Well, yesterday at Chadds Ford, I was asked “How come we never see you in red?” Perhaps we should address that. The Regimental Brewmeister is less active as a soldier of His Majesty’s Army that in years gone by. Part of that is my focus on keeping the Army supplies with Spruce Beer and part …
Category Archives: Ideas
Does Anybody Know what Day it Really is? 1752 was a really Bizarre Year.
In accordance with a 1750 act of Parliament, England and its colonies changed calendars in 1752. By that time, the discrepancy between a solar year and the Julian Calendar had grown by an additional day, so that the calendar used in England and its colonies was 11 days out-of-sync with the Gregorian Calendar in use in …
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I need a box of rocks
For years (decades actually but whose really counting), my wife and I have shared this little joke. Driving stresses me brutally especially in places like NYC, LA, and Houston. I have often quipped that I planned to equip my car with a BOX OF ROCKS so that when people follow to closely I could “toss” …
“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 …
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 3, 1783 Peace proclaimed – Treaty of Versailles Following the disastrous defeat at Yorktown and subsequent sequestering of British Forces in New York City, the British peace commissioner …
If we tried to have a revolution today, would we succeed?
If we tried to have a revolution today, would we succeed? Do we have what it takes? I hear boasts at reenactments all the time and everyone thinks they have what it takes to rebel but are we willing to “dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,”[1] or are we more likely …
Continue reading “If we tried to have a revolution today, would we succeed?”
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 2, 1752 (sort of) – The British Empire ended their use of the Julian Calendar, switching to the Gregorian resulting in a 12-day shift. The next day on …
“New Wales?”
Pennsylvania isn’t named after William Penn. And if you’re confused, he deliberately wanted you to be. William Penn preferred the name “New Wales” for Pennsylvania to avoid the appearance that the commonwealth was named after him. It’s pretty to think that Pennsylvania was named after its founder, William Penn, who started the commonwealth as a …
Fort Mifflin will have a Newspaper at Siege Weekend
This year for Cannonball Tavern I made up a period newspaper with news as it would have been published in March of 1777. I plan to produce souvenir newspapers this year Siege Weekend. The news will be reproduced for the time period (October 1777) as will most of the ads but if you want to …
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Buff and Blue: Whigs and Tories
When George Washington choose his uniform, he could have literally chosen any color scheme, so why buff (tan) and blue. The choice was not arbitrary. The Whig party in England (not to be confused with Andrew Jacksons divisive party in the 1830’s) had been standing against the abuses of the crown since 1688. Their rallying …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 