Nathan Bedford Forrest honoured at a fundie wedding

[FoxyMoxie]

I found this photography blog via the Long sisters' blog. I think the photographs are pretty nice, but when I saw this I knew I'd heard the name Nathan Bedford Forrest before but couldn't think where. I googled and he's the KKK leader the Bates had a portrait of :?

Bride and groom seem very young, though the bride isn't wearing makeup I don't think which probably adds to that. Lovely flowers but kind of pales into significance by the whole Civil War thing - I don't know much about the Civil War (not being American), is that a Confederate uniform the groom and father of the bride are wearing? I don't understand reenactment weddings generally, and a pro-Confederacy one even less.

[ViolaSebastian]

Wooow. I cringed my way through those photographs. It takes a special kind of tone deafness to get married and hold a joyful celebration in front of the boyhood home of the perpetrator of the Fort Pillow Massacre. What sort of scary, racist echo chamber life do you have to live to think this man is worthy of any sort of admiration? I'd also never admit to anyone in a thousand years if I was related to Forrest... :?

On a side note, wtf is 'Jane Austen photography'? Last I checked, she was around before photography.

ETA: Yep, those are Confederate uniforms. And trust me, I don't understand it either. Although Union uniforms wouldn't have made any sense at the boyhood home of Nathan Bedford Forrest, so they have that going for them.

[gustava]

1. Groom Dude wearing tight pants; pretty hot butt.

2. Grey is associated with Confederate uniforms.

3. Cannon is pretty phallic.

Idiots.

That is all.

[ViolaSebastian]

So the bride, Atlanta, has a blog: storyofseamstress.blogspot.com. She, her husband, and her little girl Marian were there for Remembering WWII, put on by none other than everyone's favorite dominionists. She's an excellent seamstress, from the looks of it.

ETA: Phew. And she's pregnant with number two already.

[FoxyMoxie]

The Long sisters who are photographed modelling some vintage dresses for the photographer went to the VF Titanic ball. The photographer presumably also has some link to the VF crowd then.

[ViolaSebastian]

They live in a house with no electricity and she didn't have running water in her kitchen until after baby Marian was born. No way would I have a child in cloth diapers with no running water. Just no.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Married in a confederate soldier's uniform?!? WTF, that's a new one. My dad was married in his Marine dress uniform but that's because he actually fucking served in the military and also he wasn't paying homage to a racist anti-American insurrection.

Edited for typo

[bionicmlle]

I always think of Forrest Gump. He was named after NBF and the movie has a bit of a joke about it.

Atlanta is an odd duck. Her husband built their house while they were courting/engaged and they have collected things, like the windows, for the home for ages. She is an amazing seamstress but she seems to live in another time.

[DGayle]

1. Groom Dude wearing tight pants; pretty hot butt.

I'm relieved someone else thought this too.

[FloraKitty35]

They live in a house with no electricity and she didn't have running water in her kitchen until after baby Marian was born. No way would I have a child in cloth diapers with no running water. Just no.

Double just no on no running water.

[DGayle]

If you don't know the history of the home, and if there weren't confederate uniforms, then this could have been an interesting wedding, at least for the people who went. I have some friends who went to a regency wedding last year where the rules were so uptight about how authentic you have to be, and no watchings, phones, or anything else, that the couple's parents couldn't even make it (they had a couple older friends play their parents for pictures), and the bride's twin sister couldn't do it either. Then the couple bitched about how everyone could have just saved up $1000 for costumes.

Since the Bedford wedding looks authentic in costumes, I can't help wondering how many friends and family weren't there because of money.

[DGayle]

Double just no on no running water.

Where are posts about the house?

[ViolaSebastian]

On her blog: storyofseamstress.blogspot.com

They had to keep their butter and milk in the creek. In. the. creek.

[sparkles]

Her blog is storyofAseamstress.blogspot.com (the A was missing in the original link)

Their house is actually quite impressive. Not that I'd like to live that way but I can still appreciate it. It does like like they've got electricity now since they've got a lot of mod cons including a Blendtec and a turquoise Kitchen Aid, plus all of her sewing stuff. I'm sure it was difficult while the house was being built but she certainly didn't seem to be whining about it much. I give them both a lot of credit. They're very young but quite talented and industrious. They've got at least two successful Etsy shops, one for her dressmaking and one for custom doll beds. Her dressmaking skills are superb. One of her reproduction dresses is (or was) on display at Blenheim Palace. Not too shabby.

The whole worship of the confederacy and NBF (a relative, apparently)? That's a whole 'nother thing...

