SALISBURY — The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.

When Civil War era reenactors descended upon the Old Lutheran Cemetery in Salisbury for the first annual Fame Fest on May 24, there were outfits ranging from soldier attire all the way up to the Confederate president himself, Jefferson Davis.

Sam Winkler, of Roanoke, Virginia, has put a lot of work into his attire.

“I spend many hours doing research, looking at pictures of what people wore during that time, making sure the material is correct,” Winkler said. “For example, you would not have had polyester because there was no such thing as polyester. So I look for light-weight wool or a cotton.”

Finding time-appropriate clothing material is very important to this Davis doppelganger. Getting the right type of garment is another important detail.

“Basically what you have here is a frock coat, this is called a waist coat, what you would call a vest,” Winkler said. “The unique thing about the vest, and I love showing this off, ladies had a corset and men’s vests, a lot of them laced up in the back. What that was for was riding a horse over long distance, it gave you back support. Just like a lady with a corset, they tighten up and give you more support.”

Other little details also get special attention.

“This is a cockade,” Winkler said. “This one happens to be the Confederate cockade, the gray and the blue. They were quite popular during the war. Each state had one when they seceded. You would see people wearing them and soldiers wearing them on their hats as well.”

Another accessory is particularly important to Winkler.

“President Davis did not wear a top hat except on special occasions,” he said. “Unlike President Lincoln who wore a top hat all the time, President Davis tended to wear more of a wide-brimmed hat.”

Winkler is not content being just one historic character.

“I do about 15 different people,” he said. “I also do General William R. Terry. He was from right outside Lynchburg, Virginia. He was wounded seven times and had a horse shot out from under him three times. He came back and ran a hotel during Reconstruction.

“I also do Ragin Cajun snake oil salesmen from New Orleans. It is part of the talks I do on 19th century herbal medicine. During the war, you could not get medicine because of the blockades so more and more they turned to people with herb knowledge which I learned from my grandmother.”

Winkler loves history but it is also personal for him. He had three great uncles that died during the Civil War. Two were brothers, one 19 and the other 20.

“One died in Winchester,” he said. “The other died of typhoid in Fort Gregg in Virginia. The other one died at Petersburg … It brings me a lot of pride.”

For Alex Whisenant, a rank and file soldier on Saturday, the art of Confederate recreation is also a point of pride.

“It is to honor my Confederate ancestors,” he said. “I am proud to say I have a total of 16 Confederate ancestors. I am still counting and don’t think I am done yet.”

While Whisenant was not roleplaying a specific historic figure, he was dressed as a Confederate solider. The gear he said was from pretty much everywhere.

“I got my belt in Andersonville,” he said. “I got my insignia at the sutler in Georgia and I got my hat in North Carolina.”

He said that all this is pretty new to him but he is catching on quickly.

So how does Fame find these guys?

“We network all over the place,” Fame Preservation Group President Gregory Lambeth said.

Lambeth said that as opposed to the Fame BBQ, that Fame Fest was intended to be more ceremonial. They had a 21-gun salute and a color guard.

With seasoned reenactors, it all comes easily.

“They do it all the time,” Lambeth said. “They are familiar with it.”

The event took place on Memorial Day weekend and that timing was significant as Lambeth explained.

“We wanted to do it specifically for two reasons — the monument and the mass grave,” he said. “There are 175 confederate veterans buried here from 10 different states.”