Well, I can't speak for all re-enactors, but I participate to teach. Most of our enactments are done in camp with everyday activities. When we do school days, we teach history, clothing, weapons, some manual of arms, women's life, ... etc. Our battles consists of tacticals, though we hope to do so recreations in the future. Again, it is to teach by showing what happened.

We attempt to be as accurate as possible, down to the trim and buttons on our clothes.

BTW, I have no interest in actually fighting (I don't even do paint ball). One of the demos that we do ends with the moral to the kids "If you don't want to die, don't start wars." The graphical display should show the effects of battles. Fortunately, we're able to walk away afterwards.

Lindsay