Company K, First Pennsylvania Reserves

Company K History

Company K - Antietam 2002

Our Parent Unit: The National Regiment
http://www.cwreenactors.com/~nationalregiment/
Brother Units
- Sykes'Regulars: http://www.cwreenactors.com/~sykes/
- 53rd Pa., Company B: http://www.53rdpvi.us/
Reenacting Reference

The Drill Network. Much of value here, including the various drillbooks (we use Casey's) and many other things you will find useful in the hobby: http://home.att.net/~Cap1MD/Drill.htm
Progressing on a Budget: Created by Jim Butler of the Salt River Rifles, this site offers a wealth of good ideas for improving one's impression: http://www.geocities.com/saltriverrifles/PROGRESSING.htm
Making Cartridges: It's easy! No, really! http://www.lazyjacks.org.uk/cartrdge.htm
Jonah World: It would be better for you to visit this reenacting site than for us to attempt to explain it to you: http://wesclark.com/jw/index.html
Civil War Historian magazine: http://civilwarhistorian.com/ A great magazine devoted to the hobby.

Civil War Reference
Here are interesting sites with general information regarding the Civil War.

The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. You can purchase all 135 volumes, or you can just go to this site instead: http://www.civilwarhome.com/records.htm
Civil War Traveler: http://www.civilwar-va.com/index.html. This great site lists every Civil War-related event between Pennsylvania and South Carolina by date, and includes much additional information.
An Army: Its Organization and Movements: http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.author/a.145.html If you think it's hard to get a dozen guys to form a company early in the morning, read some of these documents. You may up impressed how good even a bad general had to be, just to get an army on the march!
Fox's Regimental Losses: http://www.civilwarhome.com/foxspref.htm A fascinating analysis, not only of the casualties of the Civil War, but also the "anthropological makeup" of the armies (i.e., how tall the men were, their ages, etc.).
History of the Pennsylvania Reserves: http://www.pareserves.com/?q=node/1035

Some of Our Favorite Sutlers
There are many good sutlers involved with Civil War reenacting. There are also many that are not quite so good. Before you buy anything, be sure to consult with an experienced member of Company K or one of our brother units:

S & S Sutler of Gettysburg: http://www.ss-sutler.com/ This would be a good place to start any shopping expedition to Gettysburg.
Spiros Marinos: A longtime friend of Company K, and stepping into his shop in Gettysburg is like walking back into history. Spiros doesn't have a Website, but he is there most weekends. Here are the particulars:
Spiros Marinos, 890 Baltimore Pike, P.O. Box 3192, Gettysburg, PA 17325-3192, Phone (717) 334-9376
Jersey Skillet Licker: http://www.skilletlicker.com/servlet/StoreFront Another good sutler, who keeps getting better.
The Regimental Quartermaster: http://www.regtqm.com/ Also in Gettysburg. If you cannot find it anywhere else, they probably have it. Not our first choice for uniforms and accoutrements, the Regimental Quartermaster has been making a conscious effort to improve the quality of its gear over the past several years.
The Harper's Ferry Gunsmith: http://www.edsmart.com/jz/ "Defarbing" means taking modern reproduction weapons and removing all modern markings and replacing them with the appropriate period stamps, etc. Nobody does it better than John Zimmerman of Harper's Ferry, and a visit to his shop is well worth the drive, in more ways than one, as you will discover once you go there.

Reenactor Forums
There are many forums for Civil War reenacting on the Web. Here are three of the most popular.

The Authentic History Center: http://www.authentichistory.com/civilwar/sounds/index.html
A great site for Civil War music, with recordings made around 1910 or so.
Second South Carolina String Band: http://www.civilwarband.com/
Our musical background, the Civil War classic, "Tenting Tonight," is provided courtesy of the Second South Carolina String Band. Please visit their Web site where you can hear samples of many other fine renditions of Civil War music