Season of Civility as Civil War Re-enactments Return

California Travel Tips

Season of Civility as Civil War Re-enactments Return

Published on: March 31, 2012

There’s nothing civil about war, but when you watch a Civil War tribute event, civility shines through as you meet the participants and learn about their passions for honoring those who died in one America’s most famous battles.

Why do Californians re-enact the Civil War in annual events around the state? There was never actually a battle on our grounds so what gives? The Civil War is part of the heart & soul of many who reside in California, a state that played a significant role in the Civil War. Though we had just become a state, our formation was one of the important playing cards in the battle that eventually united U.S. citizens under one a nation. For a fascinating journey into the world of the Civil War, see the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum in Banning.

Civil War reenactors (actors who pretend they are Civil War participants) participate in approx. a dozen Civil War reenactments each year. The events held throughout California often feature vendors selling Civil War era replica products such as books, clothing, buttons, dolls and flags. The food vendors stick with more modern eats such as soda in cans, bottled water, hot dogs and hamburgers, but sometimes include ears of corn cooked on the grill. Then there’s the main event–battles. The guns fired don’t actually have bullets and the cannons only blast smoke and noise (minus projectiles that would have been used in a real battlefield,) but the special effects are pretty convincing as soldiers drop to the ground as if they’d been struck. Children watching these mock battles do reality checks with their parents and are assured that no one is hurt.

UPCOMING CIVIL WAR EVENTS