Yesterday we got up at the crack of dawn and went to spend the day with my mom, who was doing a Living History reenactment about an hour away from us. It was a wonderful day and TK was hooked. I have a feeling, if it can at all be arranged, we’ll be outfitting him and he’ll be joining his grandmother at as many musters as he can manage, rather than going ATVing with us.
He’s not as interested in the military aspect, though. There was a gentleman who was more of the camp “doctor” and TK was fascinated with his antique gadgets and gizmos. It’s almost like he found his real people. And I’ll be honest—I find the idea of sitting in my 18th century dress, scratching away word count with quill & ink a little appealing.
Anyway…some pictures. This is a part of the camp, and you’ll see TK inside, exploring his grandmother’s tent.
The British regulars and colonial militia squared off against the French and the Indians.
For a while, it appeared the British would win.
But the French and Indians rallied and won the day. (Literally just the day. Today they’ll be reenacting the battle again and the English will win. They take turns.)
Mom showing her grandsons how to play a traditional game of the time period. When you uncross the sticks, it causes the hoop to fly and the other players would try to catch the hoop on their sticks before returning it.
There were also several Civil War units present, though they didn’t have any Confederate units, so they made do with parading and demonstrations, rather than a reenactment. Actually, toward the end of the afternoon, a single gentleman of the Confederate Cavalry did show up, but that battle would have been fairly short.
The First New Hampshire Volunteer Cavalry.
And there were several Massachusetts units. I’m honestly not sure if they all fell under the 5th Massachusetts or not, but this is the artillery demonstration.
And for those of you who know me well, you’ll appreciate my mother finding a way to keep me from stealing her spoons…
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Contact me. I can help you outfit TK.
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I want to get those spoons for Mama. Can you tell me where I can find em?
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You have some of the neatest re-enactments down there. I’d love to attend one but I don’t know of any that happen up here. (Ontario Canada) Maybe because it would either be the Brits fighting the French (1 planned one got cancelled earlier this year over complaints from the Quebecois) or we’d be fighting you Yanks
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You were the first person I thought of, to be honest. If his interest doesn’t wane with a little distance from the day, I’ll have to investigate clothing requirements and then be in touch.
I should probably have mentioned in the post, but my mom does the French lady thing. One, because her fellow French & Indian reenactors are awesome, but also because the French clothing was more fun and colorful.
Not only does having the shorter skirts make for a nice breeze, but they’re not as…formal? as the British.
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Total fun. As I mentioned, #2 son was very active in Civil War reenactment, especially when he was attending college in PA. It was so much fun seeing him dressed up in his full confederate soldier uniform. It was one of the reasons he chose a college in PA. Of course with his love of history and that being his major in college, it was a given. I can so see TK finding fun and education in doing something like this, and give your mother much joy in spending time with him. (Will look awesome on his college applications, too)
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I wondered about the dress length. I would do the French lady thing too. I love colors.
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Oooh, college application. Didn’t think of that! Mostly I just thought about the fact he’d have to shave.
Annmarie, I’ll add the hideous, terrifying spoons to the list of things I need to ask her when she returns to the current century. I’m so embarrassed I forgot to ask which tribes the reenactors with their group represented. I’m guessing NOT the Mohican, since they were with the British. I think.
A couple of the French women did wear more formal, full-length dresses, so I’m guessing, as with almost all female wardrobes through time, there were different requirements for different occassions. But many of the women wore the shorter, more colorful “day” dresses, like my mom.
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You have some of the neatest re-enactments down there. I’d love to attend one but I don’t know of any that happen up here. (Ontario Canada) Maybe because it would either be the Brits fighting the French (1 planned one got cancelled earlier this year over complaints from the Quebecois) or we’d be fighting you Yanks
It’s too bad they don’t have any near you. It was really interesting and the people are passionate about their time periods. The information Mr S and TK learned from the commander of the Civil War artillery unit, for example, was more than they would have picked up from a book.
I think another reason, besides the pretty colors, that my mom’s with a French group is that she’s of French-Canadian descent, her grandfather and many generations above him are from La Visitation-de-l’Île-Dupas, Quebec. And, while TK could choose pretty much whatever he wanted, being a melting pot, he really bonded with the French group, too.