Reenactments can be either small encampments with three or four members, or major reenactments, such as restaging the battle of Gettysburg with 20,000 people.

A living history is a demonstration for the public that portrays the life of the typical Civil War soldier or civilian. These often include weapons demonstrations, but not battles.

Public demonstrations are small mock battles done by small groups to stimulate public interest.

Tactical battles are usually not open to the public as they are non-scripted attempts to tactically outwit the opposing team.

A scripted battle is one that is planned out in advance and based upon real historical events. This is the most common type of reenactment open to spectators.

Reenacting can be fun and rewarding for the whole family. When you tour an encampment, you even see children dressing the part and participating. Families often camp and live as people did during those times for an entire weekend.

Some people participate because they are history buffs and want to be part of historical events, while others enjoy the escapism aspect.

Reenacting is an expensive hobby. Purchasing uniforms, supplies and weapons can be very costly depending on how deeply one chooses to get into it.

Our group was fortunate to be able to attend a half-dozen different reenactments in our area and participate in two of them.