2026 Reenacting Schedule

 This season's plan includes both French & Indian War (F&I) events and Revolutionary War (Rev) events. 

June 6-7, F&I        The Fort at Number 4, Charlestown, NH
                                27th Inniskilling

June 20-21, F&I    Fort McClary, Kittery, ME                           
                                27th Inniskilling

July 2-5, F&I        Fort Niagara, Youngstown, NY    
                                27th Inniskilling* 

Jul 11-12, Rev      Battle of Hubbardton, Hubbardton, VT 
                               Alden's Company, 6th Mass

Jul 25-26, Rev      Fort McClary, Kittery, ME     
                              Alden's Company, 6th Mass*

Aug 8-9, F&I       Crown Point Encampment, Crown Point, NY 
                                27th Inniskilling

Sept 19-20, F&I   Roger's Island, Fort Edward, NY  
                               27th Inniskilling

Sept 26-27, Rev    Prelude to War Crown Point, NY                
                                Crew of the Dark & Stormy

Oct 10-11, Rev     Battle of Valcour, Plattsburgh, NY 
                                 Crew of the Dark & Stormy

Oct 24-25, Rev     Battle of White Plains, Pound Ridge, NY
                                Alden's Company, 6th Mass

Please note, this schedule may change. It is rare events are cancelled due to weather but it can happen. My attendance is not confirmed at events marked*.

Summer of 2015 Events

A list of the events happening for the 2015 reenacting season.

27th Inniskilling  Light and Grenadier Companies, French and Indian War

May 16-17th, Quebec City, Canada

A small French and Indian War event

June 6-8th, The Fort at #4, Charlestown, NH

French and Indian War

First event of the season for many of the reenactors, this should be well attended. The Fort itself is a replica of a 1744 fortified village, lots to see here.

July 11-12 Pirate Festival, New Bedford, MA

The crew of the Dark & Stormy may be sailing the high seas and  looting off the shore of Massachusetts.

July 18-19 Founder's Day, Lighthouse Point, Ogdensburg, NY

French and Indian War

27th Inniskilling and the crew of the Dark & Stormy will be attending.

August 7-8 Crown Point Historical Site, Crown Point, NY.

French and Indian War

27th Inniskilling will be in attendance. The Dark & Stormy crew may also be there.

August 15-16 Rabble in Arms Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, Vermont

Revolutionary War, complete with replica of  Benedict Arnold's boat, The Philadephia.

Sept 12-13 Plattsburgh, NY

War of 1812

Crew of the Dark and stormy will be there, as will the Inniskilling troops

Sept 19-20 The Fort at #4, Charlestown, NH

Revolutionary War

Sept 26-27 Fort William Henry, Lake George, NY

French and Indian War

Crew of the Dark & Stormy 1740-1815

Please be aware if you'd like to know if I will be at an event, please email me. It's likely I will be attending the events above, but sometimes life gets in the way.

Questions reenactors often hear...

Events for the 2011 season are pretty much over now.  Until events start back up I thought I'd share a bit of the the events as a reenactor might experience them. For instance, there are certain questions we hear at almost every event.   I often wonder if it’s the questions that folks want answered or if its just an easy way for  them to start a conversation. I know if you’ve never seen an encampment, its often a little scary to walk up to someone you don’t know, whos dressed differently and just start up a converstion from nothing. So maybe the answers are less important than the conversation that follows.

“Is that a real fire?” … yes it is. Ask us often enough and we just might give you a silly answer though. What I often wonder is, is the person asking if this is the type of fire that the soldiers would have?  Well, the soldiers didn’t have a tripod or spit to cook on unless they were encamped for a while someplace, and they certainly didn’t haul cast iron every night from place to place. They had one tin pot for each tent (6 men, called a "mess") and shared it among themselves.  So you’re thinking ‘Why do you see the fire set-ups like that at encampments?’ Well, we’re not given rations, so we often have more to cook.

 In the eighteenth century, there were big fire pits dug and one man from every mess would cook using those big fire pits. Today, we are usually on historic grounds where digging is a no-no, and creating that type of fire pit is impractical for just two days  Sometimes we can’t recreate everything exactly the same. We do use equipment  & cooking methods that were used in the eighteenth century… but on the average they are more than the ones the average soldier would have had. The cooking we do is more the type of thing you would see in a long-term encampment, not on campaign.

