They participate in reenactments of Civil War encounters

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Steven Beneke, 25, and Danielle Dorland, 22, of Lincolnville are steeped in Civil War history. For the past three years, they have been involved in scripted re-enactments of Civil War conflicts, mostly in Missouri.

The re-enactments generally occur during weekends and often attract thousands of participants and thousands of spectators.

People of all ages, including women and children, set up in tent camps at or near the original sites of conflict. Military re-enactors portray Confederate or Union infantry, artillery, or cavalry units, having all the ranks of a real military. Other re-enacters portray civilians or medical personnel.

duGaulles and Grey

Beneke and Dorland take classes at Kansas State University in animal science and industry, but they re-create themselves as Bastion duGaulles and Isabella Grey for re-enactments. Dorland sometimes presents herself as Samuel Grey, a younger brother who serves in the military.

Their living history “impressions” are based on family ancestors who migrated early to America and had descendants who became involved in the Civil War.

Of Irish descent, Dorland grew up in the Missouri Ozarks. Beneke grew up in southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri, where some of the earliest clashes of the Civil War took place.

As children, both of them were exposed to Civil War re-enactments and attended some of the same events but did not know each other. They even lived just a mile apart at one time.

The two met when Beneke was working in Wichita and sold Dorland a cell phone. They discovered they had a lot in common and knew some of the same people.

For the past one and a half years, they have been living in a house in Lincolnville owned by Beneke’s great-uncle, Eldon Beneke, formerly of Lincolnville and now living in Salina.

Living in Manhattan is expensive, they said, and they wanted to get out of the city.

“We’re more cabin-in-the-woods people,” Dorland said. “We’re not comfortable in town, but it’s OK for now. It’s quiet here, and we like that.”

To be re-enactors, the couple had to acquire their own outfits, equipment, and supplies. The pair read books and conducted research in order to duplicate as much as possible the clothing worn and equipment used in the period of 1861 through 1865.

Each of them has accumulated five or six outfits that can be changed as the situation demands. Many of the items are handmade in much the same way as they would have been in the Civil War period.

Beneke said that, although as duGaulles he might be poor, he dressed to look rich. Grey presents herself as a genteel, Victorian woman dressed in mix-and-match hoop skirts and blouses.

Grey and duGaulles are members of the Confederate Missouri Southwest Calvary, a company that operated in Missouri, Arkansas, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), and Kansas.

Grey is the company photographer, taking photos on foot and horseback. Sometimes she is a civilian. Dorland said she preferred hanging out with the men as Samuel Grey. She is learning how to ride a horse in full stride as a messenger.

As a cavalryman, duGaulles uses guns with blanks. He follows safety rules to avoid injury when meticulously-timed “hits” are carried out to resemble actual combat with injuries and deaths.

Surprising history

Through their involvement with re-enactments, the couple discovered there is a lot more history to the Civil War than schoolbooks provide. They said they learned the Civil War was not as much about slavery as it was about personal rights.

Not everyone in the north supported the Union, and not everyone in the south supported the Confederacy. Many Northerners opposed the draft, and many Southerners just wanted to be left alone with the right to govern themselves.

Some citizens were driven into the war by attacks on their property, some joined for the pay, and some joined for the adventure.

Beneke said some of the earliest battles were fought with pitchforks. Men were told to “bring what you can from home,” he said.

In the absence of men of fighting age, the old and young townspeople formed nonpolitical “home guards” to protect themselves and their property.

“How would you feel if an army marched on your home and demanded your food?” Beneke asked.

Last weekend, the couple was to participate in a re-enactment at Booneville, Mo., where the governor and federal troops clashed.

“We are trying to help people think about what was going on back then,” Beneke said.

He and Dorland are available locally to portray living histories for groups and organizations. Beneke may be contacted at (316) 518-6659.