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 7, 1778Frigate Randolph (32 guns) blown up in an engagement at sea The Randolph engaged the British 64-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Yarmouth. Rather than trying to flee from the …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — Frigate Randolph Sinks”
Ever fond of hoaxes, Franklin memorized the parable and “read” it aloud from Genesis, “proving” the scriptural importance of religious tolerance. One of these parables—commonly referred to as either the Parable against Persecution or as Abraham and the Stranger—is a story about the biblical patriarch Abraham. Although Franklin did not mention the second parable by …
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Which weighs more, a ton of lead or a tun of feathers? Sounds absurd today but in the 18th Century this is actually a legitimate question. How many feathers can you pack in a 256-gallon cask? A lot more than 2000 pounds! In Colonial America, minding your “P’s and Q’s” isn’t about etiquette, its about …
Continue reading “Basic Colonial Brewing #4 — Minding your “P’s” and “Q’s””
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 5, 1770 Boston Massacre In 1767, in an attempt to recoup the considerable treasure expended in the defense of its North American colonies during the French and Indian …
A bearskin is a tall fur cap worn as ceremonial headgear of grenadiers. The standard bearskin of the British Foot Guards is 18 inches tall, weighs 1.5 pounds, and is made from the fur of the Canadian black bear. An officer’s bearskin is made from the fur of the Canadian brown bear as the female …
Continue reading “British Soldiers in a FRENCH Hat? Pourquoi?”
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 …
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 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. …
Continue reading “The Critical Role of Spain in the American Revolution”
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 …
Continue reading “The “Star-Spangled Banner” becomes the US national anthem (March 3, 1931)”
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 …
Continue reading “US Marines in the American Revolution — Landing at New Providence”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 