“Are you going to eat that?” (while pointing to something over the fire) Yes, 99.9% of the time we are going to eat that. It takes a bit more effort to cook a hot meal between splitting a hauling wood, keeping the fire at a certain temperature, no running water, and no refrigeration besides a well hidden cooler. After all that effort, we certainly plan to enjoy the results… as long as it doesn’t end up burnt beyond belief. We do occasionally eat those meals too. For example at the Salmon Hole Massacre a few years back, we unintentionally burned black four loaves of a new batter bread recipe. It was all we had, so we scalped the black off, pulled it into little balls of dough, and served them with the stew. Folks said they were damn fine dumplings, too. They would have done the same in the 18th century, no wasting what little they had.

“Are you hot in that?”  Well, if its summer and you’re hot, chances are I am too. I know the clothes are intimidating and there seems to be many more clothes than we wear in modern life. However the clothes are natural fabrics.. wool, linen, cotton and silk. The advantage of natural fabrics is they breathe… so I might be covered head to toe in linen. But the breeze goes through it and each time it is washed it gets thinner and lighter. If its wet, it dries fairly quickly because of the air circulation. If its layered, its warmer. The regimental uniforms are wool, often lined with wool. Sounds horrible mid-August, but remember in the 18th century, your uniform usually was given to you in the fall (as long as the supply ships arrived on time) and you wore it morning noon and night, so by the following August, it wasn’t the heavy pretty wool regimental you see on a re-enactor… it’s a worn, patched, thinning garment that would be no where near as warm as ours are.

Got a question? Think its dumb so you’re not going to ask?. Go ahead, ask. We’ve probably heard it before, but asking is the only way you’ll know the answer. Besides, if you keep asking you might just learn something. And if one reenactor doesn’t know, there are plenty more to choose from. We all know different things, just ask us.

Revolutionary War at Fort #4

This past weekend, I joined the 29th Regiment of Foot and Von Rediesel's German regiment  at the Fort at number 4.

 Kayla joined us all dressed up for the first time, and we had several folks that daytripped for the event.

Dispite the rain, both battles were held and an excellent time was had by all. 

We made Drunken chicken for the first time this weekend. First there was major discusiion about the recipe and our alterations.  The recipe can be found at MizRebecky's Recipes.

4 Chicken legs weren't going to do it for the group of us, so we substituted Chicken thighs... a lot of chicken thighs.  We were all pretty intent on what we were doing. Exact measurements we impossible as measuring cups and spoons just didn't exist in 1775 so we estimated best we could.

 The recipe calls for 1/4 pint of cider for one recipe. We were doing much more than just the standard recipe, so while Izzy added ingredients, Dave & Rebecca  were figuring out just  how much of which item was needed.  

Adding the Salt, pepper, Mustard and olive oil were all simple tasks. However adding the honey which had sat out over night was more of a challenge.

Marc was trying to keep us in 18th century mode and picked up after us.

 Izzy finally used a knife to get to the last of the stuck honey to encourage it to join the rest of the marinade.

 Then we mixed it up and set it to soak along side of the fire. Once it had warmed out some, we figured we could get the honey integrated with everything else just fine. 

While it soaked, we checked out the battle and some Sutlers.  After about an hour and a half or so of cooking, Dinner turned out to be excellent.

The "dessert" of hot buttered rum also was a hit with the clan. We decided we wanted to share with others, so ingredients were procured and a larger batch was made. Warm Cheer on a cold evening, all heated up in a copper pot.

Saturday night after dinner, a large contingent of the encampment gathered in the Great Chambers on the second floor for singing and entertainment. Much fun was had by all over the weekend.

Crown Point Aug 13-14 2011

This was a  big event for the 27th Inniskilling at Crown Point. Well worth traveling to, we had one of our “all up” events where all Inniskilling members try to go for the weekend. We ended up with about 38 folks all told.

This is the one place we go that has two forts to explore along with the usual hustle and bustle of an 18th century encampment. A dry Sunny day on Saturday, followed by some overnight rain, and a slightly damper day Sunday.

