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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
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 Posted - October 09 2007 : 09:55:55 AM
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This past weekend Seamus and I attended a nice little event that commemorated an historical event in Pennsylvania. It took place during the Revolutionary War, rather than the F & I, and it wasn't one of the Big Battles. However, innocent civilians and dedicated Patriots lost their lives.
Seamus would be able to tell you much more about this than I can. He has been involved with this for many years, and was instrumental in obtaining and dedicating a monument to the people who died in the massacre. He has, in fact, a wonderful "ghost" story to tell.
Here is the story of the massacre.
This tells about the event.
Be sure to watch the little video at the bottom of this page, and click on the Photos page to see our group in previous years' events. And btw, near the beginning of the video there is a cute, smiling little girl (yes, she is black) who is playing with a wooden "dancing man" toy. That is my step-granddaughter. (Speaking of adoption... she was lovingly adopted into our all-white family as an infant.)
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winglo
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 4:59:37 PM
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Looks and sounds like you guys had some great fun. I had never heard of this series of events. I read the info you passed along and was wondering if there is any record of which tribe of Indians was involved with the British against the revolutionaries here?
By the way, were you actually in PA? I live not too far from Dauphin County where some of this apparently happened, so just wondering. . . Do you ever re-enact in PA? |
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Monadnock Guide
Council of Elders
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 5:52:59 PM
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| Fascinating post WW, - both links are excellent. The "story of the massacre" is a very good read. It paints quite a picture of what life was really like on the eastern frontier. Hope folks take the time to read it. In fact being "close" to a fort was all that "safe" whether working in a field, or on a trail. Not long ago I was up at Fort No. 4, and while there, in their gift shop, - picked up a booklet actually titled - "Rev. Samuel MacClintock's Journal, 1760. Some very interesting accounts of travels, battles with the French & Indians along the Vermont - N.H. border. Accounts much like what reported here, .... |
you can keep "The Change" |
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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 6:28:10 PM
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MG, I thought you might enjoy that. There is nothing like reading first-hand accounts in journals or letters, is there?
Winglo, yes. We were right there. We were, in fact, encamped right on the spot where the small fort once stood. And yes, many of the events we participate in are in PA. Our regiment is called the 3rd Battalion Pennsylvania, or the Augusta Regiment. In present day Sunbury, there once stood a fort called Fort Augusta and we take our name from the Battalion of men who built and manned that fort during the French and Indian War.
This coming weekend, we will be at Fort Ligonier, which is farther west and south, at Ligonier, PA. It is a really neat little event at a beautifully rebuilt wooden stockaded fort. Fort Ligonier
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blackfootblood
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 6:45:15 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wilderness Woman
MG, I thought you might enjoy that. There is nothing like reading first-hand accounts in journals or letters, is there?
Winglo, yes. We were right there. We were, in fact, encamped right on the spot where the small fort once stood. And yes, many of the events we participate in are in PA. Our regiment is called the 3rd Battalion Pennsylvania, or the Augusta Regiment. In present day Sunbury, there once stood a fort called Fort Augusta and we take our name from the Battalion of men who built and manned that fort during the French and Indian War.
This coming weekend, we will be at Fort Ligonier, which is farther west and south, at Ligonier, PA. It is a really neat little event at a beautifully rebuilt wooden stockaded fort. Fort Ligonier
Ft Ligonier eh? Well that's a hop, skip, and a jump from where I grew up. It's a very nice place to visit. Lots to see and do. Hope you have a good weekend for it! |
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain!"
"Live well, love much, laugh often!" |
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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 8:36:42 PM
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Thanks. I think the weather is going to do a complete about face. This past weekend, it was in the high 80s and I like to died while roasting a pork loin over the fire. This weekend may be only in the 50s. Quite a change!
Have you ever been to Fort Ligonier Days, Blackfootblood? |
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Monadnock Guide
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 8:55:25 PM
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| "Quite a change" - indeed, but a nice one! |
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blackfootblood
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 9:00:34 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wilderness Woman
Thanks. I think the weather is going to do a complete about face. This past weekend, it was in the high 80s and I like to died while roasting a pork loin over the fire. This weekend may be only in the 50s. Quite a change!
Have you ever been to Fort Ligonier Days, Blackfootblood?
