We just came back from this Gettysburg reenactment last night - it was fabulous!
Funny you should mention the NY Draft Riots... After one of the Gettysburg "battles" this weekend, "zelig" suggested the very same thing: that NYC get some reenactors together to stage a yearly New York Draft Riot reenactment. Whatta ya think? ;-)
Well, considering the ethnic makeup of the NYPD, I suggest we get a bunch of off duty cops (after a few drinks in the "cop bars" on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge) to play their ancestors. We can import a bunch of rednecks from down south to play the "Americans." In said reenactment, I would like to see them burn down the Bloomberg Building going up in Midtown, but refrain from lynching any blacks.