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"Attitude Is Everything"

by Rich Kocur

How many times have we heard the phrase, "Attitude is everything"? Whether in sports, business, or life in general your attitude can help motivate, focus, and drive you to accomplish almost anything. Okay, you're thinking, "What is this, a Tony Robbins lecture?" No (fortunately). This article actually belongs in this newsletter, because while we all may have the outward appearance of a quality impression, what helps to take it to the next level is how you carry it off. In other words, your attitude.

When one thinks about what makes a high quality impression, there are usually three levels of emphasis, each less tangible that the one before and requiring more effort to progress through.

The first layer is the "things" layer, which includes what the public and other reenactors can see. Items such as your cap, blouse, trousers, weapon, &c. can say a lot about you as a reenactor without you even uttering a word. It essentially means having the right equipment; and while it does require some knowledge about what is "right", you can get by on this level by having either a well informed pard or a source list, and some cash. By the very nature of what the Columbia Rifles is all about, everyone has a strong understanding of this level of reenacting and has met the requirements set forth by the organization.

Dig a little deeper in to a good impression and you will find the next layer-the "facts" layer. As mentioned, the more you get into the layers of a good impression the more work each layer requires, and the "facts" layer is no different. Here is where you begin to scratch the surface of a first-person impression. The "facts" of your impression are those things that a typical soldier of that time and place would have known. Obvious things like a man's brigade, division, and corps affiliation, his home town, and state governor. But it also includes other, not-so-obvious things such as his occupation (both the "what" and "how"), current events of the period, education, and other activities of daily life. The depth of this layer begins to become apparent when you stop for a minute and think about all the many facts with which you could become familiar. If you want to demonstrate a good first-person impression, an understanding and working knowledge of such facts is necessary. Continual progress, though, is the key. Think of the first time you carried on a first-person conversation; it probably only lasted about ten minutes or even less. As one gains more knowledge through research, proper first-person becomes easier and more natural as you have more facts at your disposal. Research into records like old newspapers, diaries, and period books is really the key to progressing on this level. At the center of a good Civil War impression, and one of the most difficult things to work on, is your attitude. Attitude is difficult to work on because it is the most intangible of the three layers discussed here (and one of the most difficult to describe so I apologize in advance). Attitude is not something you can see or read about and simply recite-it is something more. An attitude often defines who a person is or how they act.

For example, the attitude of an individual soldier towards his service often dictated how he served. Was his outlook positive or negative? His actions passive or active? His views on the war and other soldiers good, or bad? All these things combine to the make up your attitude. Once again, the development of this attitude is based on research of sources like personal accounts, diaries, and journals. In addition, one of the strongest sources for an overall attitude and feel for the time is a book that probably right now graces your book shelves, but has not been read in a while. The book is the classic study of the Army of the Potomac during the middle years of the war; Glory Road, by Bruce Catton. This book should be re-discovered by those who wish to further develop one of the more difficult aspects of their impression-attitude. In Glory Road, Catton effectively weaves the big military picture with the undercurrent of what was happening within the country. The social, economic, and political changes in the North during 1862-1863 combined with military experiences had a trickle down affect on the attitude of the men in the Army of the Potomac. Glory Road does as good a job as any book at exposing these attitudes and helping reenactors to better understand and develop them.

Each individual can progress through the various levels of a good impression at their own pace, often dictated by resources and time. It is important, however, to know that in order to demonstrate a "complete" impression you must touch on each layer and not forego one for the other. It seems that the Columbia Rifles is the place where each of these important levels of impression is valued, developed, and understood. We can be proud that this is the case in our organization, and do everything we can to continue to foster its growth.

Rich Kocur is a member of The Columbia Rifles