We did some serious cooking over the fire to feed our regiment. There was french bread, buttermilk-honey bread, rye bread, 2 pies and some quick pastries along with a large dinner featuring pork and corn just to name a few menu items for the night. We certainly eat better than the actual British Army did.

We had some 18th century singing and entertainment along with our usual hiliarity in camp. We also had our traditional toast to the Inniskilling soldiers that were here in the 1750s at the barracks in his Majesty's Fort. The boys fought in a few battles and the ladies cooked so we all ate like kings. An excellent weekend indeed.

Fort de la Presentation in Ogdensburg, NY

July 23-24 2011, we made the trip up to Ogdensburg again. This year is different. Usually the 27th Inniskilling goes  as land troops, but this year they were supporting Springfield, VT's celebration. So the Dark and Stormy crew brought the boat instead and we had a blast. 

 It was a beautiful weekend, plenty of time on the water for all of us.  We participated in our first bateau race at Fort de la Presentation this year. We came in third, although thats up for debate as not everyone followed the same track to the finish line.

We also spent a fair bit of time trekking from the Navy camp on one side of the site to the British camp and the Sutlers.  We did make our usual trip to the Freight house next door for dinner. These folks have good food and are very welcoming to the reenactors.   A few things were different - we didn't get lost downtown this year. We knew ahead of time of the doughnouts and breakfast goodies the community donates, so morning coffee was not a struggle. The weekend went smoothly and we're looking forward to bring the boat back next year.

The remainder of the reenacting season

July 30-Aug 1 Galway Lake, NY
The crew of the Dark & Stormy along with other naval units will be setting up on a private beach and sailing on the lake.

Aug 14-15 Crown Point, NY
27th Inniskilling.
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/historic-sites/34/details.aspx

Aug 21-22 Rabble in Arms at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT.
The crew of the Dark & Stormy
http://www.lcmm.org/museum_info/visit.htm

Sept 11- 12 Battle of Plattsburgh (War of 1812)
Plattsburgh, NY
The crew of the Dark & Stormy.
http://www.battleofplattsburgh.org/blog/?page_id=5

Sept 25 - 26 Rogers Island
Ft Edward NY
27th Inniskilling
http://www.rogersisland.org/

250th Anniversary Event July 16-18 2010

Fort de la Presentation in Ogdensburg, NY

July 16, 17 & 18

Innskilling 27^th Regiment of Foot, Grenadier & Light Companies.

This three day weekend will be the last 250^th anniversary event for the French & Indian War in the state of NY. Known as “Founder’s Day:” locally it is a featured event in the I Love NY campaign http://www.iloveny.com/What-To-Do/Events/Founders-Day-Weekend/16504.aspx and will have lots there to see.

You can wander through the camps: French, British; Native; and Naval. See an 18^th century Boat race. Watch land battles or war on the water every day. Presentations on various bits of 18^th century history will be held at the neighboring Freight House restaurant. A Ball will be happening on Friday, Fireworks on Saturday and various other activities on the grounds during each day.

Details can be found on the schedule at http://www.fort1749.org/storage/pdfs/2010%20sched-1.pdf

Pictures from previous years can be found at http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=ogdensburg&w=84498068%40N00

Come see us, this one will be the biggest event they have ever had at this location.

Fort Ticonderoga event coming up

Waiting, always waiting.
Originally uploaded by MizRebecky

June 26-27 Fort Ticonderoga, New York
French & Indian War Encampment
I'll be camped with the 27th Inniskilling grenadiers. - Look for the redcoats with the beige pointy hats ...with little Castles on the Hats... thats my group.

Fort Ticonderoga has plenty to see, so come early and plan on spending the day. There's the King's Gardens to walk through, the French, Native & British camps to explore, The Fort itself to see, Artifacts from the fort's history in the buildings, a Battle around 1:30 in the afternoon, perhaps the Fife & Drum troops will play, and then of course there's a gift shop. Although the fort has a "restaurant" its small, expensive, and usually crowded. Sometimes the boy scouts or a local group will have a hamburger shack, but my recommendation would be to pack a cooler with lunch and come for the day. Remember things like comfy footwear, a camera, and sunscreen - and if you want to sit while watching the battle bring a seat or blanket for yourself. Most likely I'll be found in the camp near the kitchen, helping cook dinner and baking bread in the fire. Hope to see you there!

