Author Suzanne Adair

What do spectators see at the site of a Revolutionary War
reenactment? What happens behind the scenes after the public leaves the site
for the day? In response to everyone who has expressed interest, this post and
future posts will delve into the wonderful hobby that's entertained and
educated my family and me for about a decade. Welcome in the 18th century!

Spectators wandering through
the Crown forces camp at Historic Camden in South Carolina on 7 November
2009 for the annual "Revolutionary War Field Days" event might have
encountered these two young men. The lads are portraying a private and a
musician in the 33rd Light Company of Foot, and they've posed before an accurate
reproduction of the house occupied by General Cornwallis when he marched to
Camden in August 1780. The private (left) wears a sleeved waistcoat,
rather than the bulky red coat with white trim that we usually associate with
regular troops of the 33rd Light Company. Lightweight, sleeved waistcoats were
an adaptation deployed in many units in response to summer heat in the Southern
colonies. Construction of these waistcoats also required less material than
standard coats, an important consideration toward the end of the war, when
supply trains for both sides were interrupted, and spare material was difficult
to come by. The youthful infantry soldier in this picture carries a Brown Bess
musket with fixed bayonet and wears a cartridge box and bayonet belt. The musician
(right) wears the more traditional-style coat. Reverse colors (white coat with
red trim) indicate that he's a musician. Considered junior officers, musicians
wore swords and carried the fusils (short muskets) of their commanding
officers. Often, they also carried a cat o' nine tails, for they were
responsible for flogging disobedient soldiers. The logic here was that a boy
who didn't yet possess the upper body strength of a man would be less likely to
kill a noncompliant soldier while dispensing several hundred lashes upon the
man. The ages of the infantry soldier and company musician are 16 and 14
respectively. In 1780, they would most definitely have been out in the thick of
battle at those ages.

Visiting public in the Crown forces
camp might also have spotted this effigy of Guy Fawkes, stuffed with
straw and fireworks, awaiting the honor of being thrown in a bonfire. Guy
Fawkes was involved in the notorious Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of
Parliament and King James I in 1605. He was executed the following year. Each
year since 1605, on 5 November, the anniversary of his capture, folks in the
U.K. celebrate Guy Fawkes Night by tossing an effigy of Guy into a bonfire.
Often the action is accompanied by a fireworks display and feast. Guy Fawkes
Night celebrations could also be found in His Majesty's North American colonies
through the time of the War of Independence. At this reenactment, reenactors on
the Crown forces side celebrate Guy Fawkes Night on Saturday, several hours
after the site closes to the public. The Guy gets a lift to the roaring bonfire
upon the shoulders of loyalists and redcoats who shout, "Burn the Guy!
Kill the Guy!" (Mob mentality, yes.) After the effigy is tossed in and
produces a sort of mini-Tet Offensive, reenactors continue the fun by
detonating their own fireworks caches. A light dinner follows, as well as
18th-century dancing. For most reenactors, the party winds down by midnight.
Note that while the pyrotechnics are at their peak in the Crown forces redoubt,
envious folks in the Continental camp sometimes shoot bottle rockets our way.
How tame.

This video clip
shows a portion of the Crown forces charge at the 7 November reenactment. The
original Battle of Camden, a major victory for General Cornwallis and the
Crown, occurred in August 1780. Dressed in wool, a goodly number of combatants
on both sides succumbed to the heat. Thus the battle reenactment is held the
first weekend of November each year. (Except for the 225th anniversary battle
reenactment, held in August 2005, with a heat index of about 110 degrees. I was
there for it. Ick.) On the video clip, you can hear the Crown forces yelling as
they charge and see the opposing militia line collapse and scatter after a
final burst of musket fire. One of Continental General Gates's strategy errors
for the battle was to line up some of his militiamen opposite seasoned British
regulars. Throughout the war, militia on both sides were notoriously unreliable.
The Continental Army came to this battle low on food, with many men weakened
from diarrhea. Upon spotting redcoats bearing down on them with fixed bayonets,
many of these sick, hungry militiamen threw down their muskets and fled into
the forest. Can you blame them?

Here's a piece of
the drill performed by reenactors from the Regiment von Bose about an hour
before the battle reenactment started on 7 November. Listen for the commands in
German. Historically, soldiers from Hesse-Kassel (Hessians) became part of
General Cornwallis's army in the South, participating in combat with him
through the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in March 1781. Some went on to
Yorktown with him.

Had I been a little
quicker with my camera, I'd have caught more of this fife-and-drum performance,
including the clicking drumstick segment that occurred as I was readying the
camera. Colonial Williamsburg, where I'll be signing books during the
Grand Illumination event on 6 December, puts on a fabulous fife-and-drum show.
Be sure to catch it when you're touring the city.

This video gives you an idea
of camp cuisine at a reenactment. The chicken and rice stew also contains
celery, carrots, and onions, and is flavored with herbs such as bay leaves. The
granola, made with dried apples, nuts, and oats might also contain cinnamon and
be sweetened with honey or molasses. Both these dishes were prepared on site
earlier in the morning, using the campfire, pots, and utensils you see in the
clip. While the fare is period-accurate, soldiers and civilians in both armies
usually didn't eat so well. Most days, they were on the move and thus didn't
have time to put together stew or granola. Some form of jerky, plus fried corn
cakes, rehydrated peas, and rum formed a more typical diet — when the unit had
food, and many units didn't consistently have food. The women's attire is
typical of that for civilian women who followed a military unit. No elegant
polonaise gowns here. The short jacket over the petticoat allowed women freedom
of movement to perform manual labor such as cooking and laundering. For a
middle- or lower-class woman, following an army was drudgery, and it could be
very dangerous, as I depict in my novel Camp Follower. But in the 18th
century, accompanying an army was often the only source of safety for civilians
living in the backcountry.

The little girls in this video
are playing a game, trying to catch a wooden hoop with two sticks. If children
in an army camp had leisure time, they might play a game like this. But unless
the unit they were following encamped for several days, they wouldn't have such
time for recreation. They'd be running errands, carrying messages, gathering
firewood, cooking, cleaning, and so forth. Many children became casualties of
war. By following a military unit with an adult relative, they were exposed to
all the depravations of war encountered by adults.

What's something new that you learned from reading this
post? Leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you.