With living history season full on us and many public observances drawing close on the Sumner calendar, we wanted to begin focusing more in-depth on our second pillar of understanding, replicating or "re-enacting".

Many of you will be attending events, both public and living history experience based, and you are either looking to create an impression or fine-tune an existing work in progress. This week we bring in long-time living historian Will Eichler to share some insight into developing the finer points of the kit into both an accurate and serviceable collection of items.

We also discuss important resources available to all of us as students and practitioners of historical interpretation through Civil War Digital Digest and the HistoryFix App. Offering everything from how to's and when to's to documentaries and full length historical films, no period research is complete without using these two well-developed tools. And within this episode, you'll find out how to get a 30% discount (that's nearly half!) on an annual HistoryFix subscription, so listen closely!

We hope you find this episode both enjoyable and informative.

View Civil War Digital Digest content for free on YouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/CivilWarDigitalDigest

Once you have evaluated the content, we at The Wabash Inn Mess strongly encourage you to become a subscriber.

You can sign up for the HistoryFix platform by visiting:

https://www.historyfix.com/

Reach out to the Messmates at:

wabashinnmess@gmail.com

Find The Mess on the web at:

www.wabashinnmess.com

Welcome to the after action episode for the 2025Hardscrabble Invitational. The Johnny Reb III group gathered in White House, TN the last weekend in April and played out multiple scenarios that evoked lots of excitement and emotion among the participants.

Our guest this week is gaming aficionado and long-time play tester Patrick "PJ" O'Neill. We talk to PJ about engaging in close combat with the "enemy" and the characteristics of the charge. It's an opportunity for enjoyment and education this week as we discuss Johnny Reb III on The Mess.

Communicate with the men of The Mess at:

wabashinnmess@gmail.com

Follow us on the web at:

www.wabashinnmess.com

A battlefield is a self-cleaning organism. Time and elements will eventually erase all trace of what occurred in the maelstrom on hallowed ground. Unfortunately, war doesn't occur in a vacuum. Conflict displaces, spoils, and scars the living in the area where it happens. After the Battle of Antietam in September, 1862 efforts to remove the fallen were undertaken by the US Army and the citizens of Western Maryland so that life could attempt to resume a semblance of what was considered "normal".

The lost at Antietam were buried in place, in singular or mass graves, depending on side and circumstance. A need to identify and locate the remains of those left behind was undertaken by map makers who made an effort to mark as many burial plots and identify as many soldiers as possible. The most famous of these map makers, S.G. Elliott, produced burial maps of both Antietam and Gettysburg, one of which has recently been uncovered and placed on display in the collection in the Visitor's Center at Antietam National Battlefield. Hear the revealing story of battlefield grave maps and the S.G. Elliott map on this episode with our guests Brian Baracz of the National Park Service and Tom Clemens of The Save Historic Antietam Foundation.

Plan your visit to Antietam with:

https://www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm

Support preservation efforts at Antietam by joining SHAF:

https://shaf.org/

Connect with The Wabash Inn Mess via email:

wabashinnmess@gmail.com

Follow The Mess on the web at:

wabashinnmess.com