I learned today that the Frost Faire at Pottsgrove is cancelled. I had prepared quite a lot of beer for events this year and while beer keeps for a very ling time, there was just too much to keep. It was time to clean out as this beer not be good next year. Faced with …
Monthly Archives: November 2020
“Run Away!” – Revolutionary Deserters
One of the fundamental problems with the Continental Army was that the State Legislatures were reluctant to establish a European-style professional army with long-term enlistments for fear of a strong military leader seizing the government. Without a professional attitude, soldiers were much more likely to be casual about remaining in ranks for the full term …
Dying at Battle Reenactments
So yesterday we had an event at Fort Mifflin. Siege Weekend is not really a reenactment of the actual battle since the British reenactors can’t field the several ships and 200 cannons that assaulted the fort. What we do is a skirmish intended to give the visitors a feel for what 18th Century warfare was …
Historical Tidbits
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. November 14, 1770 – the Article of Confederation were adopted by the Second Continental Congress. This third part of the Lee Resolution provided a system of national government necessary …
Von Stueben Altbier
During the early American Revolutionary War, Continental Army lacked strong central command and was made up of state-run militias operating independently of each other. Each militia operated by its own rules and regulations and there was very little standardization or guidance for the duties and responsibilities of soldiers and officers. In 1777, Friedrich von Steuben …
Historical Tidbits
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. November 10, 1775 – The US Marine Corps was established as part of the US Navy by an act of the Second Continental Congress.
Siege Weekend at Fort Mifflin — Spymaster Sunday; November 15, 2020
I will come as a spymaster to the Continental Army and explain covert communication.
Artillery Stout
The accepted “shot heard around the world” was fired when the British attempted to ensure that only the British Army had access to artillery in Massachusetts. In the effort to secure the field pieces used by various militias General Gage decided to seize and destroy arms the patriots had stored at Concord, 20 miles northwest …
Molly Pitcher Shandy
Molly Pitcher was the nickname of Mary Hays McCauley who is said to have carried water to American soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778, before taking over for her husband on the battlefield after he was no longer able to fight. Originally from Carlise Pennsylvania, Mary was married to William Hays …
The Honorable Surrender
On the eve of an action at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, in September 1777, Major Patrick Ferguson of the British army observed two American officers, one in a large cocked hat, reconnoitering ahead of their front line. Ferguson, a crack shot, called on the Continentals to dismount. Instead, the pair of Americans turned and rode off. …
