(cheerful folk music) - [Announcer] "Illinois Stories" is brought to you by The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, Illinois Arts Council Agency, and by the support of viewers like you.

Thank you.

- Hello, welcome to Illinois stories.

I'm Mark McDonald in Mason City.

Actually, I'm in the oldest house in Mason City.

This house was built in 1860, right before the Civil War began.

And it's kind of fitting that the man who lives in this house now is not only a Civil War enthusiast, he actually, he lives the Civil War in a number of ways.

And interestingly, he's from Bolivia, which makes it even more interesting.

Sergio Jiminez, I was introduced to you by a woman who attended one of your programs.

- Yes.

- And she said, "You gotta meet this guy, because he's got everything, he does everything, and he explains it so well."

- Yes.

- And it is very interesting to get a chance to meet you.

We're in for an education, because not only are we gonna learn about the Civil War, but we're going to learn about how enthusiasts like you live history.

- Yeah.

- And that's really what you do.

- Yes, yes, that's what it's all about.

Keeping a history alive.

- Mm-hm.

- We have to keep it alive.

And the best way to keep history alive is to remember that the Civil War was probably the most important event in US history.

You know?

- Mm-hm.

- I'm not an expert, but I can tell you that it was brother against brother, families against families, young men.

It was called a young man's war.

The youngest soldier in the Civil War was nine years old, from Mississippi.

And the oldest one was 80 years old from Iowa.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- So, 2% of the population died, almost 800,000 people died during the Civil War, you know?

- You are among a large number of Civil War reenactors.

- Yes.

- And you told me that there's really, a various, two principle kinds of events that happen.

Some of them they're very, very sticky About getting the period right.

Aren't they?

- Yes.

- Tell me about that group.

- It's called a campaigner's event or AC event, for accurate campaigners event.

- Mm-hm.

- That is very, very period correct.

All the rules, all the regulations.

You have to understand that we're not just playing soldiers, okay?

We're riding 1,000lb horses, okay?

Carrying guns, sabers, okay?

Shooting guns off of a horse.

So you have to pay attention to the rules.

You cannot just shoot anybody just to shoot, you know?

You have to shoot the guns at a 45 degree angle, okay?

We follow commands.

I'm a trooper.

We have troopers, we have corporals, we have lieutenants, we have sergeants, We have captains, we have generals, okay.

- Tell us about your unit.

What unit are you a member of?

- Right, I'm with the fifth Illinois, okay?

Most of these units were formed in Illinois.

They're militias.

- Mm-hm.

What people don't understand is that the militias were not trained soldiers, okay.

- Right.

- They just responded to the call by president Lincoln.

All right?

- Mm-hm.

- A lot of people got drafted to the Civil War, okay?

And one of the things I teach about the Civil War is fun facts and things that people don't know about the Civil War.

For example, if you didn't want to go to war, you could pay someone to go for you.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

So President Lincoln paid someone to go for him to war.

So we have to remember that, when we go into a Civil War event, the campaigner event, some of the campaigner events, for example, do not allow people, they don't allow the public, right?

Because they're so submerged into the Civil War.

- Now, I asked you to have your uniform on for us.

- Yeah.

- Would you describe to me, this would be a typical, what?

Cavalryman's uniform?

- Yes.

- Describe to me what you have here.

- So, when do you go to a campaigner event, for example, I will have a striped, like, this is a shell jacket, okay?

The shell jacket was issued to soldiers that went to military schools, okay?

This is a shell jacket, okay?

When I go to a mainstream event, the other event is called mainstream, okay?

It's more flexible, I could wear this jacket, okay?

But usually we have a haversack.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

The belt, which carries my cartridges, it also carries my caps.

- Mm-hm.

- [Sergio] Caps for my rifles.

- [Mark] Mm-hm, you'll show us how those are fired.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- [Sergio] Caps, and then I have my canteen, okay, for water.

- [Mark] Can we take a look at the size?

- [Sergio] Absolutely.

