Battle for Brimfield

August 7-8, 2010

Another hot weekend. Seriously, the question to ask around all the camps is "is your canteen full?" because I can tell you, those guys come back and their canteens are low after just about an hour.

I had never been to this site, but it exceeded expectations! The event was nice, but the people were nicer! The thing about this event though, is that you have to go through Sturbridge, MA to get to Brimfield. Well for inquiring minds, Old Sturbridge Villiage is right off route 20 in Sturbridge. They were having a Revolutionary war re-enactment the same weekend. It seemed like it was all in good fun; both events advertised each other. We actually had to go to the store in Sturbridge on Saturday evening after the camps closed and we saw a lot of Rev war re-enactors. As we were walking out some Rev war guys going in said "Hey look! It's our grandchildren!"

The only snag I saw was how far the guys (& gals) had to walk in order to get to the battle site and how far away the site was from the spectators. It was across a whole pond, obscured by trees (you will see in a minute). But do not let that deter you from attending this event in the future. The organizers were doting on us and one of the women actually came around the Confederate camp on Sunday morning to thank the groups personally. I will definitely go to this even again. It was worth it.

Here is a wide shot of the battle site. You cannot see everything at the edges, but I am hoping to figure out how to post a panoramic once I sew that sucker together.


Here is a good shot of the Confederate forces. There was a good showing. And the Confederates caught the Yankees without a cavalry, that was a first for me. Notice the young man dashing across the field. It was hot that day, how did he get that job? That was not the only time he did that.


This was just a nice shot of bodies lying around and the lighting is very nice.


Now these are the two cannons the Yankees brought. I have no idea who these people are. I apologize, please help. This group was somewhat liberal with their powder over the weekend and the crowd loved it.


This horse drawn one is a crowd pleaser, trust me guys, I sit with the crowd and the spectators love to see the horses go across that field towing the cannon.


Now, the Confederates had cannons as well, three actually, but they were situated high on the hill behind the trees and I could not get a good shot of them. They impressed me with their coordinated shots, though. I do not recall much "fire at will" from the Confederate cannons.

Here is the Naval Landing Party. Interesting how that pops up again. I should have gone over to say "hi." See if they recognized me from Ft. Knox... They actually snuck up and took the Confederate artillery by surprise. One of the benefits of capture, though was the fact that captors and prisoners were able to watch the rest of the battle from the shade.


Dress parade. This was impressive, everyone did a good job. Even the commanders commented on that.


Finally, I finished a new dress (first one in four seasons). So I asked if Chris could take a photo of me and Dave. He looks kind of like crap because he just came back from battle.


Regardless, this was a good event where both camps were well-stocked with participants and there were a fair amount of spectators for both days, despite the Revolutionary War re-enactment 20 minutes away at Old Sturbridge village. We do think we had more visitors to the camps on Sunday then we did on Saturday. The battle on Sunday was much better, too.

Next? Gettysburg Alive, Baby!!!

Ft. Knox

July 23-25, 2010

As promised, this was the biggest Ft. Knox event in years! We got some Canadians to come! They were really nice, too. Thank you so much for coming, Natalie and Guy. Before I really get into this, please, please, please, if you know who these people or companies are in the photos, I would really like to know. I am going to change the captions as I learn faces.

This was a really good event. Not only did we have a lot more Yankees (and a few extra Confederates), but the Yankees did not have to bring all of their stuff! Cots were provided for Yankees so they did not need to bring tents. Also, Miss Rose (really, the spearhead) got the ovens up and working! Can you believe that? And they were making bread all weekend. It was really good.

The Confederates had a ship! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!


And the Yankees had a couple of cannons...above the water...



Both days had some really good battles, however, I had a really bad vantage point on Saturday, so most of my photos are from Sunday when I had an even better one.


Darn you kids! Stop dying!!! It makes us look bad!!!


And Captain Pratt appears out of nowhere and attacks the unsuspecting Yankees. With Tom right at his side.


Then, to raise money for a Domestic Abuse Shelter, myself, Kate and Sara accepted donations for shoulder rubs from, "lonely young men." In case you did not already guess, we played "soiled doves" or just plain prostitutes, doing something a little more mundane then history suggests. The irony. However, we found out that we are not the first to come up with this. According to Becky, Todd's wife, there have been several groups of women who do this kind of role play for fund raising. It was really a laugh. We had three yankee boys stop by on their way out to dinner. Really, some people just wanted our photos, it was a lot of fun. We walked around the fort, went to the community dinner inside the fort and just sat around our camp in our undergarments. One little boy came up to us at dinner and asked Sara for a kiss. It was so cute! She had lipstick and gave him a kiss on the cheek! That was our mark for those who had been at the 'establishment' a kiss on the cheek. Oh and the Naval Landing Party (I had never even heard of their group) HAD to get their photos taken with us. I mean, honestly, they're sailors! But everyone had a really good time with it and they were very generous with their donations. Thank you all!

