The Garlachs spend several weekends each year serving for their unit, donning blue or gray depending on the scenario...
Northwest Indiana natives Marshall and Kay Garlach and their sons Martin and Michael have been involved with Civil War reenacting for over twenty years. The Garlachs spend several weekends each year serving for their unit, donning blue or gray depending on the scenario. Switching sides (or galvanizing) is not uncommon, and in the Garlach's case makes sense; Kay's ancestors served during the Civil War for the same Alabama unit her family reenacts today.
Marshall works full time for Bethlehem Steel, spending weekends and vacation days to reenact with the unit to which they belong: the Fourth Indiana Light Artillery, whose original members came from northwest Indiana, and True Heart's Light Artillery, Kay's ancestors' Alabama division. The Garlachs haul their own canon, a replica made by the South Bend Canon Works Company, to reenactments as well as local schools, where they share about the Civil War.
Photos courtesy of the Garlach family
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