- [Mark] Okay, Illinois, is that 5th?

Illinois-- - [Sergio] Yeah, Illinois, it should say 5th cavalry.

- [Mark] 5th cavalry, okay, '63, uh-huh.

That would be the year.

- This is my saber on my saber belt.

And I have my holster here, for my pistol.

(holster clangs) My holster for my pistol, here.

Okay, we'll talk about the pistols in a minute.

- [Mark] Okay.

- So that's me, and, my sling for my rifle.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- My rifle will hook to here and I will carry it on the horse.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- That's pretty much everything we carry.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

- The cavalry will ride about 20 or more miles a day, okay?

Every single day.

So you cannot carry much.

Like the saddles are really light, okay?

Under the saddle, we have the blankets that go with us that we use for not only for the horses back, but also to protect ourselves, you know, to sleep with, to sleep on, you know?

So that's why we carry, we carry a poncho to protect us from the rain and snow.

And we have a greatcoat that goes on top of the uniform for the cold as well.

- You know, so long as we're talking about your horses, you are serious enough about this that you actually keep horses that you take with you for the reenactments.

And you've been kind enough to offer to take us out to see one of your horses.

So I'd like to do that now, if you don't mind, we can go out and take a look and then come back and look at the rest of your equipment here.

- Absolutely, yes.

- Well, Sergio, now not everybody that re-enacts is a cavalryman, but you're a cavalryman, - Yeah.

- Which means you have horses.

- Yes.

- So the horses that you would have had back in the Civil War, actually, you still try to keep a horse that would have been preferred by a cavalryman during the Civil War.

- Correct.

- And this that's why we're looking here at Joker.

Right?

- Yes.

- What is special about Joker?

- So Joker is a quarter horse.

These days it's your typical American horse.

Most people own these days, okay?

The quarter horse, he's broad, he's big.

So we have a reproduction saddle that fits him compared to an original saddle, which I'm gonna show you.

So horses back in the day, because they were used for work, you know, they were worked all the time.

- Yeah.

- They were skinnier, leaner.

They were not as fat as the horses that we have now.

- Mm-hm.

- You know?

- So the saddles that were period correct, the original saddles, were not as broad, okay?

I'll show you that here.

So this is what we call a McClellan saddle, okay?

- [Mark] That's named after General McClellan, huh?

- It's named after George McClellan, he was a general in the Civil War.

Yes, okay.

He was sent to Europe to be a witness of the war that was taking place in Europe in the 1850s, 1860s.

And he went to learn how to create a much better saddle for the military, okay?

As you can see, it's very light.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- [Sergio] And this is an original 1863 McClellan saddle.

- This is from 1863?

- Yeah.

- [Mark] This is not a replica?

- No, this is an original.

- Okay, wow, okay.

(laughs) - This is an original saddle.

- Now, this would not fit on your horse.

Your horse is too broad for this, right?

- Right, so I can show you that.

if I put it on him, you can tell that, sh sh, hey.

It's quite narrow here.

Okay?

- Mm-hm, yeah.

- So this will pinch him because he's so narrow.

He will not be happy with me.

- [Mark] Right, right.

- Okay?

- Okay.

- But this is on the original saddle.

- Wow, there aren't many of those left.

That's really a precious item, isn't it?

- Yes, so it's an original 1863 saddle, that's how it goes.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- So, the next item I'll show you, so when I go saddle the horse, what we do is we put two of these blankets here.

Okay, these are Union blankets.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- The Confederate blankets were gray.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- This is your typical Union blankets.

And we use two of them like that, okay?

Now, keep in mind that back in the day, they didn't have saddle pads or anything like that, right?

Hey, stop.

So they had to use blankets like this, okay?

And these blankets were also useful by the soldiers for sleeping.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

That's how it goes.

Stop.

- So you take it off your horse and you put it on the ground and you sleep in it.

- Yes, so you can imagine the smell.

(laughs) - [Mark] I know, I know.

- Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?

