Populating Fort #4

18th Century me with a couple of my daughters.

As I mentioned in my last post, on August 24th and 25th, Warner's Regiment was invited to take on the role of citizens living within the Fort at #4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire.  As a military unit, most of our events are focused on battles, but this event was focused on the people.

The fort itself is an neat structure, or rather, gathering of structures.  There are several houses and shops, arranged in a square around an open green.  The entirety is then encircled by a palisade of logs.  The fort also has a couple of out-buildings, including a working blacksmith shop.

This time around, G and I focused our energy on baking bread for the Regiment's annual dinner, which was going to be taking place at the fort Saturday night.  I researched a few period recipes, we tried a couple at home, and settled on the one that we liked the best.  The night before, we mixed up several batches of dough, leaving them to rise so they'd be ready for baking the next day.

The morning of the event, my child-care plans changed, so we ended up running late, and bringing three more children than planned with us.  It was pretty awesome hanging out with my daughters in period attire, in a period setting, surrounded by friends with their kids and families.

I didn't catch  photos of what everyone in the unit was up to, but in addition to a few of us manning the bake oven, we had a leather worker, a gunsmith, a tinsmith, a couple of spinners, as well as the usual museum staff.  Some of the kids made butter, which was an great addition to the fresh baked bread, and it was overall a nice relaxing day.

Sgt. Golden started the fire since we were running late.

Adding some dough to the oven.

A couple of loaves, fresh from the oven.

Posing with my wares in the Fort's tavern.

There's a baby playing in the middle of that awesome circle of protection.

My youngest, enjoying the fort.

Miss Gabriella, probably *not* laughing at a dad joke.

Me and my wild child.

Workman's Apron

Bread anyone?

The Challenge: September: Everyday (Common workman's apron)
Material: Cotton Muslin
Pattern: Based on diagram on page 6 of The Packet II by Mark Tully
Year: 18the Century
Notions: None
How historically accurate is it? Very accurate, based on period sketches and paintings
Hours to complete: Around 8.
First worn: August 24, 2019.
Total cost: About $5.

At the end of August, my daughter and I were going to be participating in an event with a civilian focus at Fort #4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire.  Since the venue has an outdoor bake oven, my daughter asked if we could bake bread as we had done there a few years ago.  A few days before the event, I got it into my head that if I was going to be a baker, I should have an apron.  I checked some period sketches and paintings, and saw numerous bib-type aprons with a button hole sewn into the top to hook over the button on a mens waistcoat.  These aprons seemed to be used by numerous trades, including carpenters, smiths, and shopkeepers.  I had some muslin left from G's dress project, so I cut out the shape, based on the diagram shown in Mark Tully's The Packet series, and spent a couple of days hand sewing the outer seams all around, adding a button hole, and attaching long apron strings.  I finished in time to wear the apron to the event, putting me a bit closer to feeling like an actual baker.  My workmans cap, that I've carried in my pack for a few years, went missing, so I had to bake in my cocked hat, which tipped the balance back toward *not* feeling like an actual baker.

As it happened, the September Historical Sew Monthly challenge is "Everyday" where participants are challenged to make an item of clothing that would be used in a normal everyday sort of environment.  No fancy dresses or polished suits, just normal stuff the average person might wear during their day to day life.  So, though it was both started and finished a week before September, here's my September contribution to the challenge.

Tomb of the Unknown

A gentle breeze rustled the yellow-green sunlit leaves. The ground was a carpet of long fallen foliage, occasionally punctured by moss-covered rocks, and strewn with fallen branches and trees. Below us, the distant sound of moving water acted as a backdrop to singing of birds above us. We sat quietly, enjoying the cool air and peacefulness. I reached out and touched one of the cool, damp rocks of the cairn that we crouched next to. Below those rocks lay an unknown soldier of the American Revolution.

Vermont's Unknown Soldier

Spoken tradition has it that two Continental soldiers were returning home along the Crown Point Road, which wound its way over the Green Mountains of Vermont from Crown Point, New York, to the Fort at #4 in New Hampshire. The soldiers, possibly staying at a nearby encampment spot, were drinking from a spring when one of them passed away. The deceased man's comrade buried him nearby, at the top of a knoll in the woods. The soldier lay undiscovered until 1935.

Sign at the Crossroads pointing to ... something?

Reverend William Ballou, a Boy Scout master from Chester, Vermont, heard the story of the soldier from Moses Townsend of Ludlow, Vermont, who owned the land at the time. On October 19^th of 1935, Reverend Ballou and Donald Wheatley, also of the Boy Scouts, investigated and were able to confirm the location of the grave. In November of that year, the Chester Boy Scout troop cleared forest debris from around the area. A local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a Revolutionary War Veteran marker and flag at the gravesite soon after.

The van could have made it (probably)

Until 1995, the location had been marked only by wooden signs. These signs had been replaced in 1963, and again in 1984. In February of 1995, the Vermont legislature designated the nameless veteran to be Vermont's official “Unknown Soldier.” In June of that year, Vermont Representative Bernie Sanders put forth legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to award the unkown soldier the Medal of Honor. I've not found evidence that this was awarded, however.

Boy Scout Sign

Boy Scout Sign Detail

On July 4^th of 1995, the wooden signs marking the soldier's resting place were joined by granite Crown Point Road marker #34, dedicated by the Vermont State Guard.

Crown Point Road Marker #34

Crown Point Marker Detail

This morning, my youngest daughter and I set out to find Vermont's Unknown Soldier. The drive was pleasant, and the back-road to reach the trail was fairly well maintained. There was a wooden sign at an old crossroads, that, in theory, pointed the correct way. The sign was less than informative about what it was actually pointing to, however.

Path up the hill

Nearing the top

Two legs of the crossroads were maintained gravel. The other two legs appeared to be old logging roads. Not trusting my van on a log road (experience does sometimes teach us), I parked in a clearing and picked the road that looked most likely. Slinging my toddler up onto my shoulders, I walked the road into the woods, roughly 460 paces, passing a little cabin along the way. The Crown Point marker, and wooden sign pointing to the grave site, were easy to spot next to the muddied track. Running between the granite marker and the wooden sign was a small path, leading up into the woods. After a steep climb of about 280 paces, we arrived at the burial site.

Gravesite and markers

Boy Scout Marker

After paying our respects, we spent a few minutes exploring. Walking down the hill opposite the direction of the path, we quickly found a small stream with clear running water. Though we didn't find the head of it, this could easily have been the water source mentioned in the story. Just beyond the little trickle of water, the Class IV road appeared again, so rather than climb back up through the woods, we hopped the stream and made our way back to the van.

At the bottom of the hill

There's water here somewhere

I've visited the Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington, D.C. This was a much more real experience.

Sharing history