Top 2 Civil War Things to Do

The Civil War is 150, which means four years of particularly robust re-enactments and a lot of new Civil War books. Even a CD or two.

Here are two things I recommend doing to tribute the occasion:

1. WATCH 'SHERMAN'S MARCH'

Do you know this 1986 documentary? At nearly three hours, it's way too long, but simply impossible to stop looking at once you start.

A heart-broken, deadpan-hilarious film-maker Ross McElwee (mostly behind the camera) wants to retrace the tragic figure of William Sherman on his (in)famous rampage through the South, a region he had loved and spent much time before the war. But McElwee's girlfriend dumps him after McElwee gets the film grant, so he ends up loosely following Sherman, while mostly flirting from behind the camera with a string of mesmerizingly bizarre southern women (a rocker, a 'prophet' actress, a Mormon, a hermit).

It is more a glimpse of '1981 South' -- when it was filmed -- than a Civil War doc. (The New York Times even called it a 'timely memoir of the '80s' in 1986!) Plus Burt Reynolds makes an unplanned cameo.

2. WATCH THIS

I made this two years ago at Gettysburg, and still await the answer on how Civil War re-enactors decide who dies first.

If pressed, I'd have to admit no one really knows.

Talking 2011 on ABC News Now

Yesterday I appeared on ABC News Now to discuss some of the lists made in Lonely Planet's new Best in Travel 2011. Talked about Albania's Ottoman-era houses, Japan's $40 guesthouses, the notion of 'communism travel' and re-enactments from the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Civil War (here's my video on how they decide who dies first). Yes, I squeezed out a Will Ferrell movie idea and (not unrelated) Teutonic Knights.

How do Civil War Re-enactors Pick Who Dies First?

WHAT TRAVEL TEACHES

If you're like me at all, you've spent countless nights burning trying to solve an immortal question: at Civil War and other battle re-enactments, who dies first? Are newbloods asked to shed theirs as the cannonballs begin to fly? Or do those tardy with dues drop early? Or is it just the unlucky, the worn out, or -- after a few days camping in a hot summer -- the stinky?


Last month, I attended the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Gettsyburg, in south-central Pennsylvania, to find out. I wasn't sure how I'd be received. At an open field a few miles from the actual field, I joined hundreds of troops in gray and blue, and as many observers drinking cold lemonade, shopping for hats and toy rifles, or listening to period music played under field tents. A historian from the nearby Gettysburg National Military Park -- which is wonderful to visit -- translated the scene of rows of soldiers on horseback tangled in sword clash and fake gunpowder from rifle shots. "There's much confusion out there."

As an Okie with a few Confederate swords in my family's collective attic, I gravitated towards the southern campsite between a couple skirmishes on the last of the three-day event. And I was surprised to hear half hailed from north of the Mason Dixon Line.

A younger northern re-enactor assumed the character of "Harrison Reed," who left his family in Albany to fight in gray. "I haven't spoken to them since '61," he said squinting into mid-day sun. One goateed dad (there were many) from upstate New York, Todd Smith, said he sided with the south because "they're more fun." His 12-year-old would be carrying the colors into a Pickett's Charge later that day, he said proudly despite both of their low chance of survival. (The Confederates saw high casualties in that disastrous attack.)

Everyone was united in why they were doing it -- for the bond with each other ("it's like a camping trip," one said; another: "you should hear the stories around the campfire at night") and more importantly a deep respect for military, past and present.

Patrick Jones, from Virginia, has been doing this for 10 years "to celebrate my three ancestors who fought for the south, and honor all those who gave their lives for what they thought was right." Did his ancestors die during the war? "No. One disappeared though," he said laughing. "And one finally surrendered two months after the war was over."

And in terms of how they pick who dies? Here's the confusing clarity:



One re-enactor suggested I could get started for "about $1000" -- that is if I wanted the full regalia and a big tent, all period-piece style. "We're everywhere, groups like us. Let me know and I'll hook you up." I might.