SW079 War Reenacting: What Is It Good For? Living Historians Bring Back Past at Florida Parks

Episode note: Mark your calendars for three upcoming Florida living history events: Nov. 13 at the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park for Florida Heritage Day and Dade Park Centennial; Dec 18 Pioneer Day at the Pioneer Museum in Dade City; and Jan. 1-2, 2022 at the Dade Park for the annual Dade Battle re-enactment. 

 

Reenacting war scenes as public spectacle is one means living historians use to bring the general public closer to an understanding of a particular clash in the past. Are they paying homage to the past? Are they playing soldier or Seminole to pretend the past?

The profession is one that takes its participation seriously. Many spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on uniform items to ensure they represent properly the period they are portraying. Once called "sham battles" in the 19th century, the modern military reenactment movement began in the 1950s, as the centennial of the Civil War approached. Reenactors are in demand by Hollywood producers, with many playing bit parts as soldiers in "Glory!" and "Gettysburg" among other films. 

Autodidact historical hobbyist Jesse Marshall joins us to explain what the spectacle of a military battle reenactment entails and how it has evolved since its origination in the 1950s. Marshall states that Time Machines by Jay Anderson is the most profound book he's read on the living history profession. It is his guide and lodestar.

 

 

Jesse Marshall, portraying an Army officer, excitedly discusses the recent action at a reenactment engagement. 

 

 

Reenactors at the annual Dade Battle spectacle can play regular foot soldiers or Seminole or specific individuals from history. Here, "Luis Pacheco" points out something suspicious on the Fort King Road to an Army officer reenactor. Below, behind the scenes, he can rejoin the 21st century -- but never in front of the public. 

 

 

 

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 

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