Ericksons At Reenactments
FIREPOWER! 20th Maine at Modesto
Our whole family has a role in civil war reenacting.
Larry Erickson
Larry Erickson is the 20th Maine regimental Quartermaster Sergeant.
The Quartermaster would have issued the supplies to the men in his regiment. His role in reenacting is to lay out and set up the regiment encampment. He then issues equipment to the men.
You may not always see him in a uniform. Sometimes he is dressed as a civilian.
So Quartermaster Erickson is important to the regiment.
Holly Erickson
Holly Erickson is a civilian and wife of a soldier in the army, Quartermaster Erickson.
She normaly stays at home, but sometimes she comes and visits Larry and her son, Private John Erickson, also in the same regiment. Holly has been taking care of the farm while the men are away on the battlefield. But she does not fear for their safety too much, for she knows that they will come home to her.
She made the dress herself, which took a lot of time. Like most dresses in 1863, they were hoop skirts with a big ring around the bottom of the dress which made it rather difficult to wear sometimes.
Stacy Erickson
Stacy Erickson protrays both a civilian and a union musician. She is an excellent fifer.
She started when she bought a plastic fife from a catalog for $7.00. It took her awhile to figure out how to get a sound to come out of it.
But it did not take her long to upgrade and get a maple fife which was an improvment.
A year or two later she needed a better fife, and so she bought a cooperman's Rosewood fife. It was a good fife, but it was still not the best and so a year or so later she got a top of the line fife- A model F fife.
Now she has a great fife and knows and plays dozens of tunes. She could play 150 tunes for you if you gave her a list of songs.
She has made her dress and her musician's frock coat uniform.
John Erickson
John Erickson is a 2nd Sergeant in the 20th Maine, much like what you would have found during the civil war. The average age of the union soldier was 25 years.
As you can see, I have a bedroll on, and I also carry my gum blanket with me.
The next step that I think I will try to do will be to put clothes and whatever else I have and need into the bedroll.
I joined the 20th Maine in 2001. I have been a spectator since 1993 though.
On top of being a Sergeant, I am sometimes a musician. I also have a musicians frock coat(also made by Stacy Erickson)
I have a Coopermans Grenadilla fife, but I still play on the $7 plastic ones that we first got sometimes. I am not as experienced as Stacy, and only have a few dozen songs in my head.
Click here if you want to review and listen to the list of music that we play.
Stacy and John fifing with some of the other fifers and drummers at Historic Fort Point in San Francisco, CA.
Music is called Amazing Grace.
To see more assorted pictures,Click Here
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