A Dozen Inexpensive Ways to Improve Your Personal Impression: By Cal Kinzer

[Old Reb]

Joe,
I apologize for not mentioning you when I was speaking of Holler and Cal being quirky. You indeed fit that description and should have been mentioned with equal weight.

While folks are rattling the bones of the ancient ones that helped bring a segment of this hobby out of the dark ages, I throw out the name Jack King. Old Jack organized RRI and RRII. He believed in using period logistics and keeping his camps away from the streamers and basing things on historic documentation rather than personal whim.

[Gallinipper]

And, Cal Kinzer is a good guy. I've known him for probably 25 years now. Here is a photo of me, Cal and Jim Butler at officer's mess during the 2005 Shiloh event

Nice shot, Joe! Sure would hate to tangle with that bunch. A Tennessee event in April without mud?? Imagine that.....

[PogueMahone]

Tom,

"Quirky" is not something I've heard before to describe me, but I'll take it.

I'll second you on Jack King. For the 125th Manassas event, Jack convinced the 10 best, most authentic CS groups in the west/south to organize into a single battalion for the event, something that had never been done to my knowledge. We would portray the 7th Louisiana. We registered through Jack and each man got a canvas haversack, canvas gaitors, cotton havelock, Pelican belt buckle and a star/crescent badge. All the companies he had engaged at that time were wearing the same cadet grey jacket from Jarnagin. Each man wore Federal issue sky blue trowsers. As a battalion, we were uniform.

He put together a color guard with men from several of the larger companies and they carried two hand painted silk flags, a first national and a pelican. He recruited a full brass band to march with us for the entire event.

Jack organized an Amtrak special car that started out in the west, maybe even California, and picked up folks as it passed through the south, arriving at Manassas Junction the day or so before the event. Several of us drove up and met the train and the battalion camped in the park across the street from the train station. We had dress parade, guard mount and orders of the day. The next morning the battalion marched 9 miles to the event site, with the band playing Dixie as we marched away from the train station. Jack had even arranged for some church group to feed us lunch along the march route at a school. I recall filling my canteen from a shower head in the boy's locker room and then dipping my upper body into the freshly filled pool to cool off.

When the battalion arrived at the event site, we halted, all the officers brushed their uniforms, put on gloves, etc. Each man buttoned up tight and our lines were dressed. We marched into camp with the band in front playing The Marseilles and came over a rise to see the largest camp we'd ever seen and then to realize the entire camp had just seen the coolest battalion they'd ever seen. We were so uniform that for the rest of the weekend people would point and say "There's one of them fellers that marched in with the band and all that."

Good times. Good memories.

Jack broke new ground all the way around with that event.

[PogueMahone]

Rich,

I'm the one buttoned up in the back. That is Jim Butler with his jacket open.

[Gallinipper]

Joe, I see three Yanks and you all look like clothes thieves to me!

[Cal Kinzer]

Dear Friends:

Well, I reckon it is about my turn to chime in here. I never cease to be amazed at how this OLD article, written almost twenty years ago, seems to get dusted off and resurrected from time to time. Why bring it back now, Paul? Is it a SLOW NEWS DAY?

By the way, it is indeed true that I am STILL ALIVE. I just thought everyone would like to know that! As to the charge that I am a bit "quirky" - well, I guess I shall have to plead guilty on that one - to which everyone who knows me, especially my wife, will certainly attest!

Seriously though, I do not necessarily hold with everything I wrote way back then, any more than anyone else probably would the views they held that long ago. There has been a lot of research done since, and our take on what is or is not authentic has changed a quite a lot - as it should! If my views and personal impression had progressed that little over such a long period of time, then I would be a pretty poor reenactor.

As a historical document, "Twelve Ways..." may have some relevance. At the time, it did seem to have helped nudge the hobby forward a little. If nothing else, perhaps it achieved its basic purpose, which was to encourage reenactors to begin thinking of authenticity as more than just buying higher quality reproductions, but rather the entire range of methods and applications involved in more accurately recreating the Civil War soldier.

But it should not be taken as state-of-the-art, especially with regard to what the members of the h/c/p side of the hobby and readers of this forum are doing today. You are achieving things that go far beyond anything of which we "old-timers" could have dreamed 20, 30 (or, in my case, nearly 40!) years ago. My hat is off to you!

I would like to thank those who jumped into the discussion in my defense. One of the most rewarding things about reenacting is the good friendships one makes, and the wonderful individuals you come to know and respect, - and who know and respect you. When fine men and topnotch historians like Nathan Hellwig, Frank Siltman and Joe Smotherman think enough of you to say what they did, that is no small thing, and a great honor!

For those who may be shy about contributing to the growth of authenticity, or who may be fearful of the criticism that will inevitably result, let me encourage you not to be overly concerned. In the old days, authentics fought against everything from two-banded muskets to modern tents to motorcycle boots. At every step of the way, they faced heated, and often unkind and unfair opposition from those who claimed that they were unreasonable and intolerant. But, over a long period of time, most among the silent majority came to see the truth of what they had to say, and gradually the cause of higher quality, and greater seriousness and professionalism, was moved forward - inch by inch!

Reenacting is more than a hobby. Pastimes such as stamp collecting, building model airplanes, or tending a garden are ends unto themselves, and carry no particular higher connotations. But ours is a greater calling, and involves a responsibility to accurately recreate some of the darkest, most important days of our nation's past. Therefore, we have an obligation to do it right, and to the best of our abilities. We owe this to history, to the memory of those we represent, to our fellow Americans - and to ourselves!

Cal Kinzer

[Raven]

Not to be a flame-bait, but on the part about the thing that "short hair was most common", take a look at the famous picture of the three captured soldiers at Gettysburg:

He appears to have long hair but has slicked it back.
Nice post by the way!

[JimKindred]

Try using more than one photo example to make your point.

[paulcalloway]

Dear Friends:
Why bring it back now, Paul? Is it a SLOW NEWS DAY?

Just noticed this. Cal, I posted this in 2004 when we rebuilt the site after a massive crash... it had been posted here prior to that. If we no longer have your permission to host this, let me know and we'll take it down. But I didn't just recently post this as your reply suggests.

[Raven]

Sure thing