Actually I have not. I heard about it in the years but never had the chance to get to one. I did manage to get to Ft. Ligonier this summer. I took my two nieces and nephew there. They enjoyed it. Their getting to the age of taking interest in history.  We had a pretty good time, I took some pics and wanted to post them on this site but never got around to it. In fact I might have deleted them, who knows!  But I have to say in your case, the cooler the weather, the better! |
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain!"
"Live well, love much, laugh often!" |
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Fitzhugh Williams
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Posted - October 09 2007 : 11:58:52 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wilderness Woman
Thanks. I think the weather is going to do a complete about face. This past weekend, it was in the high 80s and I like to died while roasting a pork loin over the fire. This weekend may be only in the 50s. Quite a change!
This weekend is also the raid on German Flats. Is this the big weekend for Ligonier? Too much at one time! This is also the fall weekend at Martin's Station. The Cumberland Gap should be nice this year. Last year it was in the 20's at night, but they are saying 40's this time. If you ever get a chance, it's well worth seeing. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 10 2007 : 06:33:35 AM
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Yes, same weekend, Fitz. The number of events and the competition is getting fierce. For the first time ever, re-enactors are having to face tough decisions as to which event to attend on just about any given weekend. It is especially bad right now, during the F & I 250th years. Next year, 2008, will be the big 250th for Ligonier. Ligonier is an important event for the Augusta, because we (the original regiment) built it!
Ah.... so many neat events, so little time! 
Blackfootblood, I'm glad you have visited Ft. Ligonier. It is a beauty, and the museum is well worth seeing. I stand in front of the display containing the beautiful pistols that Lafayette gave to George Washington and gaze at them with tears in my eyes. Beautiful! |
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winglo
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Posted - October 10 2007 : 4:57:46 PM
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| WW, Ligonier is a little far for me, although I've passed through there when traveling to Chicago. But, what else do you have planned for PA. I practically live in Valley Forge's backyard! |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 10 2007 : 10:35:53 PM
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| Well, we don't have anything else going this season. This weekend is our last event. We do a couple of small educational events each summer at the Conrad Weiser Homestead which is at Womelsdorf, PA. We do the Sunbury Riverfest in August. But to see us at a major battle re-enactment event, you would have to travel to places like Fort Ticonderoga in New York, Custaloga Town way out in western PA, and next October we will be doing a Forbes Road 250th event, also in western PA. |
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Fitzhugh Williams
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Posted - October 10 2007 : 11:08:23 PM
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| You should really think about Louisbourg. There's no place like it in the Americas. I got a mailing from Fort Loudoun (TN) tonight, and the South Carolina Independent Company is going. They rarely ever travel. |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 11 2007 : 08:06:13 AM
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Well, I have thought about it, Fitz. Unfortunately, that is all I can do. I simply cannot afford a trip of that scope. Those in our group who are going are flying, which I would have to do, as well. I may have an expensive trip out to Oregon this spring or summer, involving driving home a U-Haul truck, so I need to save my pennies for that.
You will have to enjoy it enough for me, too! |
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Fitzhugh Williams
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Posted - October 11 2007 : 09:03:19 AM
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| I can't fly and carry my tent, fusil, camp gear, etc. so I will have to drive. But all it costs is the gas and the passport fee. I have to eat no matter where I am. Maybe I will spend a little extra and stop at a Super 8 on the way. Or maybe just find a place for my blanket. Your folks could share the ride and split the costs. Back in my SCCA racing days we were known to put 7 or 8 people in a motel room with two beds! You get to know everyone really well that way. |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 11 2007 : 10:13:37 AM
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| I think that for most of the people in our group, time is also a factor. Most of us still work and have to ration our vacation time, so they want to do it the quickest way possible. Plus, they will be hoteling it, which sort of defeats the whole purpose for me. When going to an event of that enormity, I want to experience all the flavors -- that includes the campfires and woodsmoke, the cooking food, and the smelly, unwashed bodies. I want it all, and since I don't fight in the battles, what would there be for me? No. It would be a major waste of time and money for me. |
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Fitzhugh Williams
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Posted - October 11 2007 : 11:17:45 AM
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quote:
since I don't fight in the battles, what would there be for me?
