Battle of Aiken is a treat for one Dutch re-enactor

Imme Strang had one of the strongest accents at the Battle of Aiken on Friday, but it wasn’t Southern – or Northern.

Strang traveled 6,000 miles and flew 10 1/2 hours from Texel, an island in northern Holland, to be part of the Civil War re-enactment this weekend. It’s his first trip to America.

“I’m very interested in American history,” said Strang, dressed head-to-toe in a Civil War uniform and holding a period rifle. “I specifically came here because I always wanted to be part of a Confederate re-enactment in the Confederate States of America.”

In Holland, Strang participates in a military re-enactors’ group that recreates historical events from Charlemagne, who laid the foundation for modern France and Germany in the Middle Ages, to the American Civil War and the Vietnam War. He also does Viking re-enactments.

“We do a lot of sword fighting as well,” Strang said.

Although he’s been here only a couple of days, Strang’s impression of America is “better than he expected,” he said.

“I didn’t have any difficulty blending in here,” Strang said. “That’s what I expected, but it’s great to see that feeling reinforced. Everybody is so friendly here and really trying to look out for each other. Everybody is so much more open than in Europe.”

But that’s the South, Strang added.

“I landed in Newark, N.J., but I really didn’t want to stay there,” he said. “I wanted to get on the next plane and fly down South.”

Markus Engelkamp, from Geseke, Germany, is traveling with Strang, and the friends plan to visit Charleston and as many Civil War sites as they can in the next week before heading home.

Engelkamp and Strang met while participating in Civil War re-enactments in Germany, but Engelkamp became a re-enactor with the Palmetto Battalion out of Rock Hill while he was living and working in York for three years.

“I thought, let’s do something American,” Engelkamp said.

Engelkamp said the friendships he has made and the camaraderie he feels with the other re-enactors in his battalion bring him back to the Battle of Aiken from Germany.

“This is one of the biggest and best events in South Carolina,” Engelkamp said. “If you do this, do the sweating, and marching and fighting together in close line order and with the body contact, you just grow together as a band of brothers.”

The Battle of Aiken always has had an international flavor, said Pete Peters, a spokesman for the event, which is sponsored by the Brig. Gen. Barnard E. Bee Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Peters estimated that re-enactors from many countries – including Australia, Canada and England – have participated in the Battle of Aiken during its 22-year history.

This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Battle of Aiken is a treat for one Dutch re-enactor."