Don’t expect to see the Battle of Bull Run playing out at an open field near you any time soon.
With a small muster of about 20, the Civil War re-enactors with the Hawaii Civil War Round Table are more interested in visiting schools, Scout packs and community groups and participating in parades and living-history programs than restaging major campaigns from the "War Between the States."
The re-enactors will make appearances at events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, including a two-week traveling exhibit at Kapolei Public Library sponsored by the Library of America, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities.
CIVIL WAR EVENTS
» Monday through Feb. 9: "Civil War 150" traveling exhibit. "Through letters, personal accounts and images, the exhibit invites Americans to understand how soldiers, presidents, freedmen and families grappled with the end of slavery, the nature of democracy and citizenship, the human toll of civil war and the role of a president in wartime," according to a news release. Opening ceremony 10:30 a.m. Monday.
» Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.: "John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and Blood Sacrifice in the American Civil War," with Hawaii Pacific University history professor and author Jon Davidann.
» Saturday, 10:30 a.m.: "The North vs. the South," with Civil War re-enactors from the Hawaii Civil War Round Table.
» Feb. 5, 6:30 p.m.: Book discussion on "The Red Badge of Courage," by Stephen Crane, with Todd Sammons, associate professor of English at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Suitable for teens and adults.
» Feb. 6, 6:30 p.m.: "This Cruel War: Strategic Concepts in the Civil War," with Justin Vance, assistant professor of history at HPU.
» Feb. 9, 10:30 a.m.: "The Hawaii Sons of the Civil War," with historians Nanette Napoleon and Anita Manning, who will discuss why more than 100 men from Hawaii volunteered to fight in a war that was not their own. All events at Kapolei Public Library, 1020 Mana wai St. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For more information, call 693-7050.
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The "Civil War 150" exhibit runs through Feb. 9, with an opening celebration at 10:30 a.m. Monday, when the local re-enactors will share information about the era’s military uniforms, weaponry and camp life.
Recent interest in the Civil War has been stoked by numerous TV shows and events tied to the anniversary, Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed movie "Lincoln" and the PBS documentary "The Abolitionists," which aired this month.
The transformational period in U.S. history has long been of interest to Eric Mueller of Kailua, a history buff, model builderand former Navy submariner who first became interested in Civil War re-enactments while stationed in Charleston, S.C., where the first shots of the conflict were fired.
After a subsequent posting at Pearl Harbor, Mueller, 40, got "deeply into the hobby" when he returned to the mainland in the early 2000s. He role-plays for the Union side as an infantry private and has acquired several sets of period uniforms and gear — "everything and then some."
"It’s the lowest rank and had the largest number of guys in the war. My uniform represents the mid- to late-war period," Mueller said.
When he returned to Hawaii in 2004 to work at Pearl Harbor as a civilian, a friend took him to a Hawaii Historic Arms Association shooting event, where he learned about the Civil War Round Table.
The re-enactors are a smaller group within the Round Table, whose focus is promoting study of the American Civil War and educational outreach through public lectures and other activities. To make the events of long ago more meaningful to their audiences, especially youngsters, Mueller and his fellow re-enactors dress up in period costumes.
"There’s nothing like touching, holding and feeling things," he said.
About half of the re-enactors are local residents and the others are military personnel, according to Mueller, who is an officer in the Navy Reserve. He said the popularity of Civil War re-enactments may be limited here by the fact Hawaii is far removed from even the westernmost battlefields of the war and the expense of suiting up.
A basic uniform complete with a single-shot rifle musket costs about $1,500.
But he credits Hawaii Pacific University history professor Justin Vance and others with making the Civil War more relevant through their research into the Hawaii men who fought in the Civil War.
No uniform or dues are required to join the Hawaii Civil War Round Table. For more information, find the group on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/ 47004153610.
