Roman and other dioramas

[P. Clodius Secundus]

Randi,
BTW, you can't imagine how much I'd like to participate in re-enacting at Gettysburg. I read that lots of Germans served with the Federals, even though I have a weak spot for the Confeds ... I was a fan at least since the movie adaption of John Jakes' "North and South", I really got enthusiastic after I saw "Gettysburg". I heard they had some 13,000 ACW-reenactors as extras. Did you happen to have been one of them? Must have been great.

There were entire regiments of German immigrants, especially in Howard's 11th Corps. They weren't very well liked or trusted by the rest of the army, but much of this can be attributed to xenophobia. Just last night I read about an instance where an artillery battery was sent to support a "Dutch" regiment in a potentially tight spot at Gettysburg. The gunners said "We'll stand and fight as long as you don't run on us". Not only did the Germans stand fast and support them, as soon as the guns had staggered the advancing Rebs the infantry delivered a devastating counterattack. A mutual trust and respect between the two units developed. In my Regiment, the 15th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the men from my hometown killed at Antietam was a German immigrant. His name was Conrad Amptauer, but he had "anglicized" it when he enlisted to Conrad M. Tower.
If you, or any other RAT'ers get the chance to visit the States (with the Euro strong against the dollar it's probably much easier) I have a bunch of loaner gear and can borrow more. Aside from the smaller local events we usually attend one major reenactment every season. Events run in 5 year cycles so this year we're focused on battles from 1863. Next season will probably be Petersburg. I wasn't involved with "Gettysburg" of "Gods and Generals", but many of my friends were. The biggest event I've been to was 140th Antietam. There were about 12,000 participants and nearly 100 cannon. We were in the third wave that marched into the cornfield and the next day we fought our way over the sunken road. The feeling of being there, some call it "period rush" was intense. Some day I hope we can get even a tenth that many Romans together.
Attached is a photo of one of my 1/1 scale modeling projects. Its a wooden copy of a 12-pound Napoleon Howitzer. We call it "Napoleon Blown-Apart". It really adds to the scenery.