Spies sometimes need to transport things in secret through enemy territory. Simply refusing to comply with searches at border crossings or military checkpoints will immediately raise suspicion to they must find a way to allow themselves to be searched while keeping the messages or other contraband safe. To accomplish this, they often employ the smugglers’ …
Continue reading “Colonial Spymaster (#14) — Hidden Compartments”
Cold weather calls for a hot drink. If you were traveling through Colonial New England, chances are the drink of choice is Rum Flip, which is quite a treat to see prepared with vigorous mixing and a final heating using a long metal rod known as a loggerhead or in the south a mulling iron. …
Continue reading “Coming to Loggerheads — The Colonial Flip”
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. October 6, 1777 Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton taken On October 6, 1777, the British Army, led by Henry Clinton, attacked Forts Montgomery and Clinton, supported by cannon fire …
All spying tools and techniques have little worth unless you have a reliable source of information. A great deal of useful information can be acquired passive observation. Troop counts and movements, rumors, and observations of the comings and goings in the enemy camp can give you insights on what they plan to do but the …
Continue reading “Colonial Spymaster (#15) — Exploiting Potential Turncoats”
Change is good, right? Well we are mixing up the schedule of events this fall a bit and it promises to be interesting. Instead of running another hands on brewing class on Black Powder Friday at Fort Mifflin, we are planning a sister program on colonial cocktail making. In fact, I am even started on …
When Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River in 1535 in search of the Northwest Passage, he met 50 canoes filled with Micmac Indians, who signaled a desire to trade by waving furs on sticks. This began the very fruitful trade between Canada’s First Peoples and the Europeans, first the French and later the …
On May 17, 1785, Jefferson became the United States’ second-ever minister to France, succeeding the equally-famous Benjamin Franklin. As his nation’s top diplomat in Paris, he met many of France’s top leaders and thinkers, including Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, a well-regarded naturalist. Buffon, like many European elites at the time, believed that Europe was …
Continue reading “Thomas Jefferson was Obsessed with Getting a Moose Shipped to Europe”
If you are routinely going places where the enemy discusses, either intentionally or unintendedly, matters of military or political significance, you may wish to remain anonymous. To do this, spies employ disguises. The most common disguise is to simply change your clothes. Sometimes soldiers sent on reconnaissance missions would wear civilian clothes such as when …
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. October 4, 1777 Battle of Germantown After taking the American capital, British General Sir William Howe positioned two brigades and a contingent of Hessians troops in Germantown. Much like …
If you make your tent out of ordinary “canvas” you are going to get wet in the rain. Canvas is a stout cloth, probably named after cannabis (Latin: “hemp”), made by tightly weaving material, mostly cotton, wool, and linen. This definition has not been that precise forever since the word canvas has come to signify …
Continue reading “Every Wonder Why We Call it a “Duffle” Bag?”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 