Here is a photo with some gentlemen who had that sign up there before they even knew that we were going to portray a brothel! When we got there, we asked if we could have our photo taken with their sign. They said 'sure' 'of course' and we posed, then I looked at them, "Do you guys want to pose with us?" I never saw them move so fast.


We had our photos taken with so many people so many times, I think we're going to have to do it again. If not next year, but the year after which will be another large Ft. Knox event. Plan on a big Ft. Knox event in 2012, if the world does not explode first. >Wink<.

4th of July

July 4, 2010

Okay, this summer is making up for last season. Jeez, it is so hot!!!! Oh my gosh, it was so hot at this event that I swear if I had leg hair, it would have been singed under my dress from the heat of the road.

This is a huge parade, we had to wait an hour to be called. We just kind of sat in the shade of the school and waited. At least we got to see the parade because we were at the end. A lot of really nice cars, antique and custom. But man it was hot.

I only took a few photos because I had to carry our ID sign. Freaking huge poster board that someone handed us just before we were up to start walking. I guess we did not win a trophy this year. Oh well.


We made it to the end of the parade and just collapsed in the shade. It was so nice and to be honest, me and Sandy were hot, but we were worried about the guys most. And our worries were justified because as soon as we made it to our rendezvous site, they all stripped down to their shirts and pants and just lay there for a while. Dave came over to me ("Come here, Baby.") and gave me a big, wet, sweaty hug. Yep, that's my man. But we did get food from the event coordinators. I have to admit, they were very good to us. And luckily, there are buses that take us back to where our cars are parked.

Next event Ft. Knox!

Train Robbery

June 19, 2010

First robbery of the year. Geez these people!

Okay, if I were a guy, how old would I be? Mrs. Bergeron (Deb) thinks I look about 15. If I were a guy, I would take offense to that, correct?


We wait patiently while Sgt. Henry gives the passengers fair warning as to their travel on this train through hostile territory.


Denny keeps a close eye on the Yankees.


COULD I LOAD THAT GUN ANY SLOWER?!?!?!?


Okay, I have no idea what was in that bottle that Chris gave me but it was not water and it was not alcohol, it was just plain gross. Ugh! Someone told me later that they think it's flat coca cola. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't asked.


What was disappointing about this train robbery, and probably for the summer, is that the steam engine will probably not be running at all this year. The Narrow Gauge Railroad has either two or three steam engines and only one is really ready for use all year round. Well, this past Winter, a fire set by vagrants got out of hand and severely damaged the good steam engine. It is a huge setback for the railroad. If anyone wants to help, they can either volunteer or donate to the restoration. I believe the goal is for the organization to get the steam engine running for their annual Polar Express runs. We do not receive any money for the robberies, we do these to benefit the railroad and to just have fun. If anymore Yankees, Confederates or ladies would like to come over, our next train robberies are September 4th, 2010 and October 9th, 2010. The train rides are every hour on the hour from 10:00am to 4:00pm. If you would like to come give us a heads up at the Maine Rebels website or talk to Captain Pratt on the Maine Militia website: there are links to both of those sites on the main page of my blog.

You can also check the official Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad website at http://www.mngrr.org for updates as to repairs.

Norlands

June 11-13, 2010

Norlands!! This is a nice event. We did not have as much of a Confederate showing as we did last year, but this is a decent site and the people are definitely grateful for our help in raising money for the barn. We saw that they have started purchasing the lumber for the structure and someone mentioned that they are going to start raising the barn later this summer. I hope so, I cannot wait to see it finished.



Here is Al and his advance team going for the Federals.


Here are the Federals firing back.


Okay, is it just me or is someone pushing the kid bearing the flag out in front?! I did not notice that until I downloaded the photos to my computer. WTH?!


Here is the fashion show presented by some of the civilian ladies. Sara was in it!


Oh, that's right. My friend Sara joined the 15th Alabama not last summer, but the summer before, went to a Camp Pratt (where she nearly got hypothermia, typical), and then left to teach English in a foreign country. This was her first spectator encampment. I am so glad she liked it, too. She has made dresses and purchased equipment so it was a good thing she had fun.

The Norlands committee has already announced the dates for next year's re-enactment, however, I have misplaced them, it will be in June of next year, most likely the second weekend. I cannot wait to see them again.