Allowed to live or selected to die at Gettysburg

Who 'Dies' is Tough Decision at Gettysburg
Associated Press
by Genaro C. Armas
Jul 04, 2013

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - You're a Civil War re-enactor carrying an authentic musket, out on the field with your history-buff buddies making a charge under withering enemy fire. It's great fun except for one thing: Someone's going to have to "die."

And lying motionless in the grass on a sultry July day in a historically accurate wool uniform while others are performing heroic deeds all around you does not always make for an exciting afternoon.

That's why deciding who lives and who dies - and when they must fall - is one of the heaviest responsibilities a pretend commander at a Civil War re-enactment is likely to face.

"That is the age-old re-enacting question, and that is a tough one," said Bob Minton, commander of the Union re-enactor forces last weekend at Gettysburg, the small town where the pivotal battle between North and South was waged on July 1-3, 1863.

For those whose hobby is dressing up in the blue and gray of the Union and the Confederacy, the Battle of Gettysburg is the pinnacle, and this week's 150th anniversary events are a very big deal.

Re-enactors are sticklers for historical accuracy, but sometimes, in the heat of battle, things go awry. Some people, especially those who might have traveled a long ways for the event, don't want to get shot, bayoneted or put to the sword a mere five minutes into a scene and miss all the fun, and so they keep on marching.

To make sure things unfold realistically, some re-enactor groups draw up scripts and work things out ahead of time with the corresponding enemy unit, deciding in advance who will be asked to give what Abraham Lincoln would later call "the last full measure of devotion."
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