Okay, so that's how it goes.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- So, as you can tell from that angle, he's got way more room here, see?

- [Mark] Yeah, yeah.

And this is fashioned after your McClellan saddle, but it's just bigger.

- Yes, this is a reproduction.

You can tell the difference in color.

- [Mark] Sure.

- Okay, this is a reproduction McClellan saddle.

This goes down there.

So this is what we usually see on reenactments.

And we try to be, like I said, very period correct.

So this is my poncho, which it protects me from the rain.

Inside my poncho is another sleeping blanket, okay?

My saddlebag's where I would carry food for me, you know, I can add another bucket, which is food for the horses.

We have this rope here, tied to the saddle, which is, I'ma turn him round.

Better.

It's to tie the horse on the ground, okay?

There's a steak in here that goes on the ground and he can just eat grass.

- [Mark] Wander away and you're without a horse, okay.

- So as you can see, the saddle is, hey, hey, hey, stop.

I love, stop, stop.

Shh.

What is it?

Okay, you good?

You'll be done in a minute.

So that's it, so.

- One more question about the horse itself.

- Yeah.

- They preferred a dark colored horse.

- Yes, we prefer a dark colored horse because it will help with camouflage, it will help to ride at night.

The cavalry, we ride at least 20 miles a day, you know?

And sometimes at night, so it will keep the horse from being seen by the enemy.

Okay?

- That's a big commitment to keep horses.

You usually take two horses with you on each of your reenactments.

- Yeah.

- So it's a big, it's a big commitment.

- Yeah.

- You have to care for those horses all year long.

- Yes, and it takes time and discipline and you have to train your horses.

You have to train them to be used to guns.

It takes about two weeks, every day, shooting guns around them.

- Yeah.

Yeah, because those cannons and all that stuff, all that commotion.

- Cannons, yeah, yeah.

- It would drive, just a horse that's not used to it, they'd drive 'em nuts, wouldn't it?

- Yeah, yup.

If they're not used to it, they're scared.

But it's nice, because they bond with other horses and in groups.

And so they learn from other horses, so it's nice.

- You have been so good to put all this out for us.

Walk us through what we're lookin' at here.

- So these two pistols here are .44 caliber pistols.

And this one is a .36 caliber, okay?

This is a .36 caliber Navy issue pistol.

Original, okay?

- [Mark] It is original?

- It's old, it gets stuck, so I retire her.

(Sergio chuckles) She got retired.

- Original, yeah.

- Yes.

This one is a Colt, Colt revolver.

.44 caliber.

- [Mark] Is that a replica?

- This is a replica, yes.

And this one is a Remington.

It's also a replica, but what I do with my pistols is I like to make them look old.

You can antique them.

These are processed.

And this one is a Remington .44 caliber also.

- [Mark] Now, what do you carry into battle?

- One of them.

- One of them, okay.

- So on a campaigners event, which is the period correct event, you can only have one pistol, okay.

You have to learn to reload on the field, okay?

Because during the Civil War, they only gave you one pistol.

They didn't give you many pistols, okay?

On the other event, the mainstream event, which is more flexible, you can have more than one pistol.

Most people ask, "How do you die during reenactments?"

"How do you die?"

Well, you die when you run out of shots.

When you run out of shots, you die.

And you can make it as special as you want, as dramatic as you want, you know?

- [Mark] Yup.

- Some people will bring fake blood to mainstream events and make it look that they died-- - So you don't shoot anything unnecessarily, because you want to save those bullets, don't you?

You wanna save those shots.

- Yeah, so we use black powder for reenactments.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

I'ma show you really quick how you load, so.

- Okay.

- As a joke, I always tell that this is why the Civil War took so long.

(Mark laughs) So these are the bullets.

These are the .44 caliber bullets that were used during the Civil War.

These go in the pistol.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- All right.

And these are fake, these are cartridges with no bullets.

- [Mark] They're what?

- We call them cartridges.

- Cartridges.

- For the pistol, okay?

