John's Adventures

This weekend I travelled to Yorktown, Virginia for a living history weekend to celebrate the last major battle of the American Revolution. The event was held at the Yorktown Victory Center. This site is not part of the national historic park, but instead is operated by the State of Virginia.

Years ago I used to attend this event annually, but it's been in the neighborhood of 10 years since I had been to it. A lot has changed over the years. The camps have been moved, there are no merchants, the games on Sunday morning don't happen (the tug-of-war between the British and the Americans was always great fun), and we didn't have a battle/skirmish.

I like most of the changes. It looks better for the public to have the opposing camps in positions that can't be seen by the other camp. In this case there was a stand of trees between us that blocked the view. I also support dropping the battle/skirmish. The site is small. The numbers of troops make the battle look a bit rediculus. Instead of having a battle we drilled and had firing demonstrations. Most people are happy to see up close how a flint lock musket works and even if you don't aim at the British troops they like to see the flames and smoke.

This weekend Steve (regiments fifer) brought a barrel to help us sleep on Saturday night. The barrel was filled with a mixture of mead and cherry brandy. He called in mandeira. I've never heard of it before, but it tasted good and those who spent the night enjoyed it.