“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman….” Thomas Paine, The Crisis (19 December 1776) So, I just had a stupid argument …
Author Archives: Michael Carver
Colonial Spymaster (#4) — Polybius Cypher
The Polybius checkerboard, is a device invented by the ancient Greeks Cleoxenus and Democleitus, and made famous by the historian and scholar Polybius, a Greek historian noted for his work The Histories, which covered the period of 264–146 BCE. Polybius was well known to the Founding Fathers of the United States and was influential on …
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Proper Salutes in the British Army
In 1740, the “French salute”, or greeting another by kissing them on the cheek, started to become fashionable in London. With the Seven Years War (AKA French and Indian War), the “French salute” quickly became controversial, being called unEnglish. Encouraged instead was the “old English” way of “pulling off a Hat. For the British, removing your …
Colonial Spymaster (#3) — Ottendorf or Book Cypher
The Ottendorf Cypher, or Book Cypher, is a cyphertext is made up of numbers in groups of 3, and these numbers correspond to positions in a book (or other type of text). Most often the numbers refer to Line, Word, and Letter. To encode a message, the encoder needs only to find the word at …
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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. September 23, 1779 HMS Serapis captured by John Paul Jones On September 23, the Bonhomme Richard engaged the Serapis and the smaller Countess of Scarborough, which were escorting the …
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. September 22, 1776 – Nathanial Hale is executed as a spy on Long Island without trial. “My only regret is that I have but one life to give to …
Why would an American Soldier carry a Brown Bess Musket?
In my last post I talked about THAT GUY. You all know that type, the know-it-all who wants to show off by starting an argument with the presenter over something the presenter knows WAY more about. These guys come looking for a axe fight only to discover that … “wait, they all HAVE axes in …
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That Guy
That Guy So, we had this event in Littiz, Celebrate America, and I set my tents to represent Fort Mifflin. Part of our display was the gear of a Revolutionary Soldier and, naturally, I brought my Brown Bess. Now, you have to understand the nature of this event. It was not a reenactment nor a …
Is This the Way it Was Really Done? My Policies on Historical Accuracy.
Okay, we are not LARPing. I know there are some out there who are gung-ho for the fantasy or mythical reality of the American Revolution but we are trying to teach history so historical accuracy is a must. At my events, I strive to be as accurate as possible with the following caveats: When being …
Continue reading “Is This the Way it Was Really Done? My Policies on Historical Accuracy.”
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. September 21, 1776 — Great Fire of New York erupted destroying 10 to 25 percent of buildings in the city. The British Army accused revolutionaries of deliberately setting the …
