Fort Frederick, Maryland.

When I was about 12 or 13, my Scout troop went camping at Fort Frederick, a French-and-Indian-War era stone fort in western Maryland. Fort Frederick was the only stone fort built by the British in America during the war,(1754-1763) which is known as the "Seven Years' War" in the rest of the world. (for the rest of the world, it started in 1756) Even as a boy, I was a huge history geek, and as we toured the newly reconstructed barracks, with their hard wooden bunks and smoky-looking fireplaces, I thought it would be fun if there were some way that I could dress like a soldier of the period, and actually sleep in those cramped, rough-hewn, smoky barracks. I had never hear of historical reenacting, but I couldn't let go of the idea. Of all of American History, I was most in love with the 18th century, the late Colonial era, leading up to the American Revolution. I had a tricorn hat and a .69 caliber musket ball my Aunt and Uncle had brought me from Colonial Williamsburg, in Virginia. I would put the musket ball into a cheap plastic handlebar bag my sister had long since stopped using, and which I slung over my shoulder on a long shoestring, because it looked to me like a cartridge box, despite being a glittery red color. with my tricorn on my head, my "cartridge box" slung over my shoulder, and a walking stick that had a bend in it that made it look a bit like a musket, I'd head into the woods, carrying dispatches for General Washington, cleverly evading British patrols bent on capturing me and the important information I carried. Eventually, I grew up, lost the tricorn and the musket ball, and outgrew the blue running jacket I wore as my uniform coat, but the urge to run the woods in the guise of a Colonial Soldier never left me. Many years later, I became a Civil-War reenactor, although the Civil War was never my historical truelove. I did it, because my cousin did Civil War, and he was the only reenactor I knew, so it was the only period I had access to. I did various period, mostly casually, but I decided that I would start doing 18th century and never look back. After I became separated from my wife, I began to attend events at Fort Frederick, the same fort I'd imagined being a soldier at. At one event, I got to talking to some of the French and Indian War reenactors who were sitting on the porch of the very barracks I had toured as a scout. They were Joshua Beall's Company of the Maryland Forces; and they wore tricorns, and carried musket balls, and dressed as soldiers of the period, and slept on those horrible, wooden bunks. I couldn't join fast enough! As a member of Beall's Company, I quickly made friends who I hope to keep as friends and family for the rest of my days: we've sung together, eaten together, marched together, "fought" together, and, a year and a half ago, when one of our young men, Quinn Hoover, died in a car crash not long before his 18th birthday, we wept together. This past week,or so, two more of our members lost loved ones: Mona Hubbart's husband Andy, and Roy Najecki's brother Ronald. In all these cases, and as I've recovered from my painful accident in May, I have been repeatedly impressed with the compassion, dedication, and friendship I've received, and seen others receive. I am truly blessed by the friendships I've developed as a result of being a member of Beall's, and my associations with the French unit Compagnie Franches de la Marine, Dumas, the jacobite Appin Regiment, and the staff and volunteers at Carlyle House, in Alexandria, Virginia. As I started this post, my intention was just to talk about this past weekend, though, so let me get to that: August 23 and 24 was Fort Frederick's French and Indian War Muster weekend, and I didn't want to miss yet another event this summer, although I'm still on crutches. I decided to make period crutches, and my good frined Kyle Dalton was able to send me photos of an original pair. I finished them at about 2:30 am, the morning of the 23rd, and headed up to the fort. First, I must say that I was flattered at the reception I received from my fellow MFers, (Maryland Forces)who said that I must either love reenacting a lot, them a lot, or I must simply be nuts. I'd have to say all three are quite true! My friends were extremely supportive and helpful, given that I was having difficulty moving about, and was unable to fully participate in the events of the weekend. Friends brought me food, barrel tea, (which has been known to kill large, ugly bears, and bring small, furry animals back from the dead)and many other things I needed. My friend Brad Ireland engaged me in a tournament of Backgammon, in with I barely manged to beat him three games out of five, in a startling upset victory that I SHOULD have lost, but for sheer, dumb luck. Another friend, Tad Miller,who usually performs our Sunday Morning prayer services for us, suggested that I crutch over to the main gate of the fort with a bowl, and beg money off visitors. This sounded like fun, and so I situated myself in the gateway, and to each member of the public who passed, I'd say "Copper for an invalid, wounded in the King's service?" I was actually given a quarter, two replica French Sous, (about the equivalent of an English Shilling, and two days' pay for a Maryland Soldier of the era) and a dull musket flint. Of course, I gave the tow boys their souvenir Sous back, because they reminded me of me, and I knew those coins probably meant a lot to them. The quarter went to Fort Frederick, but I'm keeping the dull musket flint! A great many visitors took photos of me, and now I'm to appear on the Fort website! A number of the Park staff actually thanked me for begging at the gate, because it added another element of interest for the public, and made their visit more interesting and colorful. Finally, at the end of the weekend, as I was attempting to carry my gear out, I was assisted by two of the young ladies of the unit, Morgan and Elisa, who carried my gear for me out to the road, where a Ranger drove me to my car. These two young ladies, and also Maddie, were all very kind, thoughtful, and helpful to me all weekend, and I am sure that there parents are quite proud to be blessed with such daughters. Given that my two boys are now 16, I may have to talk to the girls' parents, and see how they feel about arranged marriages to my boys... Seriously, though, it's good to see that the kids of the unit are every bit as thoughtful, kind, and generous as the adults, and they do us proud as a unit! I love recreating the 18th century, and teaching and interacting with the public, but the best thing about this "hobby", is the people I have to very great honor of calling my friends. Thank you. Thank you all.

