Have you ever been to a re-enactment of a battle? I love history but I am strongly anti-military and ant-war and violence and any kind of glorification of war. Still…I thought it would be interesting to go to see a battle being re-enacted, with Napoleon involved. I live in France and had seen a poster for this event.
The event took place in a park. It was surreal arriving and seeing people dressed in Napoleonic costumes. There was also fires burning, giving the odour of war. In the background were some tall modern buildings, which destroyed the illusion of it all. There were also people sitting down in costumes with cars providing the background. I have to say the costumes looked authentic and good, with attention to detail. Sometimes you get see people who don’t go the whole hog, with touches of modern clothes, but the people involved with this historical event, didn’t cut corners.
Walking around the park was going to a military camp, before the storm of the battle is about to begin. I was reminded of Becky Sharp and Vanity Fair, women were invited to join their officer husbands and were entertained in the manner they were accustomed to.
So to the battle…soldiers (men and women dressed as men) some on horses did their thing, with a commentator describing what was going on. The problem was the excessive noise. Ok so the cannon wasn’t firing live rounds, but the noise it made, could easily give somebody shell shock. Anyone with a nervous disposition probably freaked out. You had to feel sorry for the horses and sorry for dogs, who some people brought along. I was willing it to end, and begrudging the fact we hadn’t thought of headphones to block out the noise of the canon and sound of riffles. Next historical event will have to be Normans, or Vikings, anything apart from ear splitting modern warfare.
Francis H Powell author 