Kulia i ka nu'u: Sturbridge Village Revolutionary War Reenactment

On Saturday we went to Old Sturbridge Village about an hour west of us. On this weekend, 800 volunteers came dressed in period costumes and camped in these canvas tents all over the village to cook like the early settlers, talk like the early settlers, and most of all reenact some Revolutionary War battles.

Fife and drum bands practiced on every green for the battle march.
The village is already filled with homes and shops that are created to look like the period. The workers show how they milled grain, cut wood (in the sawmill), made tools in the blacksmith shop, etc. The extra 800 volunteers was just gravy to an already great experience.

Logan and Soren watch the cannon demonstration. After 3 misfires, they shot a perfect and long lasting ring of smoke.

Our friends, the McMullins joined us for a kids "musket drill."

Zachary McMullin is in the plaid shorts, Logan in the gray shirt, Soren in the red (they almost wouldn't let him into the park because they said he was one of the lobster backs--they made him tell them who the first President of the United States was for his "password."). J.B is in the white shirt, Sydney McMullin is next to J.B.

Here come the lobster backs.

We staked out spaces along the fence to watch the hour long battle reenactment.

All of the Patriot Soldiers marched right by us on their way to the battle field.

As each division passed us, the kids would try to identify whether they were Patriots, Redcoats, Hessians, French, or Indians. They had them all. The featured troops were the British, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Hessians, French, and Colonial Troops. When this divison passed, the kids said, "Here comes the pirates."

There was no subterfuge about this battle. They all stood across from each other on the field and just fired and fired...

...And fired and fired. We really were hoping for some drama--like people falling over and feigning dead. After 45 minutes of firing, some of them must have started running out of gunpowder because FINALLY we had some dramatic deaths. Some just laid down. Some looked for a good place to fall. A few really got into it and staggered around with their hands up in the arm, slowly winding down to a satisfying crash on the ground.

Lachlan uses the mallet to help stake the tents.
After the battle we came back to the medical tents to watch them take care of the wounded soldiers. I was especially intrigued by the amputations, (which they didn't do any of on Saturday), but which were frequently performed during that time period.
The officers were given a small cup of rum before the amputation, and a stick wrapped in leather to bite down on. The privates were given a stick to bite down on, no rum and no leather. They also had several men holding them down.
A doctor in his prime, could complete an amputation, start to finish in 1 1/2 minutes. I'm sure that speed was of the essence since they didn't have any pain killers. I was impressed that without all of our medical advances that they were so creative and resourceful. They made their own glue and bandages.
The survival rate for amputation surgery was 60%. Not bad.