The typical reenacting season lasts from March to November.  During that season, the 71st Pennsylvania takes part in eight or so battle reenactments.  A typical reenactment takes place over a weekend, offering a chance to camp and battle as our ancestors did.  The reenactments we take part in are as close as the Philadelphia area, and as far away as Virginia, North Carolina and New York State.

Civil War reenacting is one of the most exciting and colorful hobbies.  This hobby allows you to "step back in time" to an era where life was simpler.

Wake up to the sights and sounds which stirred hearts 145 years ago: the bugler playing "Reveille", the sounds of wood being cut with an axe, fires crackling to life, the smell of coffee boiling and bacon frying, and the site of rows of canvas tents standing in silent tribute to those soldiers of long ago.

Feel the anticipation as battle orders are read at morning parade.  Prepare to fall in, as the blue columns move out, in step to the fife and drum, towards the fields of glory.

Deafening cannon fire, the report of muskets and the choking sulfuric smoke allow you – the twenty first century participant – to grasp the feel of combat in a way that history books can only try to explain. 
 

When the battle is over, pull up a log and retell your experiences of the day.  Once night settles in, keep history alive with songs around the campfire.

Like no other modern day pursuit, reenacting takes your interest in the Civil War to another dimension.  The battles you've read and studied unfold before you.  This time you are there, in the ranks, fighting to save the Union.