[SoSoNosy]

My first husband's father's name was Forrest, and there was a cousin by that name. I didn't stick around long enough to find out whether or not they claimed him as an ancestor; once I found out that the spoiled baby I had married thought his wife should support him, I bailed. He's on SupportPerson #4 now.

[ViolaSebastian]

Her blog is storyofAseamstress.blogspot.com (the A was missing in the original link)

Their house is actually quite impressive. Not that I'd like to live that way but I can still appreciate it. It does like like they've got electricity now since they've got a lot of mod cons including a Blendtec and a turquoise Kitchen Aid, plus all of her sewing stuff. I'm sure it was difficult while the house was being built but she certainly didn't seem to be whining about it much. I give them both a lot of credit. They're very young but quite talented and industrious. They've got at least two successful Etsy shops, one for her dressmaking and one for custom doll beds. Her dressmaking skills are superb. One of her reproduction dresses is (or was) on display at Blenheim Palace. Not too shabby.

The whole worship of the confederacy and NBF (a relative, apparently)? That's a whole 'nother thing...

Sheesh, I did that twice. Thank you for correcting me. I'm going to blame my prescription cough syrup.

[FloraKitty35]

I always think of Forrest Gump. He was named after NBF and the movie has a bit of a joke about it.

Atlanta is an odd duck. Her husband built their house while they were courting/engaged and they have collected things, like the windows, for the home for ages. She is an amazing seamstress but she seems to live in another time.

Forrest Gump was my first thought too.

[nokidsmom]

Took a look through her blog and agree that her seamstress skills are very impressive. As a sewer myself, I admire anyone who can do historical costumes well; it's much more detailed work compared to our relatively simple garments today.

The whole NBF thing is another story however. Even if they wanted to wear confederate uniforms as part of a Civil War era wedding that's taking place in the South, that's one thing. Bringing NBF into it, possible relative or no, is another.

ETA: Just checked out the Young Victoria dress she made that displayed at Blenheim Palace. It's gorgeous and truly looks like the dress worn in the movie. Incidentally it's one of my favorite ones.

[FaustianSlip]

Ugh, gross. I'm pretty active in Civil War reenacting (Union and Confederate, depending on what's needed numbers-wise, although I prefer Union, for obvious reasons), and what I've found is that while there's a definite element who are big on the whole Lost Cause, worshipping dead generals (Forrest included) thing, the more authentically-minded a particular group is, the less of that garbage you get. It tends to be the farby, "camping in funny costumes" types who spend the most time waving the Confederate battle flag around and carrying on about how the South will rise again.

Which brings me to these photos. The location, independent of the whole Forrest connection, is very nice, but a lot of the clothing they're wearing looks farby as all hell. Modern shoes on a number of the participants, gaiters where no one would have been wearing them, way, way too much red trim on the groom's uniform, groom is wearing high boots for no apparent reason (particularly since he's in an artillery uniform), guy driving the wagon has the brim of his kepi rolled like a baseball cap, full-on cowboy hat on one of the band members.... It's a historical train wreck. Also, I'm pretty sure that even though the white wedding dress trend started with Victoria, most women in the 1860s, particularly down South, where there was a major blockade going on, weren't nearly rich enough to sink a bunch of money into one, light-colored dress that they'd wear once and never again.

[FaustianSlip]

I have some friends who went to a regency wedding last year where the rules were so uptight about how authentic you have to be, and no watchings, phones, or anything else, that the couple's parents couldn't even make it (they had a couple older friends play their parents for pictures), and the bride's twin sister couldn't do it either. Then the couple bitched about how everyone could have just saved up $1000 for costumes.

That's pretty crazy. If someone's that into historical reenacting and living history, I would think that they would have either sufficient gear to loan some out to people or have friends and acquaintances in the reenacting community who could help out. I've only been reenacting for about a year and a half, and aside from a musket, I could outfit at least two people in full military impressions with stuff from my closet. If I decided to have a Civil War-themed wedding, I have no doubt at all that reenacting buddies would be able to help me out in getting at least my immediate family squared away with appropriate attire.

In the case of the clothing in these photos, a lot of it doesn't look all that accurate to me. I'm not as well-versed on women's clothing, since I do a military impression, but the military jackets and stuff don't look quite right. Looking at her blog, I'm seeing her describing the jacket that the groom appears to be wearing in the photo, and it sounds like they took a documented jacket pattern and then just did whatever the hell they wanted to it (i.e. adding epaulets, more buttons, piping on the cuffs) based not on documentation, but aesthetics. Not the way to go if you're actually trying to represent a specific unit.

