. From the construction of buttons and the inspection markings on our weapons, to the tiny details of drill and the …
By Brad Ireland, 4th Virginia, Co. A When a battalion is marching in a column of fours (for sake of discussion, by the right flank), the battalion commander has the ability to build a company front to the left, right, and straight ahead of the column of march. Each scenario requires a different command, and …