I am not going for the battles. I am going for the "Louisbourg" experience. Just to walk down the streets and stop in at a tavern for something to eat and to listen to the singing, and to visit the shops. It's a city, not a fort. It wouldn't bother me not to go to the battles. I can burn powder anywhere. I want the 18th century experience of the town. That being said, I would like to stand on the parapet when Madam Drucour fires the cannon (if they do that scenario).
But, to be in the city you would need to be French, I suppose. Pity. |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 11 2007 : 11:48:21 AM
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Well, I do have to admit, that would be very, very cool!
Thanks for making me feel bad about not going, Miss-yer Lay-Fran-say!
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winglo
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Posted - October 11 2007 : 3:44:21 PM
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| Well, if you ever come to eastern PA in the future, let me know. Maybe I can meet some of you in real life! |
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Fitzhugh Williams
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Posted - October 16 2007 : 08:32:38 AM
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I saw some pictures from German Flatts today and the event was very small. Of course, that doesn't mean it wasn't good, but I would have expected a few more people. They had some live chickens that the reenactors caught, cleaned, cooked and ate. Half the pictures seem to have something to do with this. I guess people these days can't relate those feathery things in the field to what they buy at Chick-fil-A. There were some pictures of the British cabins burning, and it is always good to see those!
I went to Martin's Station, and once again the temps dropped into the high 20's at night. Nice event, though, with some partying and singing in the fort on Saturday night. And also at the Indian camp. |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 16 2007 : 08:59:36 AM
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Fitz, where did you see those pictures? Is there a link somewhere? Perhaps on the FrontierFolk boards? If you could direct me, I would like to see them.
Now, now, now.... those cabins that were burned at German Flatts were not British cabins! Tsk, tsk, tsk. They were Palatine German farmer's cabins. Not fair! Not fair! And how typical of the Fran-say and the Savages to attack innocent civilians who are merely trying to hack their living out of the wilderness, bearing their children along the way.
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Fitzhugh Williams
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Posted - October 16 2007 : 09:13:03 AM
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There are a few on Frontier Folks at: <http://frontierfolk.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=12856&sid=4e5cd790c2872c1c3e4efc92677cc531>
but most are on a Yahoo board called "Progressive_Milice" and you have to be a member to see them. Really, I guess, they are just more of the same, but the burning cabins are on that one.
Not British cabins? The British king is a German. They are his subjects. Sounds British to me. Besides they were on French land. |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 16 2007 : 12:38:49 PM
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"French land?" French land? Ah, I think not! Those good people, who traveled so far from their homes in Germany, were given leave by Governor Burnett in New York Colony to settle in the Mohawk River Valley. In 1722 they purchased, legally and in good faith, the land at German Flatts from the Mohawk Indians of the Indian Castle. In 1725, they received their Colonial-issued land patent, which is called the Burnetsfield Patent.
No, Miss-yer Lay-Fran-say. That was not French land. That land belonged, rightly and legally, to those good, hard-working German farmers. The French and their Savage allies came and tried to burn them out and take it from them. Horrible! Horrible! |
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Fitzhugh Williams
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Posted - October 16 2007 : 3:07:47 PM
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| One cannot buy and sell land which does not belong to them. Neither the British nor the Mohawk can sell land belonging to the French king. Their greed knows no bounds. And "those good, hard-working German farmers", as you call them, were no more than servants of King George trying to despoil the King of France. They deserved the retribution they received. Retribution? No, rather justice! Yes, justice! Vive le Roi! |
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Wilderness Woman
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Posted - October 16 2007 : 6:03:15 PM
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Miss-yer... the hard-working German Palatines were not servants of King George. They were promised land and a good life in the colony of New York by Queen Anne in 1709-10, in exchange for their hard work.
However, later on they unknowingly became pawns in a very dangerous game of war between your French king and King George I. Little did they know when they purchased their land from the Mohawk people -- and the Mohawk did own it and have the right to sell it, as they had been in possession of that part of New York for a very long time -- that the British government was putting them into peril by allowing them to settle on the frontier of New York Colony to act as a buffer.
It is very sad that they paid a heavy price for that. All they wanted to do was settle their land, which they purchased in good faith, and raise their families. What you call "justice", Fran-say, was nothing more that abject brutality and savagery perpetrated upon innocent people.
It is no wonder that most of them later became strong and faithful Patriots, devoted to creating a new nation that was free of both the French and the British!
Huzzah!! |
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