Reenacting as a couple

Reenacting as a couple 

As some of our readers may know, Jade and I are reenacting as a dating couple. This leads to several benefits.

One of the biggest benefits we have is teamwork. All artillery crews work as a team it is true, but when we are on the same crew we click and the process works smoother. Example being the recent reenactment at Mooresville. While working with the senior corporal in the battery, we were able to fire a breech loading cannon faster than infantry load their muskets.

It is another benefit that we can work together in camp. Something needs to be done, we can often work together as a team to do what needs to be done.  

The greatest benefit in my opinion is simply doing the hobby that I love the most with the woman I love the most.

I will say this. Biggest drawback is a very basic one. We like to hold hands. Automatic reflex. Looks quite strange when we are both soldiers.

Corporal.

corsets and hoops oh my.

As a female that portrays both a solder  and a women in the field, let me vent on each.


lets start with the historic ways a women would dress. As most know a typical under dress for a women is chemise, pantaloons, corset/ stays, hoops, petticoats, and dress.

 now the average a tent that we sleep in is a 8/7.

my point being here is realistically women couldn't of worn hoops all the time less they were high class and had maids / servants.  there a huge fire hazerd and watch everywhere you move. 
any women that has cooked over a fire knows the practicality of a field dress. ( bear with me as im not sure if they go by another name)



ok  part b of my rant.

most of you know i put on wool and serve with Corp. on cannons.  one thing that angers me is people saying its not historically correct.  there were meny women due to the bad medical exams that took on the look of men and males names to serve. some even wern't found out till death. 

my point being if a women wants to put on wool and play let her.

fun on a historic train ride

the Corp and I were so honored to be asked to come down to Medamora  Ind. for a wild west train robbery put on by the Circle D Rangers to raise money for Rilys  children's hospitals. 

 

Basic artillery categories

Fall in for instruction!

The first lesson in Civil War artillery is on the broad categories of artillery used in the war.

The artillery was broken into four basic types. Light, horse, siege and sea coast.

The first category is the light artillery, sometimes called the field artillery. This artillery used lighter guns that could keep up with the infantry Column. Examples of this are the 10 and 20 pound Parrott rifle, 12 pound Napoleen and 3 inch ordnance rifle. In the field artillery most of the men marched.

Horse artillery was very similar to field artillery, using the same types of guns. The primary difference was that all men had horses. This allowed them to keep up with the cavalry.

Siege artillery or heavy artillery started with guns the size of the 30 pound Parrott rifle and went up to guns firing up to 200 pound projectiles. Guns in this category could not keep up with the army and were thus brought into action only when the army needed to destroy fortifications. Most guns above the 30 pound size remained in forts and this were fortification guns.

Sea coast artillery were the heaviest of all. These guns were used exclusively in fortifications as they were too heavy to move once in place. The projectiles they fired ranged from 200 pounds to 1000 pounds in weight and up to 20 inches in diameter. With few exceptions, guns of this caliber in Union forts did not fire their weapons in anger while Confederate guns were used extensively.

Next time we will discuss the more common guns in the artillery in greater detail. Until then, class dismissed.

why do we reenact....

In light if the recent events of a bomb being found the protests i feel we should explain why we do what we do.

We do not reenact to protest or what ever people think. We put on the uniforms to teach and bring history to life. 

There were times in the war were northern and southern solders traded coffee and tobacco.   It was not all just fighting was people think.

This war is a big part of out history .

our adventures at Billy Creek Village

We were so blessed to be invited to Billy Creek Village in Rockville in.  The trip down was interesting as we had no cell reception for 3 hours going in and no service wile there but was a neat experience to unplug and enjoy.

the village its self has buildings that date back to the civil war. the school house on the inside looked like time had stopped and children were going to show up at any moment. there were the desks and chalk boards all in tact the chalk board with little signatures from visitors. the teachers desk was all layed out like someone was preparing for a class.

The main village it self was like stepping back in time were ever you go. 

the Corp. and I loved reenacting here and felt honored to help bring this place back to life. 

Corporal falling in

Post on the piece! March!

Starting today a new contributor to Blackpowder & Lace is falling in. Call me Corporal, comrade and occasional NCO to Jade.

I intend to talk about some of the more technical aspects of the Civil War artillery, weapons and equipment seen in reenactment posts or different monuments. I will primarily use as references for citing books in my own private collection.

Until next time, dismissed.

History of Roma (Gypsy) in 1800's

Jade here,

If you have been fallowing us threw the season some  of you know I portray a Roma ( gypsy ) when I am not in uniform.

here are some historical facts about my people.

 There are 5 major tribes the Rom, the Ludor,  the black Hungarian and the Rom michels.

Rom.
the Rom arrived in the united states  from Serbia, Russia and Austria - hungry in 1880.
 Most specialized in copper smith  work.

Ludor
Romanian gypsy also came to the states in 1880.
most Ludor were "show people" specializing in animal training  from monkeys to bears.

Rom Michel

also known as the English gypsy's  came to the sates in 1850.
 Most were basket weavers and fortune tellers.

the black dutch
 gypsys from Germany.
there are very few of these due to most now claiming to be rom michel.

Hungarian gypsys.
came to the states in 1880.
most were musicians.



  cited from: http://smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/gyp/gypstart.html
          

last reenactment of the season sadly

 Sadly this last weekend was the last  event of the season for us. we were attending moresville civil war days. a amazing little event on a farm in south haven Mish.

adventures finding civil war monuments

one of the thing we love to do when were not in the field is go looking for monuments some times making a road trip out of it.

this weekend we found 2 cannons. both dating back to the civil war.
 the first is a 30 lb. parrot. we found in Constantine MI.  sadly the carriage for both was gone and the  sight was bent on the 30. but still a amazing find.

 the second cannon was a 100 lb cannon.