Colonial Williamsburg has outdone themselves with a recent historic reenactment called Under the Redcoat, a three-day event reenacted yearly the last weekend of June.
Reenactment of historic events
In real life the British occupied the town of Williamsburg June 25-July 4, 1781, the final summer of the American Revolution.
From across the country British army reenactors arrive in Colonial Williamsburg, some with their families to interpret with them.
Guests entering the historic area needed to be prepared to sign an oath of allegiance to the king.
Wow! This will be fun!
Living out the pages of history books, we’ll get to portray 18th century patriots trying to evade capture while remaining loyal to Washington and Lafayette.
My son said we can be spies for Washington and Lafayette.
Scheming that I should take him to Mount Vernon to get one of the invisible ink pens to sign the oath, I countered that the Redcoats would not recognize that writing implement, and force him to sign with quill and ink.
Then my son planned on changing his name, or even writing his name extraordinarily small.
Under the Redcoat in Colonial Williamsburg: Day 1
Arriving in CW on Friday afternoon, we watched the Redcoats set up their tents, dig fire pits, and prepare dinner.
Whereas the actual army camped outside of town, the Provost Guard was a smaller group that arrived to restore order to the town.
When one of the Redcoats told me this, I questioned the term restore order.
Weren’t the citizens orderly before the Redcoats arrived?
While eating dinner at Chownings Tavern some Redcoats sat at the table behind my son!
Enjoying good food and entertainment, my son kept a watchful eye on them.
Under the Redcoat at Colonial Williamsburg: Day 2
As we ate breakfast at the hotel, Redcoats joined us again. They are everywhere!
Arriving before Reveille, a British soldier stopped us (uh oh!) to see if we had any questions.
Not all the Redcoats look the same
Hmmmm, I asked, “Why are all the uniforms different?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Some have racoon hats, some have plaid, and Banastre Tarleton has a green coat.
Each commander received money from the government to outfit the troops according to his taste, if he did not pocket the money himself.
Eyeing my son, he asked why he wasn’t in the army.
My son quickly said, “I’m only 13.” (My son said that a lot that weekend!)
The soldier said, “You look 16 to me.”
That’s the way it was. Lie about age and enlist them anyway. We managed to escape. 😉
Dental extractions?
Then we went to the Governor’s Palace to meet with the doctors who preparing for actual dental extractions that day.
I incredulously rebutted, “Surely not?” “Of course,” she replied.
“Um, who in the world would volunteer for a dental extraction?”
“Oh there would be no volunteers,” the nurse explained. (gulp)
While chatting with the doctor we mentioned the Declaration of Independence.
Irritated, he explained that document was unrecognized by the British.
Horner explains making hornbooks
Escaping the doctor we found the horner who makes hornbooks!
Shaped like a paddle, the alphabet and Lord’s Prayer were typically printed on the board to be a textbook for young colonial children.
To protect it, green cow’s horn was applied over the text, because green horns can be seen through.
Soak the green horn in simmering water so the layers shed.
Then the layers can be scraped off with a knife, and buffed, before application to the paddle.
Differences in 18th century British and modern English alphabets
He had us analyze the difference between the British alphabet and our alphabet today.
The letter “j” was missing. He asked us why.
To tease him, I pertly suggested it was because the British did not know how to spell!
Uh oh, this British horner was not pleased with that answer. He let it pass.
He said it’s because of their mother language, Latin, which had no “j”.
Actually the English language was only influenced by Latin, later in its history.
The origins of English are in the Germanic tongue.
However, I did not think he wanted to hear all that.
I decided to not press my luck with the British. since it was time to leave for special programming.
Martial Law Declared
Arriving at Raleigh Tavern to view Declaration of Martial Law, we listened to the terms of the occupation of the British army.
That afternoon we returned to Raleigh’s Tavern to see The Business of War where the British officers debated the most effective means of occupying the town.
Later we had an appointment at the museum to meet with Banastre Tarleton. Off we rushed!
