Civil War Reenactors Aren’t Just Play-Acting. They Expect a War.

David Gergen : Civil War reenactment is more popular than even Revolutionary War .

He asks: Does this hobby reflect a passion for history, and how much is it a manifestation of the militant turn of U.S. politics? He says to be accepted here, one must avoid “being farby”—that is, letting anachronisms slip into camp. But not being farby is expensive. A period rifle can run $ 2,000 .

The Civil War reenactors spoke of how frustrating it was to be called a racist for a hobby they saw as apolitical.

Not one man denied that the war was about slavery or voiced any of the other Lost Cause lies.

But what I was not prepared for were the end-times fear and pessimism that pervaded the ranks.

One feared an A.I.-driven war, another the consequences of draining the aquifer in the Southwest .

After parade, the battalion marched out to a lone cannon in the middle of the field where a team of gunners stood ready. General Shelton said a few kind words. At the signal, a gunner by the cannon yanked a string. The boom was incredible, but all that came out was a small, stinking cloud over the heads of men who had spent their money and creative energy turning themselves into men of the past. Soon they were dismissed..