Without a doubt the battles are what draw spectators to our reenactments, which is why The Orphan Boys Mess strives to create an accurate depiction of what it was like to be a soldier on one of America’s deadliest fields of fire while also maintaining a safe environment for our fellow reenactors, one which we hope brings honor to the men that did this for real, many of whom never got a chance to leave the blood soaked landscape.  

Unfortunately The Orphan Boys Mess seems to be one of the few reenacting units in the Chicagoland area to take this approach to the battlefields, which have been almost completely overrun by dismounted cavalry and engineer units who seem to think that our battles are just giant neighborhood games of war, ones where it is sometimes funny to take hits, hits that a person can get back up from a few seconds later and keep playing.  Hopefully this will change as the local infantry units are rebuilt, but until then rest be assured that a few of us,

basically all the infantry guys one will see on the battlefield, still take our jobs as reenactors seriously and know it isn’t all about going out and shooting black powder.