Welcome to the Tater Mess's website!
The Tater Mess is a group of like-minded living historians dedicated to the authentic impression of common soldiers during
the Civil War. Our emphasis is on the Western Theater, mid-war thru the Atlanta Campaign. Able to portray both Federal
and Confederate with the same high standards of authenticity.
We also do Trans-Mississippi impressions, specializing in the Pro-Southern Missouri State Guard (MSG).
We are a hardcore campaigner mess, of great reputation on either side of the Mississippi, as well as internationally.
As campaigners we generally carry only what we need and can drill in, just as the actual soldiers. We do not
attempt to fool people or 'rewrite history' by carrying tents, poles and camp furniture, etc. as some units would like
you to believe. It is also not uncommon to stand picket in the middle of the night or gather/don all your items and
march to a different campsite in the middle of the night on a moment's notice. (Like our forefathers, this keeps one
honest about packing only what he needs/can carry.) We enjoy first person/immersion, but are not always in that
mode. We consider ourselves 'living historians' and not "reenactors" for a couple reasons. One, we don't generally
take part in battles, although we try to reach out and facilitate goodwill by occasionally performing some role usually
doing correct skirmish drill. We aren't powder burners and only take the field to show our excellent well-documented
impressions and demonstrate tight, proficient drill which is something few groups take time or pride to do. Secondly,
and more importantly. We are all avid researcers and are never satisfied with our impressions, our drill and drawing
awareness/support for historic sites. We are also educators for the public and schools, as well as a source to mainstreamers
looking to dispel Civil War or "Mainstream Myths" and seek a higher level of authenticity for the benefit of the public.
Most of our events are in the Missouri region, but we do support Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove. We also generally
attend one to two AoT events on the other side of the Mississippi or help out our friend in the Trans-Mississippi. Additionally,
due to our strong well-documented impressions and the large number of impressions we are capable of portraying, we are the
first group film companies like Wide Awake Films call for quality movies.
We are based in the mid-west with membership ranging from, but not limited to, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. We
pride ourselves in strict membership requirements as we stress Quality over Quantity, which sets us apart from other campaigner
and mainstream units. If all of this sounds like you, and you are already an avid researcher who seeks to 'look, drill
and live' like they did based on documented evidence, rather than 'what you want to look like, what you want to where/use,
what is comfortable and what you have been told is right by others," this may be a mess/unit for you to strongly consider.
Send us a dispatch if you're interested in learning about joining our mess.
