Saturday, April 19th4:00 pm – 10:00 pm While few Officers’ Clubs survived the Cold War, we are going to bring back the tradition at Fort Mifflin this year. Military Officers’ clubs date back to the Middle Ages and were establishments where officers from the aristocratic landowners congregated. These were meant to be distinct from the …
Monthly Archives: March 2025
Historical Tidbits — John Adams inaugurated President
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. March 4, 1797 John Adams inaugurated President At the time of the founding of our republic, monarchs led nearly every other nation. Even as democratic systems began to spread, …
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The Critical Role of Spain in the American Revolution
The American mythology is that George Washington and Marie-Joseph du Motier (Marquis de La Fayette) and the Continental Army defeated Charles Cornwallis (also a Marquess) at Yorktown in October of 1781 and the British immediately surrendered and went home. It’s a nice story but it does not pass the sniff test. Why would Brittan surrender. …
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The “Star-Spangled Banner” becomes the US national anthem (March 3, 1931)
On After witnessing the massive overnight British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” in September 1814 but this did not become our national anthem for another 117 years. Even though throughout the 19th century, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was regarded as the national …
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US Marines in the American Revolution — Landing at New Providence
3 March 1776 Two weeks to the day after leaving Cape Henlopen, Delaware, ships of the Continental Fleet under Esek Hopkins rendezvoused three leagues north of Nassau harbor in the early morning hours of Sunday, 3 March 1776. The sounds of alarm that greeted the Americans’ careless show of force argued the wisdom of an …
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What is the Artist Doing Here?
I have all these 18th C portraits that cycle through my PC desktop wallpapers. I am not sure why but today, this one caught my attention. Let me draw your attention to his hands… While this hand gesture is often seen as a victory sign (“V for Victory”), with the palm outward, and still today …
Beer Recipe: Cuddalore IPA
Where was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War fought? If definitely was not at Yorktown! As humiliating as Cornwallis’ defeat at Yorktown was it did not cripple the British war effort in America. Most of the British Army was in New York where Washington and Rochambeau originally planned to engage them. Losing Cornwallis’ …
Better Beer Bottles
In 1864, Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought a brewery in Amsterdam. Now, all have stories about beer bottles and construction workers. So, it may surprise you that Heineken once tried to make putting their bottles into the walls of cheap housing a common practice. Heineken noticed that empty beer bottles were not making it back to …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 