One area that progressive reenactors (and even some 'hard cores') have a very hard time with is the "on the march" impression. Compared to the "Boys of '61-'65," most of us are unnaturally clean, even after the two days of an event.

First, we keep our uniforms and ourselves too clean. Soldiers did not have dry cleaners to take their 'suits' to every time they got a smudge on them. Soap was issued, but the ration was so small (2 ounces per man per three days when available in the Federal army, and far more infrequently in the Confederate) as to be almost insignificant for laundry use. In 1864, Sergeant Rice C. Bull, 123^rd NYVI wrote:
"One of the hardest conditions we had to face in the service, when in the field, was the lack of an opportunity to keep clean. When near a small stream we could not bathe or wash in it as the troops along its banks were using the water for drinking and cooking. To wash our face and hands a comrade poured it for us from a canteen. When we could get it we carried a piece of soap but none was issued to us when in active field service. Usually in the field there was little chance to wash or clean our clothes. ."⁽¹⁾

A Confederate contemporary agreed that it was impossible to keep clean on campaign:
"To do full duty in the ranks, especially in the infantry, it was simply impossible for us to be altogether free from dirt and vermin, with the best pains we could take. To be sure there were some soldiers who were not as careful of cleanliness, in person and clothing, as they might have been; and yet, when we consider that there were thousands...who were without a change of garments, and remember that we constantly marched through dust and mud, or were transported in dirty cars, and slept almost constantly on the ground, the utter futility of their undertaking to be free from dirt and vermin, in any effectual sense, is but too obvious. With all the washing that could be done (and we were frequently where we could scarcely get a sufficient supply of drinking water) and all the care that could otherwise be taken of garments and persons, there was the barest possibility oftentimes of an approach to cleanliness"⁽²⁾
 

While it would be natural to wash your drawers, socks and shirt after an event, don't wash or clean your uniform. Those mud and grass stains, black marks from powder and your cooking gear, &c need to be there, After all, even if you do 12 events a year, that's what - 24 or 36 days worth of wear your outer clothing gets? That's about a month's worth of campaigning in a year - so if you clean your uniform after every event, you'll never get the right 'look'. The other alternative is to try to get really dirty fast at an event. Unfortunately, rolling in the dirt just makes you look like you rolled in the dirt.

There is a natural, modern tendency to be repelled by this. It must be overcome if you want to have a realistic impression (instead of looking like an extra from 'North and South'). You can air your uniform out outside for a day or two when you come back from an event if you are concerned with the wood smoke smell.

And then there are parades! There is also a modern tendency to get 'gussied up' for parades and memorial services. This puts every effort to look like the 'Boys' way back. If you can't resist, you'll always look 'wrong.' One answer is, of course, to get a 'fancy' uniform for those modern functions.

First, never use modern polishes (Brasso, Never-Dull, &c) on your brass. These polishes were just unavailable. Wood ash and water was the method used by period soldiers and it produces a softer, more golden polished appearance than harsh modern polishes.

Secondly, brush your uniform and hang it outside rather than dry clean it. While dry cleaning was invented in France prior to the Civil War, it was not something soldier on either side had access to. Never press creases into your period trousers - that is a much later 'affectation' and is never seen in period images. A good rain storm will also get a lot of the salts and dirt out of the cloth (as will a gentle hand washing).

Blacken your leather with a good paste shoe polish. Use it sparingly and avoid a high gloss shine. Pure neatsfoot oil is good for leather - but avoid anything with petroleum additives. Saddle soap is a good cleaner for leather.

Then we have our shiny clean faces and hands. The veterans had lived rough, with little or no chance to bathe, for months - perhaps years. Black powder and smoke from fires Dirt and grime was worked deep into their skin.

How to deal with this? 'Stage Dirt' (available form costume and theatrical supply houses) is one option. Real dirt and ash is another. Black from the bottom of your fry pan / dipper / canteen half is good too. Whatever you use - pile it on (in a realistic fashion)! We need to look like we have actually been living hard and fighting - instead of like we just stepped out of the shower and pulled on our immaculately clean uniform.

The main point is that we are trying to look like real Confederate or Federal soldiers, rather than actors. These men lived rough, with only the comforts that they carried on their back, for weeks, months, even years at a time.

If you wear your period clothing and accouterments like they are your normal clothes, rather than a 'costume' - then you'll 'feel' right.

To do this takes a serious effort to that is begins with dropping the 20^th century (almost 21^st !) mind-set of how clothing is supposed to look -- of what is 'fashionable' -- of where the 'waist' is -- &c. If you wear 19^th century clothing in a 20^th century manner. . . you will never feel or look 'right'.

1. K. Jack Bauer, ed. Soldiering: The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull, 123rd New York Volunteer Infantry, p. 108

2. Albert T. Goodloe, Confederate Echoes, pp. 161-2.