Magistrate John Stone: Civil War Reenactor

Magistrate John Stone in his "Richmond Gray"

Confederate uniform at Gettysburg.

During the Civil War, Webster County residents were overwhelmingly "secessionist," in favor of the Confederacy, and the County still boasts a Confederate sympathizer of sorts in the form of Magistrate John Stone.

For the better part of the last 18 years, Magistrate Stone has joined with hundreds and even thousands  of hobbyists who participate in reenactments of various battles from the Civil War. He reenacts as a member of the Confederate Army's 28th Virginia Infantry, Company D. The Commentator recently asked Magistrate Stone about his experience in Civil War reenactments and he was gracious enough to share his involvement. We print unedited his story, as follows:

"I developed an interest in the civil war period in my youth, and knew that my great grandfather, Thomas Stone, had fought with the confederacy. I knew that my great grandfather Christopher Schrader was captured and sent to a union prison and died of small pox, and that was all that I knew about my family participation in the conflict until I started reenacting. 

I started civil war reenacting with my oldest son Court and my wife Kathy in April 1995 at the battle of Saylor’s Creek as a private in the 8th Ohio Regiment. It was ironic that my first reenactment was of the last major battle of the civil war, where Gen. Lee lost almost half of his army.

I later joined the 17th Virginia, Co. D , the Fairfax Rifles, reenacting unit. I was elected as corporal and then as sergeant in that unit. In reenacting rank is obtained the same as it was in most units during the early part of the civil war, i.e., you were elected to the position.

I learned that I had 3 uncles who fought in the civil war in addition to my great grand father on my father’s side of the family. John Harmon Stone was a Sergeant in the Bedford Light Artillery, Samuel Miller Stone was in the 28th Virginia Company C, James Fletcher Stone was in the 34 Virginia, and Thomas A. Stone was in the 28th Virginia Company D.

Magistrate Stone, on left, in a reenactment photo made with
the same type of photographic technique that existed at the
time of the Civil War (with negative of photo on glass).

I formed the 28th Virginia Company D reenacting unit after learning I had 2 ancestors who fought with the 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment during the civil war. I was elected Captain of the 28th Virginia Regiment Company D and served in that capacity until being elected Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) in October, 2012.

My “home unit”, the 28th Virginia,  is always looking for quality recruits, and we usually have enough gear to get a recruit started in reenacting if they are interested. 

The first thing we do when we arrive at the reenactment site is to set up the camp which consists of setting up a white canvas tent, cook fly, and fire pit for cooking. Privates usually camp in an A-Frame tent which is approximately 9ft x 9ft x 6 ft.

As an officer I camp in a “wall tent” &  it measures approximately 10ft x 10 ft. and is about  7 ft. tall with a fly, which gives some shade & protection from the rain. Yes, it does rain sometimes at the reenactments and it can be somewhat challenging  to camp in rough weather.

Magistrate Stone and wife Kathy in Charleston, South

Carolina, at the time of the Civil War submarine "The

Hundley" funeral procession in April, 2004.

Most civil war reenactments are held on Saturday and Sunday with most reenactors arriving on Friday to set up their camp with Friday being a “kick back & relax” day. 

Reveille usually starts at 6 am & breakfast is cooked over an open wood fire. Our fare is usually eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, potatoes, hash, gravy or something similar, about the same food as our ancestors except more of it. Other meals consist of chili, stew, chili mac, soups, and potluck. We eat our meals on period style plates, and we try to keep all non-period items hidden from public view. Our meals are delicious and we are not very good at portraying the “starving confederate soldier”.

Morning reports have to be in by 7 am and then the activity starts. At around 9 or 10 am the battalion is formed and this means every soldier is in uniform with rifle and canteen standing in formation and ready for inspection. 

After inspection the battalion is marched out of camp for drill using the period tactics of the civil war.  After drill the troops are marched back to camp and they have some free time to go to the sutlers (period mall shopping) but have to be back in camp by early afternoon.

When it is near time for the reenactment battle, the battalion is reformed the same manner as at drill that morning and after another inspection are marched off to the battle. During the battle the soldiers march and stand shoulder to shoulder in two ranks. Each soldier fires an 1853 Enfield or 1861 Springfield (or similar) reproduction musket with a blank cartridge containing about 60 grains of black powder. It gets pretty noisy and there is a lot of smoke, and confusion, and troop movements which give you the flavor of what actually occurred during civil war battles (minus the casualties).

As reenactors we try to portray the battle as close as we can to the actual battle that was fought during the civil war. In other words the Union does not win at 1st Manassas or the Confederates at Gettysburg. We sometimes have a tactical battle at reenactments and those are non-scripted battles, in which, each side will try to “best” the other.

Safety is paramount in the reenacting community and we have several safety inspections during the weekend. We require that each soldier have a full canteen of water in addition to his uniform and rifle. We do not allow any non-scripted “hand to hand” fighting, and we do not fire the muskets when we are closer than 25 yards to the opposing side. Bayonets are kept in the scabbard unless taken out to “stack arms” Under no circumstance is the bayonets or ramrods to be utilized during the battle, no exceptions.

Antiqued photo of Civil War reenactors, including Magistrate Stone, when

Confederate General Stonewall Jackson addresses his troops. Compare

this photo to the same scene in the movie  "Gods and Generals" shown below.

I have participated in 2 movies (no speaking parts) and I am sure countless videos and photographs during my 18 plus years of civil war reenacting. I was one of the civil war troop commanders during the filming of the battle scenes of 1st Manassas in the movie “Gods and Generals”, and I can be seen clearly during Gen. Jackson’s (Actor Steven Lang) address to the 1st Brigade. I am in the movie that is shown at the Manassas National Battlefield Park, “The End of Innocence” again as one of the troop commanders.  

I met “Larry the Cable Guy” (Dan Whitney) at a reenactment at Sully Plantation when Larry and crew were filming the show “Only in America”.  He is  a “down to earth” person, and actually participated in the reenactment during the weekend, he also paid the registration fee for the reenactors for that event.

Hollywood produces great actors, but they usually do not have the expertise to lead troop formations using the tactics used during the civil war. It took me several years to learn the tactics and I usually learn something new at every reenactment.

I have participated in reenactments as far west as Franklin, TN, and as far north as Philadelphia, PA, and as far south as Charleston, SC.

Magistrate Stone's sons, John (left) and Court, on Court's

wedding day at the Fairfax Courthouse.

It was an honor to march in the funeral procession of the crew of the civil war submarine the “Hundley”, (this was the first submarine and crew to sink a battleship during wartime), the submarine sank killing its crew, but raised in the mid 1990’s. The Hundley funeral march was about 7 miles long in 90-degree weather.

I have been invited to speak about the role and function of infantry, and the 28th Virginia Regiment, at the Gettysburg National Battlefield Park at least twice a year for the last 10 years. 

I enjoy the reenacting hobby and look forward to participating in this  years events. This year we celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg, and I will be at Gettysburg."

The video below first includes the actual footage from the movie "Gods and Generals," where General Stonewall Jackson is addressing the troops, and Magistrate Stone can be seen in the second row of the soldiers. The video also includes Magistrate Stone drilling at "Pitzers' Woods" at Gettysburg National Park, where his company is going through the manual of arms and shows Magistrate Stone talking to the public. 

The full "Pitzers' Woods" video and sound can be accessed at this link:
http://youtu.be/wwa0n5ocSpA

For more information about the 28th Virginia Infantry, Company D of the Confederate Army, both past and present, please click the following link:

http://www.28thvirginiacompanyd.com