The final weeks of the Reenacting Season

- Sept 12-13 - War of 1812 - The crew of the HMS Dark & Stormy - Plattsburgh, NY.
This event has both land and naval troops in the battles. Also Saturday there is a period boat race. Last year the HMS Dark & Stormy came in 5th, this year we actually know what we're doing so the hope is we'll do much better. http://www.battleofplattsburgh.org/index.html

- Sept 19 & 20 - Revolutionary War - 23rd Royal Welch Fusilers - Gelston Castle in Warren, NY.
This is a new site for the company, but we are looking forward to the event, which is sponserod by both the British Brigade& the Continental Line organizations.

- Sept 26-27 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Rogers Island, Fort Edward, NY.
A smaller location than most, this event gives guests a chance to visit with the troops and you'll be just yards away from the battle action. Several boat crews will be on the river here, depending on the plan you may see them in action during the battle. This event some of us will portray the 27th troops, some of us will be crewing on the HMS Dark & Stormy. http://www.rogersisland.org/Rogers%20Island.html-

October 17 & 18 - Revolutionary War - Crew of the HMS Dark & Stormy - The Burning of Kingston, at Kingston, NY.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers will be at this event in force, however the HMS Dark & Stormy is involved in the naval battle. So although I may wander from the one camp to the other, look for me with the boats as I'm doing my naval impression here.

August 8 & 9 at Crown Point, NY

August 8 & 9 - French and Indian War - 27th Inniskilling - Crown Point, NY.


This weekend is the annual French & Indian War encampment at Crown Point, NY. At this site you get to see the ruins of not just one but two forts. The French Fort Frederick is the older of the two - and the French blew it up in 1759 when the British approached it, as they knew they couldn’t hold it and didn’t want it used against them. Once the Brisitish arrived, they decided to build their own fort…not on the ruins of the first, but in a slightly different spot. The British fort was never formally named and is known as "His majesty’s fort at Crown Point". This much larger fort has the walls of two of the barracks buildings still standing, and a small narrow path at the top of the earthen walls, so you could indeed walk around on the tope edge of the fort in most places.

The French forces are typically encamped over by Fort Frederick, and the British are usually parked out near the water’s edge. Originally this was a "maybe attending" event for our group; however it seems we have several folks interested in coming out to play, so there should be more than just one or two Grenadiers to be seen. Bring comfy shoes, a cooler, and plenty of sunscreen to spend the day exploring the site and checking out the encampments. Originally there was no battle here but tactical demonstrations will be held mid-day for folks to see how it might have happened, as well as some naval interaction with period boats.

July 3, 4 & 5 - Fort Niagara, NY

French & Indian War - Fort Niagara, NY - We'll be headed out to Western NY this weekend. I have been to this site before; Its got lots to see besides the Reenactors. Visit the 'French Castle' or climb up in the blockhouse - lots of beautiful scenery and history to check out.This is the 250th anniversary celebration at the fort, more information can be found at
http://tiny.cc/8lwhP . We're right on the lake, and a side trip to Niagara Falls is easy enough to do while you're here. We expect the 27th Inniskilling will have a large turnout at this event as its one of our main events plus its a three day event which we don't do often.

June 27 & 28 Fort Ticonderoga, NY

- June 27 & 28 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Fort Ticonderoga, NY.

This weekend we'll be gathering at Fort Ticonderoga in NY where the British defeat the French as they did in 1759. There will be a battle Each day around 2, but the camps will be open all day for visitors. The museum is full of things to see and if you have the time I hear the King's garden is also worth the walk through it. Some really good shopping to be had too. Typically Fort Ti is a fun event for everyone, plenty to see with plenty to do for all.

I can be found with the British Grenadiers - look for the "pointy hats" if you care to stop by and say hello. Do be aware there's a fee to see the battle or wander through the fort structures. Bring a picnic/cooler with you and spend the day, there is certainly lots to do!