That being said, she's a very talented seamstress. I'd be fascinated to know what unit her husband reenacts with.

Edited to add that she mentions in her blog that her family reenacts with a "dismounted cavalry unit." That's usually the hallmark of a unit that has little or no commitment to historical accuracy- they tend to get made fun of mercilessly in the Civil War reenacting community because there was no such thing as a dismounted cavalry unit in the first place. They tend to attract people who can't ride and don't know much about horses, but think that cavalry is more "glamorous" than infantry, for whatever reason, so they claim they're "dismounted."

[nokidsmom]

Hi FS, interesting to hear your views from the perspective of someone who participates in these reenactments. I did notice the amount of red in the groom's uniform and it had me wondering. I don't do costumes or reenactments but there was a period about 15 years ago where I was interested in doing historical costuming and I sure don't remember Civil War era uniforms as having red in them.

Edited to add that she mentions in her blog that her family reenacts with a "dismounted cavalry unit." That's usually the hallmark of a unit that has little or no commitment to historical accuracy- they tend to get made fun of mercilessly in the Civil War reenacting community because there was no such thing as a dismounted cavalry unit in the first place. They tend to attract people who can't ride and don't know much about horses, but think that cavalry is more "glamorous" than infantry, for whatever reason, so they claim they're "dismounted."

"Dismounted cavalry unit"? That's like saying you are a car driver without a car. Or something like that.

[ADoyle90815]

Hi FS, interesting to hear your views from the perspective of someone who participates in these reenactments. I did notice the amount of red in the groom's uniform and it had me wondering. I don't do costumes or reenactments but there was a period about 15 years ago where I was interested in doing historical costuming and I sure don't remember Civil War era uniforms as having red in them.

"Dismounted cavalry unit"? That's like saying you are a car driver without a car. Or something like that.

I thought that was weird, "dismounted cavalry unit" as well, since what are they using, coconuts? Once when my family went to Washington DC, we did a day trip to Gettysburg and it happened to be the day before the reenactment. From what I remember, none of the Confederate uniforms I saw had any red trim.

[gustava]

They probably claim the red is only for dress uniforms. Wearing splashes of red while in battle might be .... eye catching, followed by a bullet.

[FaustianSlip]

Red was the traditional trim color for artillery units for both sides, so that in and of itself isn't totally ridiculous. What's problematic is that most original uniforms had some red trim, but not a lot, and definitely not as much as they added to the groom's shell jacket. If you look at her blog, you can see a photo of the original they used- there was a tiny bit of red piping along the collar and the edge of the jacket where the buttonholes are. Instead of faithfully copying the reproduction, which is what most people invested in the historical accuracy would do (unless they could document specific changes), it looks like they decided to add the cuff trim, epaulets and epaulet trim for shits and giggles, presumably because it looked prettier. This is how you wind up with artillery units drenched in absurd amounts of red trim (and cavalry units dripping with way, way too much yellow). In one of his photos on her blog, he's also wearing a modern hat and what look like Union blue trousers, which is a big no-no, because it's so heavily overrepresented and difficult to actually document.

The thing is, because of the inconsistent supply system and the Union blockade, a lot of Confederate artillery guys just wore the same, boring, gray jean jackets that the infantry guys were wearing. They were much easier to come by, they were more easily sewn by people at home, which was fairly common under the "commutation system" (in which patterns would be provided to family and friends of soldiers, who would then stitch up a jacket for them), and acquiring certain dyes and such for any fabric was difficult. Even on the Union side, you see way, way more photographs of artillery crews wearing boring old sack coats (identical to what infantrymen were wearing) than you do of them wearing fancy, artillery-specific uniforms with all kinds of red trim.

I'm sure they went this route with the jacket because they thought it looked more attractive for a wedding, but with her sewing skills, she could have easily made him an untrimmed frock coat that would have been more accurate and looked great.

"Dismounted cavalry unit"? That's like saying you are a car driver without a car. Or something like that.

Yeah, pretty much, which is why they tend to get so much shit from other reenactors- that, and they tend to have low or no standards as far as uniform and equipment guidelines, et cetera. There may be dismounted cav units out there that do a good job of it, really educating themselves about horses, riding and filling in with other cav units who have horses to enhance their impression, but I've never seen one. Their argument is that if you got a horse shot out from under you or something, you wouldn't get a replacement straight away, and of course sometimes cav units fought dismounted, but those units didn't just not have horses. It's silly and completely a-historical.

[FaustianSlip]

Just for the sake of comparison, here's a known photo of the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, a well-known Confederate artillery unit:

and a shot of them from 1861:

And some Union artillerymen for good measure: