because it’s such hard work: “You gotta love it, or you wouldn’t do it. When we lay down at night, we sleep.” Terry says they love sharing their knowledge of Colonial food, and that people identify what they do with their grandparents’ traditions. “I get to dress like this and research history,” Terry says. “And everybody likes food.”
Scott Douglas, site manager at the Fort Dobbs State Historic Site, has been a Revolutionaty War reenactor for 21 years, acquiring gear along the way.
Canteen, handmade oak and pine, $150 Bed roll, handwoven wool, $200
A Reluctant Confrontation
The Battle of Alamance lasted just a couple of hours. Though angry and passionate about their cause, the Regulators were disorganized. Their leader, Herman Husband, was a Quaker pacifist. Although they outnumbered Tryon’s army by nearly two to one, some Regulators were unarmed. Tryon’s army was well-trained, equipped with field canons and swivel guns. The confrontation began with one of his soldiers reading portions of the Johnston Riot Act. The Regulators, who were unlawfully assembled, were given an hour to disperse. They responded with shouts of “Battle! Battle!” and “Fire, and be damned.” Unable to reason with them, Tryon — easy to spot in his red coat — ordered his troops to fire. Men scurried across the battlefield. There was an exchange of gunfire. Canon blasts shook the smokehazed field. At the end of it, six Regulators were hanged and 12 arrested, concluding the Regulator movement in North Carolina. But on this day in May, nearly 250 years later, there would be no such violence. Soldiers on both sides would end the evening with a fine meal together and the chance to reenact the battle again the next day. Tina Firesheets is a freelance writer based in Jamestown, North Carolina.
Powder horn, custom-made, $150 Shot bag for bullets, handmade by Douglas Haversack, linen, handmade by Douglas.
Sword, handmade by a Williamsburg blacksmith, $500 Musket, American-made reproduction from Fort Dobbs State Historic Site
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