Sunday, November 18, 2012

We love history, so as soon as we read about the American Heritage Festival at Schnepf Farms, we decided to attend. Every year a group of reenactors set up displays and dress as the folks in the past did. There were people from colonial America and the American Revolution, longhunters and mountain men, the Civil War, pioneers and the old West, and the 20th century.

We arrived in time for the Saturday morning reenactment of a Revolutionary War skirmish. The Red Coats marched off to the battlefield.



They were followed by uniformed Rebel troops.



Of course, not all of the rebels had the fancy uniforms. Many men picked up their guns and joined the troops to fight for freedom.



The battle resembled a duel, with each side facing the other, loading their weapons, then firing. The British forces won the skirmish. Here you can see the smoke from the volley and also a rebel casualty laying on the field.



Of course, some British soldiers were also shot.



This is a Scots soldier. The 74th Regiment of Highlanders fought in the Revolutionary War from 1879 to 1884.



Later John talked to the Scots soldier and we learned more about the history of his regiment.



The 20th Century encampment included a field camp from War War II. I'm glad I wasn't a soldier who had to sleep in that tiny 2-man tent with no mattress!



This soldier explained the various kinds of food rations provided to our soldiers during the War.

There was also a camp from World War I.



This camp was set up like General Cook's camp during the Indian wars in the 1800s.



This woman and her daughter were living in an 1850s mining camp. They were cooking and selling meals to earn money to move back east, having discovered the mining camp was "no place for a lady. She was preparing chicken shortcake with spider bread. She explained that the miners really like getting chicken to eat. The egg used in the shortcake cost $1 for one egg!



Her daughter was doing some handwork, sitting in front of the (relatively) comfortable tent.



This is a Civil War tent. It didn't look too bad.



These Spanish soldiers came from the late 1700s when Juan Bautista de Anza and some soldiers explored Arizona and California for the Spanish crown.

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