Meeting Banastre Tarleton
Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton was not a great student nor interested in reading books. Instead, he gambled.
Using money from an inheritance, he recruited a legion in America.
Unlike the legions of Ancient Rome, this is a mix of men with varying abilities that don’t carry heavy equipment, so they can move lightly, and attack quickly and easily.
Apparently, Lafayette was friends with Tarleton after the war.
When one of the guests queried him about his negative reputation, he told her not to believe everything she read in the newspapers.
Tarleton also explained his side of the story for his brutal reputation, by reading a few of his letters.
Tarleton told us about the four battle flags he captured and told us he hoped that they would stay in his family for generations and he hoped they would be in excellent condition 250 years later.
After his talk, Tarleton left through the stage side door, instead of staying for guests to come up to meet him, as other speakers typically allow in such talks.
No matter. I sighed contentedly and looked at my son by my side and asked, “Wasn’t that great?”
Meeting the actor-interpreter behind Tarleton
As he agreed with me, we started to get up to leave, when the actor cheerfully popped back in and took off his hat.
He told us after meeting Tarleton backstage, he had come back to answer further questions.
Never have we seen him out of character before.
The actor shared that unlike Tarleton, he enjoyed reading history books while growing up.
After talking more about the flags and Tarleton, he told us that Tarleton is in the movie, Amazing Grace and The Patriot.
After this incredible presentation, we went upstairs to view the four gorgeous battle flags.
These flags have stayed in Tarleton’s family all these years, only recently being auctioned off.
The new owner lent them to CW for the last couple of years and will be taken out of the museum in a few weeks.
General Cornwallis entourage through town
After leaving the museum and returning to the historic area, we saw Tarleton, the dragoons, and the British officers escorting Cornwallis around town.
Consequences of not signing the oath of allegiance to the king
At the Magazine we saw a prisoner…the singer who’s one of our favorites!
The crime? He had signed the oath of allegiance to the king…in pencil…twice!
We stayed to see what would happen next.
Paired with another prisoner, they moved logs from one side of the field to the other.
The Redcoats yelled: You cannot work as a team! Make the pile neater! Don’t talk to each other! Take your coat off! Make a neater pile by starting from scratch; start moving all the logs back!
Audaciously, the singer sang Hail Britannia.
Eventually they were released.
Redcoats nearly arrest my kids
As we passed through a military checkpoint later in the afternoon, I noticed the soldier seemed intent on someone behind me.
Ignored him as I slipped by, I noticed he suddenly engaged his rifle and told my kids to halt!
Where were their passes? Passes? What passes?
While my daughter pointed to her CW season passes on her gown, my son proclaimed, “I’m only 13!”
Soldier #1 called another Soldier #2 over, smiling and whispering.
Soldier #1 insisted that the kids were troublemakers.
After promising to keep an eye on the kids, they let us go.
The kids think we met them at Mount Vernon recently…
Tattoo
After dinner we went to the Capitol for the Tattoo.
Unlike Drummer’s Call, we stopped in front of every tavern, while men came out with their mugs of ale, acting a bit tipsy!
They joined behind the fifers and drummers and the group kept growing larger and noisier, as they were led back to Market Square.
Historically at dusk, the fife and drum corps rounded up soldiers at the taverns, indicating to the tavern owners to turn off their taps for the night.
Originally called taptoo, that word assimilated over the years into tattoo.
Under the Redcoat in Colonial Williamsburg Day 3
On a lovely summer morning, we enjoyed a breezy, peaceful walk, the heady fragrance of the magnolias, the cheerful chirping of birds, and the playful antics of the squirrels
After walking through the Redcoat barricades for the final day of Under the Redcoat, the contrast was stark.
Now surrounded by spiny barricades and numerous redcoats marching in formation with muskets and bayonets to the steady beat of the drums, the atmosphere was ominous.
Continually looking over our shoulders and peering around corners, we cautiously checked our words and chose our actions.
When possible, we took circuitous routes to avoid direct confrontation.
(What a great immersion experience bringing our books to life!)
