Re-enactors keep it real—and civil—in Midtown
By Daniel Durchholz
Photograph by Joe Neulle
It was that riotous recluse (and obvious history buff) Axl Rose who once asked the musical question “What’s so civil about war anyway?”
Well, in the case of the Civil War, there was the uniform: formalwear better suited for a high-society cotillion than a bloody battle.
Veteran Civil War re-enactor Frank Aufmuth knows about such things. This Labor Day weekend, when he takes on the role of an officer in the re-creation of the famed Civil War fracas at Camp Jackson (located roughly at what is now the intersection of Lindell and Grand), he’ll be wearing period trousers, shoes and hat and a made-to-order knee-length nine-button frock coat.
This is the first weekend of September, mind you, when the local temperature and humidity combine to, if not fry eggs on sidewalks, at least speed-incubate them.
“It’s actually not that bad,” says Aufmuth, who has studied the Civil War and participated in battle re-enactments for two decades. “It’s hot and we wear wool, but it’s not like wearing polyester, either. Natural fibers, you know?”
Authenticity—the watchword for many re-enactors—is in the eye of the beholder, but you won’t catch any casual hobbyists in Aufmuth’s camp wearing gray Members Only jackets and Reeboks.
“What we’re trying to do is show people, as close as we can, what these people looked like and what they did,” he says. “If you see a cooler in my camp, I’ll be highly embarrassed.”
A cooler is one thing, but it’ll be hard to square a Civil War re-enactment with the urban setting, no? No. As it turns out, the Camp Jackson skirmish was in an urban setting.
“There wasn’t much to the original site to begin with, and whatever houses were there are long gone,” Aufmuth says. “Where we’re going to be camped is where the Jack in the Box used to be when I went to SLU, but there will be green space where there was green space at Camp Jackson.”
More than anything, Aufmuth has stuck with the hobby because of the camaraderie and adventure the hobby affords. “You go to places you normally never would have been, and you meet people you normally never would have hung out with. I’ve met some of the greatest people doing this.”
In other words, it may be war—or at least an approximation thereof—but it’s civil, first and foremost.
Casualty of War
Pity Capt. Nathaniel Lyon. The summer of 1861 was hard on the dignity—and health—of the Union officer at the center of the Camp Jackson storm.
May 9, 1861 The hirsute hero dons a dress to spy on secessionist troops at Camp Jackson.
May 10, 1861 Score one for the fiery Lyon as his men succeed in putting down a planned attack on the Missouri Arsenal.
May 10, 1861 (minutes later)—He takes a shot to the pride—and the back—when he’s kicked by his own horse.
May 10, 1861 (later still)—His decision to parade his captives through the city prompts townsfolk ire—and sets off the “St. Louis Massacre.”
August 10, 1861 A distinguished career comes to an end when Lyon is killed in action south of Springfield—and mistakenly left behind.
