Posts Tagged ‘National Regiment’

NR officer, who is an NPS Black Powder Safety Specialist, teaching weapons safety

Soldiers in the American Civil War lived 24 hours a day the drill, discipline, and the various soldier skills necessary to fight effectively.  To accurately portray such soldiers in a “living history” context today and teach the public about their sacrifices is a challenge.  The National Regiment (NR) is one of a few such living history organizations which tries to honor the memory of those soldiers by emulating as close as possible what they wore, their daily life, and how they fought as a regiment.  The NR is made up of many smaller living history units who have decided to band together as a regiment to better understand how the soldiers of the past functioned and fought.  To accomplish this, the NR holds an Officer/NCO School each year at the beginning of the living history season.  It is open to all who are an officer or NCO, and those who aspire to become a leader in the unit.

We meet in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the atmosphere is conducive to teaching, rather than trying to appear totally authentic at the school.  For that reason, and because we are required to wear soft sole shoes on the floors where we hold the school, the attendees usually wear modern trousers and shoes, with their Civil War period coats, caps, equipment and weapons.  Fully authentic camp schools are also held, but later in the year, and with all hands present, not merely the leadership.

NR NCO demonstrating correct position of the rifle musket

The NR Officer/NCO School is to try to instill in the leaders of the organization, to the degree possible in two days, the soldier skills that the Civil War soldier took for granted every day – a bit of the muscle-memory they acquired through constant repetition. Thus, we may well teach the same subjects each year, with a few new ones thrown in to spice things up.

Subjects taught include drill, guard duty, dress parade, military courtesy, cooking food and generally surviving in the field, how to pack for the field, weapons safety and maintenance, skirmish drill, the correct way to wear the uniform, etc. These subjects are not very different from what might be taught as a refresher course at any National Guard unit on any given weekend today, but we also teach our troops how to present the image of a Civil War soldier to the public at National Parks and elsewhere – to properly and appropriately do honor to their memory.

This past weekend we conducted our school at the firehouse in Gettysburg. From all reports from attendees, it was a success.  They learned a great deal, and will be able to pass that knowledge on to the soldiers in their respective smaller units – and that’s what it’s all about.

To the members of the National Regiment who were there, and to the NR membership everywhere, my cap is off to you, and I’m proud to be one of you.

Instruction in changing of the guard between posts

NR senior officer teaching classroom battalion drill before going outside to execute maneuvers