You can read about more about the Fort at http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/

The Season Schedule

The re-enacting season is almost here, and I for one am getting antsy. Our annual meeting was held a while ago - there's bound to be a few changes to the schedule, but I thought I'd post the current plan here so folks can see where I'll be when. Mind you this is liable to change, so if there's an event happening that you think you might want to see, drop me an email so I confirm the details for you.

- May 16-17 - Revolutionary War - 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers - Jerusalem Mill Village, Maryland HAS BEEN CANCELLED due to Flooding.

- May 16-17 - 1745 - Culloden in North America - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - We're going to try to get to this event as Jerusalem Mill Village is flooded out. We've done one Culloden event years ago; We play Goverment Troops (the bad guys) here so we'll be vastly outnumber by men in kilts everywhere. Details at http://www.fortplainmuseum.com/eventdetails/2009culloden.html

- June 27 & 28 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Fort Ticonderoga, NY. This is a nice event that usually has lots to see. This year the event will be smaller than last year but still a fun time. Some details can be found at http://www.fort-ticonderoga250th.org/french-indian-war-encampment/index.htm%20as well as pictures of last year.

- July 3, 4 & 5 -French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Fort Niagara, NY. About 8 years ago I went to this fort with a different group and was amazed at all there was to see. We are right on the lake, and the falls are close enough to visit in the same weekend. Details to be found at http://tiny.cc/8lwhP. We're planning on having a large group at this event so we should be easy to find, Just look for the fellows in the pointy hats.

- July 11-12 - Revolutionary War - 23rd Royal Welch Fusilers - We'll be participating in the Battle of Hubbardton, in Hubbardton, VT. This is one of the least disturbed revolutionary war battlegrounds and has a visitors center with a lovely setup explaining exactly what happened there. A great place to talk with the reenactors and see things up close.

- July 18-19 -French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Fort la Presentation in Ogdensburg, NY. Here you can find not only land battles, but also a strong naval presence. if you've never seen an 18th century boat up close this is a great place to do so. Currently we're portraying land troops at this battle, its too long a haul to bring the Dark & Stormy (our boat.) http://www.fortlapresentation.net/foundersday.htm

- August 1 & 2 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Battle on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec - this event HAS BEEN CANCELLED due to threats of violence by Quebec separatists.

- August 1 & 2 - The crew of the Dark & Stormy - Lake Galway, NY. We'll be camping on a small private beach for a naval event on the lake. Depending on how fast our Captain Darling can sew, we may be under sail at this event. It seems fitting that we test our sailing skills for the first time at the site where we first discovered the boat does indeed float.

- Sept 12-13 - War of 1812 - The crew of the Dark & Stormy - Plattsburgh, NY. This event has both land and naval troops in the battles. Also Saturday there is a period boat race. Last year the Dark & Stormy came in 5th, this year we actually know what we're doing so the hope is we'll do much better. http://www.battleofplattsburgh.org/index.html

- Sept 19 & 20 - Revolutionary War - 23rd Royal Welch Fusilers - Gelston Castle in Warren, NY. This is a new site for the company, but we are looking forward to the event, which is sponserod by both the British Brigade& the Continental Line organizations.

- Sept 26-27 - French & Indian War - 27th Inniskilling Regiment - Rogers Island, Fort Edward, NY. A smaller location than most, this event gives guests a chance to visit with the troops and you'll be just yards away from the battle action. Several boat crews will be on the river here, depending on the plan you may see them in action during the battle. This event some of us will portray the 27th troops, some of us will be crewing on the Dark & Stormy. http://www.rogersisland.org/Rogers%20Island.htm

- October 17 & 18 - Revolutionary War - Crew of the Dark & Stormy - The Burning of Kingston, at Kingston, NY. The Royal Welch Fusiliers will be at this event in force, however the Dark & Stormy is involved in the naval battle. So although I may wander from the one camp to the other, look for me with the boats as I'm doing my naval impression here.

There's other events happening this season; this isn't all of them. However this is the basic schedule, as events get added I will update the blog so folks know where I'll be when. I'm always happy to see folks when i'm out & about, so come check out the fun!