But what you do is you grab your pistol, you put it on half cock, right there.

So, it rotates, right?

You grab your flask, the amount of, so black powder's measured in grains.

So the grain that goes here is from 25 to 30 grains.

- Mm-hm, mm-hm.

- Okay?

So I just open it and the powder's there.

And then you pour the black powder in.

- [Mark] Okay, right into the hole?

Right in the chamber?

- Right.

For Civil War events, we use cream of wheat.

Cream of wheat will, with the moisture in the air, it will not come out of the cylinder.

So after I put the black powder in, I put the cream of wheat in it, and then I compress it like this, with it, see?

It goes down, okay?

- okay, mm-hm.

- All right.

During the Civil War, most of the cartridges came already done with the lead in it.

- Okay.

- But if you had to reload, you have to put the black powder in it, then you have to put a bullet here, like so.

Like that, okay?

Like that.

- [Mark] Yep.

- And then you have to push it in.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

- [Mark] And would you do this six at a time or one at a time?

- One at a time, that's why there's-- - [Mark] Until they were full, until the chamber was full?

Okay.

- That's why the Civil War took so long, 'cause you had to reload, every time.

- (laughs) My goodness, yeah.

- So, and then, the pistols were also called cap and balls.

Why, because you have the balls and then you have the caps.

These are the caps that go in the back here to create the heat for the black powder to ignite.

- To explode the black powder and then the ball shoots out.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- That's why they're called cap and ball, okay?

That's what you do with your pistols, okay?

Now, these cartridges I have here, they are for the rifles.

Okay, the carbines, the musketoons, you know?

So I have two rifles here, two musketoons.

This one is an 1863 infield.

It's also reproduction, but it's an 1863 infield.

Very popular during the Civil War, okay?

This one is we call a muzzleloader.

- Okay.

- Okay?

And these are the bullets.

This is one of the bullets, and this is the other type of bullet.

You have to keep the moisture because you have to be able to slide them down.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

So these are, these are .58 caliber bullets, okay?

So what do you do is, you grab one of the cartridges.

You break the paper.

You pour the black powder in.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

And then you smack it on your saddle.

(gun smacks) - [Mark] That makes it settle down there?

- Three times, yes.

- Okay.

- And then you grab the bullet.

And then you push it in and then you use the rifle caps.

Which are these.

That's our rifle, right?

- [Mark] Mm-hm.

That, again, provides the spark.

- Right and then it goes here.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay?

And it shoots, all right?

- Yep, mm-hm.

- That's for the muzzleloader, okay.

These, what I have here, these are Sharps.

It's a Sharps carbine.

- [Mark] It's a carbine?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- 1859 Sharps.

.54 caliber, okay?

- Mm-hm.

- I don't have the actual bullets for this one.

- [Mark] Is this another muzzleloader, though?

- No.

- No.

- So this one is what we call a breechloader.

Okay?

- Mm-hm.

- So this is your safety here.

And then watch.

When I pull this down, it will open up.

- [Mark] Okay, yes.

- Now this cartridge goes in here.

- [Mark] Okay, you don't pour the powder in there, you just put it in.

- No, that's why it's called breechloader.

- [Mark] Okay.

- You put, see, it goes in there.

- [Mark] Uh-huh, sure.

- Okay?

When you bring this back up, it will cut the paper.

- Okay.

- Okay?

It will cut the paper, exposing the black powder.

And then once again, you put a cap here, and he shoots.

That's the difference between the muzzleloader and the breechloader.

- [Mark] Okay, so you've already, you've put the .50 some caliber, - .54 caliber.

- Projectile in first, from here?

- No, no.

- No?

- During the Civil War, the projectile will be already in the cartridge.

- Oh, okay, with the powder?

- Yeah.

- Okay, all right.

- It will go something like this, like that.

- [Mark] Mm-hm, all right.

- It'll go something like that.

- All right.

- Okay?

- [Mark] That seems like it would be a lot faster load.