Spy Paperwork Received
After Mr. Friendly Redcoat chatted with us a while (hmmm, dare we trust him?), we walked through the hospital to observe more gruesome sights.
Resting in the shade later without fear of Redcoats, Mr. Friendly Redcoat quickly walked over to me.
He said he had been looking for me.
After slipping some papers into my hand, he quickly left.
I barely had a chance to thank him. The kids asked what the paper was. Excitedly I opened it up.
He had given me a copy of the detailed scheduling for the British reenactors for Under the Redcoat.
Wow! It was like receiving top secret paperwork!
Drumhead Church Service
Then we went to the Capitol for The Army Attends Divine Service.
When my daughter saw that term, she thought of the same thing I did. We recently read Billy Budd, where a drumhead court occurred on-board ship.
Because a drumhead court is unplanned, a drum might be used as a table.
A drumhead church service takes place in the field, where there is no church building available.
Drums might be piled up to represent an altar.
Apparently, this is a military tradition that goes back to the 1400’s.
After praying, the chaplain read passages from a psalm, an epistle, and from one of the gospels.
Service ended with a hymn, God Save the King.
We knew the tune, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, but not the words.
We weren’t about to sing it anyway, since we were loyal to the Patriot cause.
I kept looking over my shoulder to see if a Redcoat noticed.
After the service, a carriage came through, which Tarleton commandeered under much protest.
Attending a Secret Meeting
Next we attended a program underneath a canopy of trees.
When General O’Hara arrived, he questioned the officer as to why he chose this unusual location.
The officer said it was secluded enough that no one would overhear their plans.
We all laughed!
The officers debated strategy to attack Lafayette, who was about sixty miles away.
Finally, Tarleton suggested that instead of attacking Lafayette, they should attack Mad Anthony Wayne.
That met with some positive feedback, since Wayne tended to engage his Pennsylvania Regiment with reckless abandon.
If they could cripple Wayne, Lafayette’s small army would succumb to the British.
Meanwhile playful squirrels ran through the treetops, above.
Being chased, squirrel #1 leapt from one branch to another and tenaciously hung on, causing it to go b-o-i-n-g over an officer’s head, then he amazingly sprung to a branch in another tree.
Not to be outdone, squirrel #2 followed suit. However he missed the branch which fell onto the middle of the stage, causing a branch to crash in the officer’s face.
Without missing a beat Tarleton said, “My Lord Cornwallis, I believe there are rebel squirrels about!” to which Cornwallis replied, “God save the King!”
Auctioneer worried about liberty tea pot
After lunch at the Courthouse, we attended an auction where bidding ensued on a replica liberty teapot.
Suddenly the auctioneer had second thoughts, and even looked over his shoulder while speaking softer.
No use stirring up those Redcoats, considering the jail was next door!
British troops march out of town
As the end of the day neared, the troops marched out of town.
Everything about British occupation that I had read about in books or seen in movies had new meaning…because this weekend, history had come to life Under the Redcoat.
Huzzah!
We can’t wait to have fun trying to outwit the British at next year’s Under the Redcoat!
For more photos check my Flickr set.
Comments from my old blog location
4sweetums July 2, 2009 at 2:32 AM-Wow! What a wealth of information. I might have to read that again. I never knew that about the potato. Hmmm, good stuff to store away for when we get to colonial history or middle ages history which we start in a few weeks. My kids love to try foods from different time periods and places. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. It is like our own personal virtual field trip. Blessings, Dawn
Driftingfocus July 2, 2009 at 2:55 AM-As someone who has been reenacting for almost 14 years (from age 12), and who has attended Under The Redcoat, it is really fascinating to read your two entries about your experiences. Reenactors rarely get feedback from observers, so it’s really great to read that you had a good experience!
– Kelsey
gnjlopez July 4, 2009 at 7:22 AM-What a load of information! Thanks for sharing this.
Blessings,
JEN
Pam July 5, 2009 at 8:00 PM-Fascinating experience Laurie! I love how history comes alive at CW!
Blessings,
Pam
