Editor’s note: Family Portrait is a series of reports on family members who share interesting hobbies or careers. To suggest a family for a future article, e-mail features editor Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com.
For many families, the Civil War was a conflict that forced brothers against one another. A century and a half later, re-enacting the lives of soldiers in the war has brought two brothers from Lookout Mountain closer together.
Preston Brown, 38, and Chip Brown, 41, have had a lifelong love of history, particularly the Civil War. As children, their grandmother told them about their ancestors on both sides during treks to local battlefields.
For more than a decade, they’ve given life to those stories as members of Company H of the 37th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, a local Civil War re-enactment and living-history group.
“We came into it at the same time,” Preston Brown said. “We share a lot of mutual interests, so once one gets started, it’s very easy for the other to get interested as well.”
At the Browns’ first event, a re-enactment of the Battle of Chickamauga in 1999, they served as members of the color guard with the Southern Independent Rifles, a Civil War living-history group. In the summer heat, wearing re-creations of Confederate uniforms, purchased mostly online, was a decidedly uncomfortable experience, they said.
“It was all the typical things you think about when (you have) a uniform on,” Chip Brown said. “It’s hot. It’s stuffy. You’ve got a lot of gear on. You get tired at times.”
The Brown brothers eventually joined Company H of the 37th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, a local group that participates in re-enactment of battles locally and as far away as Gettysburg, Pa., and Wilson’s Creek, Mo.
Every year, the Browns don their uniforms, both Confederate and Union, to attend at least a dozen events. They are also frequent volunteers at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park for living-history events, which educate the public on the experience of the ordinary Civil War soldier.
Whether they’re marching through a gunpowder haze from a volley of blanks, getting drenched by freezing rain or sweltering under a brutal July sun, the Browns said the discomfort is worth it.
Like actual soldiers, their experiences, good and bad, have made them part of an even bigger brotherhood.
“It’s as close as you can come to the camaraderie of soldier life without actually being in a modern military unit,” Chip said. “You’ve all shared in misery and have a greater respect for the Civil War ancestors you’re portraying.”
After 10 years of laughing and suffering together, it’s tough to think of going back, Preston added.
“Being in a real military unit, you become comrades, and in living history, you become brothers in the same way,” he said. “It’s hard, being in reenactments for 10 years, to think of giving it up.”
ABOUT THEM
Preston Brown
Age: 38.
Rank: Private in the 3ennessee Infantry Regiment, Company H.
Education: Associates degree in history from Chattanooga State.
Favorite Civil War general: Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne.
Chip Brown
Age: 41
Rank: Second corporal in the 37th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, Company H.
Education: Bachelors in political science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Favorite Civil War general: Gen. Robert E. Lee.
UNION SYMPATHIES
They may be Tennesseans, but the Brown brothers have several distinguished Civil War ancestors who fought for the Union.
* Brig. Gen. Benjamin Gratz Brown
Claim to fame: Secured Camp Jackson near St. Louis in 1861. Elected as a U.S. senator and later served as the governor of Missouri.
* Lt. Col. Orlando Brown Jr.
Claim to fame: Commanded the 14th Kentucky Infantry, who in 1863 held off Confederate soldiers, capturing 50, at a skirmish near Salyersville, Ky.
* Capt. Martin Barringer
Claim to fame: Charged a Confederate earthworks near Savannah, Ga., capturing a battle flag while serving with 5th Ohio Infantry.
KITTED OUT
On the field, Civil War reenactors Preston and Chip Brown dress in authentic period uniforms. Here’s what they’re made of:
Preston (Confederate infantryman)
* Felt slouch hat
* Jean cloth coat
* Cotton shirt
* Hemp pants
* Cotton undergarment
* Cotton sock
* Leather brogans (ankle boots)
Chip (Union infantryman)
* Wool forage cap
* Wool jacket
* Cotton civilian pattern shirt
* Wool pants
* Cotton undergarment
* Two layers of cotton socks
* Leather brogans