- Yes, so the Sharps and dispenser rifles, those were really preferred by the cavalry.

- Yeah, I'll bet.

- So this will go, this I will hook here.

Like so.

- And this is, this is what the word sharp shooter, that came from this rifle.

- Yes, yeah.

When you hear the word sharp shooter, it comes from this rifle because they were highly accurate at 100, 150 feet.

- Wow.

- Okay, so it goes, (rifle clanks) it goes like this.

On my back, like that.

When I'm on the horse and then I have to bring it back up.

Okay?

- Now you also carried the sword, didn't you?

I'm sorry, go ahead, I thought you were gonna-- - This goes into my saddle, there's a leather pouch where it goes in, and it rides with me.

- [Mark] Sergio, these look very much alike, except one looks a lot older than the other one.

- Right, so this is a reproduction saber.

We call 'em sabers and not swords because they are not straight, okay?

- Swords are straight?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- So this saber, it's a reproduction.

(saber scrapes) Okay, it's a lot wider, I'ma show you the original.

It's a lot wider than the original, okay.

Some are a bit sharp, but sabers in the Civil War, they were not meant to be sharp.

Okay.

Sabers were meant to break bone, not to cut.

They were meant to break bone.

So you will use it to hit people in the head, shoulders, elbows, knees.

- Just bludgeon people with it.

- Right, especially when you're on a horse, okay?

- Yeah.

- You don't want your saber to be stuck in the enemy, because you will lose your saber, right?

- So, so actually, if you could handle a long saber, the longer, the better.

Because it gives you more reach.

- You just use one hand, remember, you're holding the horse with the other hand.

We just have one hand to hit people, right?

This is an original.

(saber scrapes) - Wow.

- See the difference?

- [Mark] Oh, man.

- And it comes with a lot of dings and hits, I cannot tell you what happened or how it was used, but.

- [Mark] No, but it was deadly, it was deadly.

- See, it's a lot thinner than the reproduction.

And it says here 1862.

- [Mark] Let's see if we can get a shot of that.

1862, oh my goodness.

- Yeah, and on the other side, it's not readable but we think it says "Massachusetts."

- [Mark] Mm-hm.

- [Sergio] So this is an original saber.

- You are very fortunate to have as many original items as you have.

- Yeah, so some people don't know what they have, and some people will sell you anything just because they don't want to do it anymore.

So if you're lucky enough, you'll be able to find the originals for way less expensive that you will pay, you know?

- But there are so many, not just reenactors, but Civil War, people who are just crazy about collecting Civil War items.

So I don't imagine there's a lot out there, is there?

Or is it fairly-- - There's a lot of other.

- Really?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Like, this one is a reproduction, but you can buy an original for from 6,000 to, I looked the other day, from 6,000 to $31,000.

Now people will buy them, collect them.

I mean, that's what people don't understand.

The Civil War was huge, and it's still a huge among reenactors.

You have to keep history alive.

You have to understand history, okay?

Educate yourself, you have to educate yourself, okay?

Read, learn.

It was not just about the slavery, okay?

- [Mark] Yeah.

- Many things contribute to the Civil War, but learn, educate yourself.

You know, I'm a Union soldier, but I also play Confederate when needed, you know, I have my Confederate uniform.

To me, both sides were heroes.

Okay, heroes for fighting for what they believe, okay.

Like I said, brother against brother and families against families and, learn.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- That's the best way to keep history alive.

- [Mark] Sergio, thank you so much.

- My pleasure.

- Thank you, we learned a lot.

- Yeah.

- We did learn a lot.

Sergio's next reenactment is set for April in Shiloh, Tennessee.

I understand it's the 160th anniversary of the battle of Shiloh.

Sergio says it's gonna be a big one.

With another Illinois story in Mason City, I'm Mark McDonald, thanks for watching.

(cheerful folk music) - Illinois stories is brought to you by The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, Illinois Arts Council Agency, and by the support of viewers like you.

Thank you.