I think I must have a lot in common with Larry David, the Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm scribe who created the fake Italian character of George Costanza to act as a grotesque mouthpiece for his own views. For example, in one episode, Costanza confesses that, as a child, he had wanted to grow up to be a marine biologist. So did I!

(The movie Jaws had a big effect on me ...) In another episode, the one with Keith Hernandez, Costanza says sadly, "I always wanted to be a Civil War buff. I wonder how you become one." And Jerry replies, "First you have to get up before ten-thirty in the morning." (This isn't verbatim dialog. I have the DVD, but I'm too tired to check.)

Well, I've always been marginally interested in military history - studying historic battles, watching recreations, etc. - and the wars I am most interested in are the ones in which it is reasonably possible to say that a) my people were the good guys and b) they won. These wars were World War II, The American Revolution, and the American Civil War. However, as much as I am interested in these wars, I do not read books about them, I don't play computer games with such battles, I don't collect toy soldiers, and I haven't joined a Civil War recreation group. Even my brother, who is very interested in this stuff, and has read books, and bought soldiers, and played video games, has not dressed up in period clothing, bought an outmoded weapon, and pretended to shoot guys on fields of grass to entertain tourists or to take part in the shooting of a three-hour independent film like Gods and Generals.

So, on one occasion, I was at Richmondtown, a historically preserved part of Staten Island, watching an annual Civil War battle recreated. It was an invented skirmish, small-scale on a small stage. (After all, we weren't at the Gettysburg battlefield.) The battle was fun to watch, and I took some pictures. I then went to get some apple cider and talk to some local women, dressed in nineteenth-century clothes, about how to work a butter-churn.

Once the men returned from the battlefield, seeking apple cider of his own.  I decided to talk to him, and maybe a few of his friends, about how one becomes a Civil War buff on this scale.   I was both interested in asking him this and writing a human interest story for The Staten Island Advance's Features section.

(Two side notes: 1) Now, Ellen Degeneres has made fun of guys like this for being super nerds, and even had a episode of her series when she joined such an outfit, but it seems pretty cool as far as hobbies go. 2) I will admit, if I took part, I'd have to be a Union solider on general principle, and I am uneasy talking to the guys who talk poetically about the fighting spirit of the South, but I don't think this guy I'm about to tell you about - Howard Rich - was pro-slavery in any way. I think he's talking as a military historian and a humanist, not as somebody who wishes the South won. I hope.)

Here are slightly rewritten selections from the article I wrote later that day:

“To me, it’s one of the greatest hobbies in the world,” said Walter Peters, who played a pioneer (the equivalent of a corporal) in a recreation of the 14th Brooklyn Regiment.

To join the 14th Brooklyn an interested party must pay $20 dues each year. The group meets once a month for drills at Richmond Town. Members travel, doing historical recreations in schools, for scouts, and at places such as Grant’s Tomb.

The men must research their roles well in order to be both believable historical soldiers and faithful to the individual whom they have chosen to portray.

“You get the men’s records from the government and learn as much as you can about his life and then portray him,” said Peters.

The group’s uniforms are specially made; some of the first were direct copies of originals.

It cost a new member about $3,000 to fully equip himself with a rifle and uniform. New members do not have to equip themselves immediately – they are given a full year to accumulate the gear needed.

One of the reasons Howard Rich, 50, a New Jersey resident, decided to become part of the Confederate Forces as a member of Lee’s Light Horse Calvary is because it is less expensive to play a rebel.

“The rebels did with what they could,” said Rich. “Many of the items used by the rebels you can make yourself. I have a freedom to make my uniform one that suits me. Federals have to be dressed exactly like one another.”

He didn’t only opt for the South for financial reasons. He also chose the Confederacy because he admires the tenacity of the Southern fighting man,

“They were the underdogs throughout the war, 10 to one,” he said.

Although many in the unit do play real historical figures – and some are even able to play their own ancestors – Rich invented his own character.

According to Rich, the battles are carefully choreographed ahead of time. His unit is a dismounted cavalry unit because the South had very few horses, particularly by the end of the war. Therefore, the men fight as infantry with cavalry tactics.

Although the battles are well organized, sometimes the outcomes wind up differently than intended – providing the battle isn’t strictly a recreation.

But, in a battle that uses no ammunition, or even paint balls, how does a soldier know when he has been “shot”?

“Sometimes a person picks you out and lets you know he’s aiming at you. It’s only fair to take the hit.” He said that too many people can’t die early on, or there wouldn’t be much of a battle – especially when the Southern forces are outnumbered to begin with.