Is being a bad soldier sometimes a good impression?

[Pvt Peck]

Re: Is being a bad soldier sometimes a good impression?

I have been locked up for telling an Adj. at a battalion formation that he was a "red headed son of a bitch and that I'd mash him". My pard Heath and I were Lt's with the A of P at Franklin/Nashville some years ago and they had a big "meet & greet" with the Generals etc.. in the mansion house, everyone was all dolled up in their finery and we came in mud spattered and rough, Heath walks right up to a general and just booms out "howdy boss, mighty nice barn you have here, yep its first rate yadayada etc.." I about fellover laughing at the reaction that got, then we shook hands all around and told the folks we'd love to stay but had to go as there were other folks waiting on us. Those people did not know what the hell hit them and the generals were left speechless, oh yeah I went out grousing very LOUDLY that I could'nt find my damn laudnum and various other complaints......

[hoppes9]

Re: Is being a bad soldier sometimes a good impression?

Then I was elected lieutenant and all my vices became legal.

The ultimate punishment for bad behavior in the ranks.

[MPDoughBoy153]

Re: Is being a bad soldier sometimes a good impression?

Good soldiers are just bad soldiers that didn't get caught. I think that doing a "bad" soldier impression makes your character seem more real to the public or to other reenactors. When I say "bad" soldier I don't mean a screwball. I mean a soldier that isn't a good soldier. Someone who doesn't like the army, or just wants to go home. Because of this it makes him a bit "bad" or un-soldier like.

[billmatt04]

Re: Is being a bad soldier sometimes a good impression?

As long as you are safe and pick the right time and place to be a bad soldier. Sometimes I think there are too many people who screw around during drills - claiming to be the "bad soldier" - when others are trying to learn. It can be dangerous too. Otherwise, if it's in first-person then by all means give your officers more than they can handle. :)

[BenjaminLDavis]

Re: Is being a bad soldier sometimes a good impression?

The "bad soldier" is, I would submit, something of a misnomer, except in a few
cases (as has been mentioned in a previous missive, my good friend Poague,
who glories in describing himself as "the best worst soldier there is!" He is a
fine man to have beside you in a fight, but if you need to find him in camp,
just look for the feet of a sleeping man sticking out of some hidey hole! He
also taught me, as a new recruit, that all stolen food simply tastes better!)
The excesses of the armies were, for the most part, the excesses of young
men away from home who were on a great adventure (until they saw the
elephant.) Many tasted their first kisses on the way to the front, saw the
first large city of their lives, were thrown into camps with men of many back-
grounds from all over the nation and the world. They were also intensily
individualistic, self-reliant men, who bridled at authority. And, when in camp
for some time, they were very bored, and relieved the tedium in any way they
could, for good or ill.
I also feel that fine manners and sophistication can be over-represented at
many events: there were a lot of illiterate, rough types in both armies, some
units were made up almost exclusively of such. And fitting punishments,
meted out in period correctness, must be taken with good grace (the inner
man must take them in good grace, the outer man can be as graceless as
imagineable!)
This whole thread makes me want to drink, steal and gamble, and maybe fall asleep on picket post! Cannot wait for next year!