living history – M.A. Kleen

Opening Day at the West Virginia Renaissance Festival

Steady rain failed to dampen participants’ spirits at this lively Allegheny event.

The West Virginia Renaissance Festival is back for a second season! Taso Stavrakis and Dawn Kieninger first opened the festival in 2018, and were undeterred even after a fire destroyed a large Elizabethan-style barn earlier this year. The festival kicked off this past Saturday, June 8th, and will run every weekend in June.

My weather app assured me the rain would stop before I arrived, but when the gates opened at 11am, a steady drizzle still threatened to ruin the fun. Rain already turned the dirt roads at Hollow Hills Farm to mud. Thankfully, this wasn’t enough to deter the festival’s dedicated actors and actresses from performing.

The popular Washing Well Wenches put on a wet and sloppy vaudeville act with plenty of audience participation. These hilarious ladies are just two of many troop members who perform at Ren fairs all over the country.

A Day at the Virginia Renaissance Faire

Jousting, comedy, and merriment at this slice of Elizabethan England in the American South

Only open for a limited time in early summer, this classic Ren fair has all the charm of its counterparts without all the crowds. Hosted annually at Lake Anna Winery, 5621 Courthouse Road in Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, the Virginia Renaissance Faire is open for five weekends, May 11th through June 9, 2019.

Journey to the fictional village of Staffordshire, where the regal queen and her court will grace the lowly peasants with her presence. Entertainment, food, dancing, and sport re-creates the spirit of Merry England.

Revolutionary War Reenactment

A Revolutionary War Reenactment at Fort Wellington on the Saint Lawrence River. American colonists defeated the British once again! Song is “Pass in Review: German No. 68: March No. 8, Nightpiece No. 35, March No. 25” by Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums. I had to remove the original audio because an annoying announcer thought everyone was there to hear him speak. Used stock musket and battle sounds to fill in – I think it turned out pretty good.

Sackets Harbor Battlefield War of 1812 Weekend

On August 5 and 6, Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site in Jefferson County, New York held its annual War of 1812 weekend, complete with military encampment, an English Country Dance, Sea Chanteys, and of course reenactments of the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor.

The Second Battle of Sackets Harbor was fought on May 29, 1813 between British forces under the command of Colonel Edward Baynes and American forces under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Electus Backus of the Regular Army and Brigadier General Jacob Brown of the New York State Militia.

Sackets Harbor was a principal port and shipbuilding yard for the upper St. Lawrence River Valley and Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The British wanted to take advantage of the American fleet’s absence to seize and destroy the shipyard and supplies at Sackets Harbor.

American forces put up a tenacious defense on land and eventually drove the British away. Thirty British soldiers were killed, 200 wounded, and 35 taken prisoner in the attack. The Americans sustained 157 casualties, including 26 missing or captured.

The battle reenactment took place on a portion of the actual battlefield and attracted a variety of reenactors from across the United States and Canada.

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War of 1812 Reenactment at Sackets Harbor

The Second Battle of Sacket’s Harbor was fought on May 29, 1813, during the War of 1812. Americans repulsed a British attack on the naval yard. To commemorate the battle, Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site held a reenactment August 5 & 6, 2017. This footage is from Saturday, August 5th. Music is “Assembly: Spumoni: the Red Joke, the White Joke March, Green Joke” by Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums. I apologize for the poor audio quality, but it was incredibly windy and I tried to minimize it as best I could. Watch in HD for full effect.

14th Annual Marilla Civil War Reenactment

Marilla Civil War Days. Photo by Michael Kleen

On July 29 & 30, Marilla, New York held its 14th Annual Civil War Days at Marilla Town Park. The weekend was packed full of activities, including a ladies period tea party, artillery demonstrations, candlelight tours, a period dance and church service, and of course battle reenactments. At Sutlers Row, vendors sold Civil War memorabilia, flags, books, and uniforms.

Each year has something a little different to offer. Previously, the event featured barn burnings, ground charges, and falling trees and buildings. Saturday’s reenactment was more conventional.

Participating units included the 1st Tennessee, 4th South Carolina, 21st Georgia, 42 Virginia, 138th New York, 200th Indiana, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, and more.

Maxwell’s Battery was one of the Union artillery units to participate in the reenactment. They hail from Canisteo in western New York and are unique in that they re-enact both sides of the conflict.

As a Union outfit, they represent Battery K of the 1st U.S. Artillery. When Confederate, they are Maxwell’s Battery of the 1st Georgia Regular Artillery. Historically, Battery K was a horse artillery unit, meaning its crew traveled on horseback for rapid movement.

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Montcalm’s Cross Reenactment Weekend

French and Indian War Reenactment at Fort Ticonderoga. Photo by Michael Kleen

On July 22 and 23, Fort Ticonderoga commemorated the 259th anniversary of the 1758 Battle of Carillon with a series of events called “Montcalm’s Cross,” named after French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm.

The Battle of Carillon was fought on July 8, 1758, during the French and Indian War. It was the bloodiest battle of the Seven Years War fought in North America, with over 3,000 casualties. French losses were about 400, while more than 2,000 were British.

French engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière constructed Fort Carillon on the shore of Lake Champlain between 1755 and 1757, but the battle was fought behind breastworks about a kilometer west of the fort.

Though British troops under General James Abercrombie outnumbered the French defenders five-to- one, lack of artillery and poor coordination resulted in a military disaster for the attacking army.

Montcalm’s Cross Reenactment Weekend was a two-day event. On Saturday, reenactors re-created the British advance from Lake George Landing, during which an encounter with a lost French patrol resulted in the death of British commander Lord Howe.

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