Hello again to all! Sorry it has taken a while for me to get back to writing this. Thanks so much to my wife, Rachel, for covering for me in my absence, but I figured I should probably write this now since Sturbridge is next week and Hubbardton will be lost in our memories until next year. So anywho … with out further ado let me give you “Revenge of the British.”
Well we were all sitting around eating a wonderful breakfast …
feeling pretty good about our stellar victory over the red coats the day prior …
When suddenly the British appeared from over the hill.
It was once again back to business as usual.
So we rallied for the cause …
We charged forward on the advancing redcoats …
Exchanging musket fire as we went.
Just when we thought that we had driven them back …
They came at us with a vengeance, pushing us back down the hill.
Sadly Bruce was the first of many casualties.
The next causality was Art.
We fought hard …
and well …
But in the end our leadership stood alone.
Yes I even took a fall in this one.
But I don’t feel bad because the one that got me, took out Glen and I with one shot, which is a pretty amazing feat in and of itself.
Yes, at the end of the day the British had their revenge, and while our loved ones mourned our loss …
I choose to remember the better times when we stood for God, Country, and Freedom.
Remember, while we may have lost the battle, we did not lose the war.
The 2008 season rages on with each and every battle. On July 5th and 6th we had the battle of Hubbardton.
With every event I go to, my love for this hobby grows stronger and stronger. We did this event last year, and I think that it’s becoming one of my favorite places to play. With scenes like these, how could it not be?
The Saturday morning skirmish was something no one expected. We were simply standing around smoking and joking …
I was even thinking about giving peace a chance …
When those darn red coats decided it would be a good idea to attack.
We were alerted to the danger by Lori, and as always Janie was the first to react.
Kolby waited in the rear, ready and willing to fight …
He’ll make a fine soldier one day for sure!
The good thing about the morning skirmish is that we didn’t have to drill. That way we could get back to what we enjoy, well a lot more then drilling anyway, sitting around hanging out with friends
We could safely do this because we had a great look out watching over us …
Thanks again son, you make a father proud.
Like all things military, the battle started off with a good old game of hurry up and wait …
And then some more hurry up and wait …
And then, yep you guessed it, even more hurry up and wait …
In all honesty, this battle almost didn’t happen on account of a bear, something about a picnic basket …
Okay it may have been more like …
But since no one was able to get a picture, we’ll just say it was this …
But, either way, our great leaders scared it away …
Meanwhile Janie was the smartest one on the field and she took a little break.
And then finally with Yogi out of the picture the battle of Hubbardton, Day One, was on.
It’s hard to say who wins or loses in these battles because no matter how much planning and prep work goes into them, it seems that once the battle starts, it takes on a mind of its own. Saturday’s battle was no different and while it took a while to get going, once it did, it was great. We came over the hill to a wall of red coats, not a single one of us let our fear get the better of us. We stood hard for the cause, and as we started down the hill, I got the true feeling of what the revolution must have been like (when we were winning anyway). We swooped down the hill full steam ahead (I heard later that the red coats were supposed to win that day, but no one told us that, or we just chose not to let them.) We charged right at them …
Leaving a trail of red as we went …
Finally we proved to be too much for them, and they had no choice but to call it a day, and our commanders collected their surrendered sword.
We had a lot of fun playing that Saturday and I tip my hat to all the Brits, Colonials, and Hubbardton VT crew who made it happen. Blame it on my uncle, a photographer out in California, because he’s the one that taught me to always get a picture of the guy taking the pictures.
I can’t say enough about how much fun this battle was. However, even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I think another reason we had so much success, has a lot to do with a little outside helping hand.
Thanks again son …
Be sure to come back and see what happened on Sunday in what I like to call revenge of the Brits!
There’s nothing better then sitting around an open campfire, in the early morning drinking coffee and preparing for the day ahead.
Except when a beautiful lady fetches you a glass of water of course, since it was scorching hot out, Rachel wanted to make sure I was completely hydrated.
While I concentrated on the battle and Rachel concentrated on the water, Kolby concentrated on what was most important, at least to him anyway, filling his tummy.
After the necessities were taken care of we lined up to prepare for battle.
I was exceptionally happy about going into battle.
As we marched into battle Kolby and Jeffery said that they would meet us there.
We waited around for them to show up …
but they must have gotten lost …
or just have gotten a better offer …
Whatever the reason, we waited for them as long as we could, until finally our O.M.V. (official military vehicle) showed up.
Although Dan was still deep in thought about what had happened to the boys.
Upon arrival to the field we took care of the necessities … our mid morning snack.
In the past my musket didn’t work, in fact due to a soft frizzen, it didn’t work once in Pennsylvania. In West Boylston (after I had sent it to the shop to get the frizzen hardened), the musket completely redeemed itself. It turned into the little musket that could. That, however, is the reason I don’t have more pictures of the skirmish itself. Since I was fighting in the skirmish, and not trying to fix my musket, I wasn’t able to get many pictures, though I did manage a few.
Bruce and myself volunteered for a detachment of six to go into the battle separately from the rest of the group. At first the rest of the group was hesitant to accept me since I’m still sort of new to the hobby …
but after I got my hands or face a little dirty, they warmed right up.
I do want to take the time to thank them all for allowing me to fight with them and taking the time to teach me so much.
Finally after a morning of combat, sweating it in the woods, we were able to surface stack our muskets …
and mingle amongst our allies and the British. It was the “99 Degree Heat Truce”.
However, a small group did not take part in the truce.
Nana Janie didn’t mind the truce she was just disappointed that there were no Indians.
Soon, however, we all had to prepare for another battle …
We did post lookouts …
and while no one was looking we kept the truce going for as long as we could.
Finally though, as nice as the truce was, our friends became our targets …
after the French fired the first shot …
and so then the little musket that could decided that it didn’t want to play anymore. So I was left holding the camera. The battle was excellent.
Both sides fought well, even if those that died did so conveniently in the shade.
The red coats fought hard …
but were no match for the mightiness of the continentals …
well some of them anyway.
In the end, the heat got to everyone and since most of them were laying in the shade anyway, or their muskets stopped firing. There was no clear winner in the battle, except maybe the sun … or Kolby and Jeffery, who were really the smart ones.
And I want to thank the town of West Boylston for having us it was truly a wonderful time.
I’ve been doing this reenactment thing for about a year now, and when I first started, I once asked Bruce “How do you know when to die?” He just laughed and said “Well, there are lots of ways. Say, for instance, your gun stops working, or you get hit by a cannon blast.” (Which did happen in my first event at Fort 4) Then Bruce said “To be honest with you Kris, some of these events are hours away and who wants to drive 8 hours to just lay down and play dead?” I laughed and thought that makes sense.
On another occasion I asked Janie how did she know when to die? She looked at me with a very serious look and said shaking her head “Janie doesn’t die.”
I, on the other hand, love to die. I have now died at some of the finest battlefields, the 2007 reenactment season had to offer. I think that it’s a lot of fun for the crowd to watch someone get hit in the heat of battle. But then again, it wouldn’t be so much fun for the crowd if we all died, so it’s probably a good thing that many of the other reenactors don’t enjoy dying as much as I do. I made it my mission last year to die in as many reenactments as I could, and I was able to die at almost all the events. There was one exception at Fort Ticonderoga, where the battle was called on account of heat stroke before I had the chance to die.
As for the 2008 reenactment year, well now that I have my regimental jacket to try and keep clean, I may rethink the dying thing, I may just change my ways. I may … but then again, maybe not.
