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 …
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A common procedure used by spies to pass information to their contacts is through the use of a “dead drop.” The spy places the message in a prearranged unattended location, often hidden, and leaves it. Later, his or her compatriot will come and collect the message. Using a “dead drop” means that the spy and …
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 …
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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 …
2 October 1777 Defenses along the Delaware River were planned to protect Philadelphia, the capital of the new republic, against a possible invading naval force. Aware of these defenses, the British entered the Chesapeake and took the capital by the land route. By late September 1777, the enemy was in the rear of these defenses …
Continue reading “US Marines in the American Revolution –The Evacuation of Fort Billingsport”
Long before email, text, and instant message, important words were passed discreetly from closed palm to palm. To keep the messages private, these hand-written notes were often elaborately folded, sealed with wax, and rigged with anti-tamper devices. The technique of “locking” letters involves folding the parchment, papyrus, or paper securely so that the letter functions …
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One form of secret writing used by both the British and American armies was invisible ink. The secret writing was placed between the lines of an innocent letter and could be discerned by treating the letter with heat or a chemical substance. The recipient placed the paper over the flame of a candle or treated …
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If you employ spies, it is very likely that your enemy also has spies. One very effective means of concealing the true conditions or plans in a sea of false options and making those false options more likely and more true. Today, we call this “fake news” but “fake news” isn’t something recently developed. It …
Steganography is the practice of concealing a message within another message. The advantage of steganography over cryptography alone is that the intended secret message does not attract attention to itself as an object of scrutiny. Plainly visible encrypted messages, no matter how unbreakable they are, arouse interest whereas, steganography both conceals the message and hides …
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. August 27, 1776 Battle of Long Island After the British evacuation from Boston in March, the British general Lord William Howe moved to occupy New York City under the …
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Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 