Reviewing my blog

I've just been reviewing my blog, and I see that it's been 5 (now 6) posts over about 2 years. I thought I'd comment on a few things I've posted, in the past. First, the funding for the "Governor's House", or Officers' barracks at Fort Frederick. Apparently, it was fially decided that there wasn't going to be a workable concensus, and so the funds were diverted. It looks like we won't be getting the new building, at all. Sad. On a similar note, readers may recall that I moved in October of 2011, and was excited about the small workshop building behind the house. My plan was to invite reenactor friends to work on projects, and, as individuals and a group, to teach ourselves the skills of the 18th century. The only thing delaying it was that the Landlord had a friend who was storing stuff there. When I was given the opportunity to help out a friend AND live smoewhere else cheaper, I decided to move. The day I told my Landlord, his friend came and removed about half the stuff he had stored there. I never even got to set foot inside the building. I'vew moved, and space is tighter, but I still plan to at least make sure I have project spaces, and hope to even set up a forge. I'll let you know how that goes!

I'm supposed to be packing to move, so naturally, I've decided to make a batch of hardbread, or 'biscuit'. I usually start with the recipe in Mark Tull's "The Packet", and tweak it from there. I don't follow Tully exactly, though, because he states thattwo cups of flour and a half cup of water (with half a tablespoon of salt) will make a single biscuit, 4 inches in diameter and 5/8ths inch thick, and thus half a daily ration of bread. I've found that it makes closer to four such biscuits, while still being half a ration.(at a pound a day) I decide, though, to try something else out, as well. My last batch of biscuit is now about 2 years old, about as old as the "salt junk" I have in my fridge. This is about 10 rations each of beef and pork, buried in salt and saltpetre. I had tried a bit of the beef, baked for a bit, but today, I'm trying a bit of the pork, fried in bacon grease with broken bits of two-year-old biscuit. To be honest, 2 year old pork is a little scary; I believe I had my methods correct, but if not, this could have me sick, if I eat much. (That's why I haven't even fried up half a ration) I have added nothing to the mix, just to keep it simple. It's actually not bad, so long as your definition of "not bad" allows for tough, salty pork! The pork looks fairly normal, and is about the same color as the biscuit.I can see, though, why the salt junk was usually soaked overnight, to leech out much of the salt. This will definitely be the last time I skip THAT step! The bacon grease softened the hard biscuit a bit, but there are still hard bits.both, however, are salty enough as to be almost impossible to distinguish from each other. With the proper soaking, I suppose I could do well enough, provided I also got the pease, cheese, butter, oats, etc. That were also part of the standard ration. Hmm. I' about halfway through my concoction, about 3 ounces of pork an the same of biscuit, and I think I've hit my US RDA of salt for the next two and a half decades. Forget what I said about "nor bad", this stuff is pretty much inedible. Next time, I'm doing the soaking!