Old Sturbridge Village 2022

 

Old Sturbridge Village Pastures

After a couple of years away, Gabriella and I made our way down to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA for their annual Rebels & Redcoats event that took place on the first weekend of August.

Sturbridge is one of my favorite sites.  Though the museum portrays 1830, the village and surrounding area, with the exception of a couple of buildings, could easily have been lifted from 1770s New England.  In fact, when the Revolutionary War reenactors take over for the weekend, the museum staff look out of place in their stovepipe hats.

Our Weekend Home

Gab and I arrived Friday night, just as the sun was going down. In fact, we had just enough light to fill out our registration paperwork, but ended up erecting our tent in the dark.

The event was smaller this year than it had been in past years.  Both the British and American camps were set up on the village green, where usually there are camps in the village and in the surrounding pastures.

Trying to Stay Cool

Much of Saturday morning was spent attempting to stay cool, and training some new members of Warner's Regiment.  With a heat index of around 102 degrees F, and humidity of about 98%, our main concern was to stay hydrated, and not to succumb to heat stroke.  As such, when the Saturday afternoon battle rolled around, we took the field without our coats, choosing to fight in our shirtsleeves instead.  As it turns out, this was a good choice.  It was reported later in the day that, between reenactors and museum guests, there were at least 12 heat casualties.  For my part, I took a tree early in the battle, and cooled down in the shade while the rest of the unit crossed the open fields while fighting the British.  I wasn't the only one.  At one point an artillery officer came under the shade, looked at me and another gentleman, and said as he wiped his brow "I'm just going to stay here and 'Guard the prisoners.'"

Warner's Regiment during the Sunday Fight

Sunday was a bit better, but the heat was still above 100 degrees.  We again took the field without our regimentals, which seemed to cause a bit of confusion for our adversaries.  First, they are used to seeing us in green faced-red coats, and usually on the flanks of the main army.  On Sunday, we not only went out of uniform, we were also held in reserve after the initial attack.  As such, at a couple of points, we watched the Brits send units to their flanks, looking for us.  Not finding Warner's, the Brits focused on the main American line, at which time we were called up.  To attack the flank.

Overall, a great, though super hot weekend.  Ice cream, cooling fans, and an air-conditioned tavern were welcome, if not period correct, relief from the literally blistering heat.  Old Sturbridge Village is a wonderful host site, and well worth the visit.

18th Century Me

Taking a Tree for Some Shade

Photos by Sierra Skye Makaris and Birget Loveall

Redcoats & Rebels 2019

A few Warner's men from First Company waiting for morning formation.

I'm a bit behind on reporting events.  The first weekend of August was the annual Redcoats & Rebels event at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  Gab and I, joined by her older sister, made the trip down from Vermont on Friday night.  Since we were only day tripping for Saturday, we opted to sleep in the back of our van.

Redcoats & Rebels is one of my favorite events.  OSV is a living history museum that portrays the 1830s of New England, but during this weekend every year, the entire place is taken over by folks from the 1770s.  The setting, with the exception of a couple of buildings, fits the time-period perfectly, and it's always fun to see several hundred people in period clothing bringing the site to life.

This year the turn-out of reenactors seemed smaller than previous years.  Both the American and British armies were camped on the village green, and there were very few outlying camps.  The turnout, however, did not diminish the event at all.

I didn't get any photos of my own this year, but there are tons online, as most of the AWI units in the New England area turn out for this event.  As usual, the battle in the afternoon was the highlight of the event for both participants and spectators.  The American army was severely outnumbered this year, but we put up a good fight.  Our unit, in particular, had a good time holding the flanks, trying to (unsuccessfully) build barricades to slow the British advance, and retreating through tall grass that was up over our waists.

The past few years, the Old Sturbridge Village Facebook page has featured a live overhead view of the battlefield, via drone footage.  As a participant, these are always interesting to view after the fact.  In the videos, it's possible to see various troop formations, tactics, and the overall flow of the battle.  OSV offered a few videos this year, and they are worth checking out on their page.

Though I had to leave Saturday night, from the photos and video that I saw online, Sunday went well.  Our unit, Warner's Regiment, is usually far from the cameras, but on Sunday the men appeared front and center in some of the video footage.  To close, here's a video that was found on YouTube, showing the Green Mountain Boys pushing the British back through the fields on the outskirts of the main village.