Reliving our history

July 04, 2009 09:16 pm

— History is alive and well in Goshen today with the arrival of the 19th Indiana Company Civil War re-enactment group.
The group, made up of volunteers and history buffs from across the country, will be performing a living history event at the Black Squirrel Golf Club from 3 p.m. to dusk as part of the day’s Celebrate America festivities.
“A re-enactment is not necessarily what we’re doing,” said Gregory Walz, a local accountant and longtime group member who will be participating in today’s event. “We’re actually doing what’s called a living history, where it’s basically a re-creation of a Civil War encampment rather than a battlefield.”
According to Walz, visitors to the event will be able to get a first-hand look at how a typical soldier lived during the time of the Civil War, right down to the clothes they wore and the food they ate.
“Mostly what they’ll see is the physical stuff, the uniforms, equipment and gear that the soldiers would have carried with them,” Walz said. “Some of them carried Bibles, and some carried cards,” he added with a laugh.
A history buff himself, Walz said he got his start with the group almost 15 years ago through his fascination with the battle of Gettysburg.
“I wanted to learn what the soldier’s of Indiana did in Gettysburg, so I began reading and found out about the 19th Indiana Company,” Walz said. “The 19th Indiana was actually a part of the Iron Brigade, which was probably one of the most famous brigades of the Civil War — famous because they almost never retreated. They took huge casualties and they had this ornery western mentality that was very different than the eastern mentality of that time.”
After discovering the 19th Indiana Company, Walz said he continued to read and surf the Internet for more information on the famous brigade, eventually stumbling onto the Web site of the 19th Indiana Company re-enactment group.
“After checking them out, I started doing it, and like most hobbies, once you start doing it, it becomes an obsession,” Walz said. “Once we really got into it, me and my son were doing about 30 events a year, sleeping outside, traveling thousands of miles, and hanging out with a bunch of strange guys. It’s just great.”
According to Walz, this will be the first time in the history of Celebrate America that the event has featured a re-enactment-type event.
Walz said one of the biggest draws for participating in the Celebrate America festivities was the group’s desire to keep the memory of past veterans alive.
“One of the main reasons we agreed to do it was because the organizers are World War II veterans,” Walz said. “We’re big believers that when the veteran generation dies off, people tend to forget them. That’s why we dress up like them, to honor them, to keep their memory alive.”
When it comes to the number of group members who will actually be participating in today’s event, Walz said it is often hard to say due to the volunteer nature of the group.
“I know that we’ll have at least enough to have firing demonstrations,” Walz said. “We do have a guy coming up all the way from Alabama to be here. We’ve actually got guys coming from all over the country, but we never know how many we’re going to get. It could be 10, 17, or 20. You just never know.”
As for cost to attend the event, Walz said all of the groups re-enactments and living history events are free to the public, as all costs are shouldered by the members themselves.
“It actually costs about $1,500 per guy to put them in a uniform,” Walz said. “Just a coat can cost upward of $500 to $600. Then you have the really dedicated members, who will go out and spend $30,000 for an artillery piece. It’s definitely something we take seriously.”
Beyond the cost of the hobby, Walz said some members will even go so far as to emulate their favorite historic figures.
“They’ll take a guy that they’ve read about or are particularly interested in, and they’ll model their performances after them,” Walz said. “This type of performance is called first person, where you really want to get deep into the character.”
Not all the group’s members are so enamored with the practice, however.
“I’ve done it somewhat, but I don’t particularly enjoy it too much. I’ve got too big a mouth,” Walz said with a laugh. “I love the performances though, talking to people about the history. If you’re a history nut, and you get into reading a lot of history, it really is kind of the next logical step.”