Civil War buffs gather ‘for history’s sake’

By Leslie Boyd
STAFF WRITER

published: May 20, 2005 6:00 am

ASHEVILLE — J.D. Medford’s obsession began early.

“When I was a kid, I remember getting a cowboy hat and spray-painting it gray so I could play Civil War,” Medford says.

He spent hours talking about Civil War history with a neighbor in Haywood County, where he grew up. The man was a student of the war. Then a relative’s genealogical research turned up an ancestor of Medford’s who was in the war.

“We didn’t play cops and robbers in my neighborhood; we played Civil War,” Medford says.

Today, Medford is part of the 25th N.C. Regiment, some of whom are descendents of men who fought in the same regiment during the Civil War. The regiment is recruiting, says Medford, but those who join need not worry about being marched off to fight real battles.

The regiment takes part in an average of one event per month, but members aren’t required to attend a specific number. Most events are on the weekends, so it doesn’t often interfere with work.

“It’s strictly for history’s sake,” says the regiment’s leader, Capt. Jule Morrow, who began doing re-enactments in 1993 and has participated in more than 340 events.

“And for fun,” adds Medford, a corporal in the 25th who went to battle for the first time in 1987.

Then there’s the glamour.

“We were in (the movie) ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’” says Medford, a sales representative when not in uniform. “We don’t talk about that much, though, because we was Yankees.” (In fact, he adds, the unit portrays a Federal unit, the 14th Iowa, quite frequently.)

“The back of our drummer’s head was in ‘The Patriot,’” says Jim Coman, another member of the regiment and senior planner for the Buncombe County Planning Department and re-enactor since 2002.

“My shoes were in ‘Last of the Mohicans,’” says Mark Dockery, a woodworker who has been doing re-enactments since 1988.

And Inman, the main character in the book, “Cold Mountain,” was a member of the 25th.

“He deserted three times,” says Morrow, a farmer and construction worker.

Aside from the fame, the men say they’re committed to preserving history.

“You can read about the battles all you want,” says Dockery. “But when you’re actually out on the battlefield wearing the uniform, sweating in the heat, surrounded by gun and cannon fire and all the chaos, you really begin to understand what it was like.”

“Well, you begin to understand,” Medford says. “You can’t know what it was really like to see the wounded and dead all around you, to worry about being hit.”

Members of the regiment honor their predecessors at every opportunity. On a trip to Maryland, several got permission to march across the field at Antietam and place the North Carolina flag in front of the N.C. Monument.

The 25th also portrays troops from the other side of the war. They frequently portray the 18th Iowa Regiment.

“Well, if the battle is in the South and all kinds of Confederates show up, we can’t portray it very accurately if there’s only two Yankees there and they’re the ones who won the battle,” Morrow says.

Re-enactors buy all their own uniforms and equipment, the men say, at a cost of $1,200 if bought all new and all at once.

“We have equipment we lend to people so they don’t have to buy everything all at once,” Morrow says. “And you can get a lot of things used for a lot less.”

Once people begin going to battle re-enactments, it’s easy to get caught up in it, Coman says. Beyond being a hobby, re-enactors see their events as a chance to educate children and adults about history. Once children feel a connection to history, they’re more likely to become excited about learning it.

Contact Boyd at 232-2922 or

lboyd@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.