Some reenactors buy dress uniforms as well as field garb, and many have both Yankee and Rebel outfits, changing when one side or the other is short of manpower at an event. Reenactors typically belong to organizations that are reincarnations of Civil War military units. Their uniforms and equipment are reproductions of those used by the original units, and they carry the units colors. The Battle of Chalk Bluff reenactment at Arbor Lodge is the handiwork of the one such unit, the modern 1st Nebraska Infantry Volunteers. Like the original 1st Nebraska, the group draws most of its members from the Omaha and Nebraska City areas.
Most reenactors do it out of love for history.
Many had ancestors on one or both sides of the Civil War, said Steve Jipp of Omaha. Jipp and his neighbor Bob Bebout, both members of the modern 1st Nebraska Infantry Volunteers, organize the Battle of Chalk Bluff reenactments at Arbor Lodge, which began in 1994. Members of the 1st Nebraska also have appeared as extras in several major movies, including Dances with Wolves, Glory and Gettysburg. Jipp, Bebout and 1st Nebraska committees began working on the 1997 Chalk Bluff reenactment before the smoke cleared from the 1996 event. The Battle of Chalk Bluff is growing in popularity among Civil War buffs, said Jipp and Bebout, and the 1997 event will be limited to 350 participants.