Day two of the Civil War encampment, and it was equally fun. Yesterday I had spent seven hours in the tavern, interpreting the 18th century history of the site. I was glad to have some time last evening and this morning to spend with Kelly and the three boys, and walk around the encampment and listen to presentations.
The Post Office (Judi!) was my favorite. Because of Letters to Mary, I was very interested in the processes of the mail sending and receiving, and the fact that they had a portable post office. Judi made this one herself, and spent untold hours researching the Civil War procedures and practices. This was inspired by actual letters that SHE had that belonged to her grandfather! And the bonus was that she actually bought a copy of LETTERS TO MARY from me!
Another interesting presentation was about Women in the Civil War – women often followed the army, and performed tasks or helped take care of the food, laundry, etc. They also often disguised themselves as men or boys to be part of the actual skirmishes and battles. Many, many of them were recognized as valid soldiers, drawing pensions and being buried as their male counterparts.
I met this woman on the battle field – loved her gown. She made ‘church babies’ – used cloth hankies to form little dolls to occupy the children during the services. I remember my grandmother and even my great uncle making these for us – but they were temporary (the way they twisted the hankies) and were made out of their own white handkerchiefs.
The first demonstration of the morning was the signal flags. I have to admit that I couldn’t decipher any of the signals! These flags could be seen for miles and were used well into the early 1900’s.
An advantage of having your own imprint business is that you always have an appropriate shirt for the occasion!
We stopped by General Meade’s tent and chatted with him before he received a missive from his orderly and had to act upon that. The flag flying above his headquarters had 35 stars for the 35 states during the Civil War.
The Civil War concert on Saturday evening was performed with brass instruments and drums. The conductor gave us a little bit of history between each song, and I actually liked that better than the music! Very interesting information!
Peyton could only take so much excitement – he had to curl up and catch a few winks before we continued with our ‘history’ lessons….
Beautiful morning at the encampment – flags flying and all is calm
One of the demonstration sites (which we missed!) The Rusty Candelabra
Chase was determined to be indifferent to everything, but he stood for a while inside the doorway of the Blacksmith shop, listening to his presentation.
One of Proctor’s Militia letting the boys handle weapons, which they liked alot!
There was a note taped to the door of the supply shed: Enter at your own risk – someone could be naked in there… Needless to say, we didn’t go in.
We had a lot of fun, and after my family left on Sunday I spent the rest of the day in the tavern. Richard Sheets was on the main floor, and I was upstairs. It’s really neat to have them enjoy the information we are sharing, and how surprised and please they are to learn new facts. Some even go get their friends and come back in. I was so glad to be a part of the weekend.
I think the next official event is the fall festival and the Halloween event, then the Three Centuries of Christmas. I’m already excited about being a part of that, and hope you can plan on being there.
I will have to catch up on my sermons, which I haven’t had time to do. So today I will just express how blessed I feel for being part of this event, and being showered with so many blessings. There is nothing like observing life in the 1770’s to make you be truly thankful for the blessings that you experience every single day: Like running water, electricity, my own bed that I don’t have to share with 4 other people, a refrigerator, indoor bathrooms! Thank you, God, for blessings overflowing!
On this day in 1781 the British army under General Cornwallis occupied Yorktown VA; in 1936 the Olympic Games were first televised. In 1944 Anne Frank’s last diary entry – 3 days later she was arrested; in 1961 the first Six Flags theme park opened in Texas, and 1981 was the debut of MTV – first 24 hour music channel (cable). Birthdays: 1779 – Francis Scott Key – wrote Star Spangled Banner words; 1819 – Herman Melville (Moby Dick); 1843 Robert Todd Lincoln (President Lincoln’s eldest son); 1931 – Tom Wilson – created Ziggy; 1933 Dom DeLuise. Mark Antony died in 30BC at age 53, and Elizabeth Taylor divorced Richard Burton for the second time, her 6th divorce.
TOMORROW August 2 is:
As wonderful as my weekend was, both at Hanna’s Town and with my family, I’m ready to call it a day and curl up with my current read. Have a great week – God bless!
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