Colonial Frankenmuth 2019: The Year of the Storm

July and August are pretty busy months for me for reenacting.  From the 4th of July through the end of August I seem to live in the past and reenact the present, for I participate in seven different events over the course of that eight week time period,  bouncing between the 1770s and the 1860s.

So be prepared:  there are more reenactments and living history events to be documented.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

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Preparing to leave for Colonial Frankenmuth

Powerful storms in...

...Hastings & Frankenmuth

Have we not had some crazy weather here in the Midwest so far this year?
A bitter cold winter with minus double digit temps.
A spring filled with rain - one of the wettest springs on record.
A summer heat like we haven't had in years, just shy of a hundred degrees multiple times.
And some pretty intense summer storms.
The weekend of July 20 and 21 was one such weekend where the actual temperatures approached one hundred degrees,  and then add to that a line of severe thunderstorms with a downpouring of rain and straight-line winds.  My son spent a night and a day at the Civil War event at Charlton Park in Hastings, Michigan, only to leave a day early due to the over-bearing heat, a barrage of mosquitos, and flooding conditions that occurred there.

Arriving in
Colonial Frankenmuth.

In the opposite direction of Hastings, up in Frankenmuth - home of Greta Van Fleet (for you contemporary rockers) - another reenactment was going on, only this one was of the Revolutionary War/French & Indian War variety.  Frankenmuth is a tourist town - "Michigan's Little Bavaria" - and is known mostly for its chicken and for its Christmas super store, Bronners, which is the largest store in the world, I believe, for carrying Christmas decorations.  So we have pretty much a guaranteed large visitorship.  And on the Saturday of the event, just like in Hastings,  a nasty storm - part of the same storm that hit Charlton Park - blew through and did some extensive damage to the belongings of a number of Frankenmuth reenactors;  canvas tents were ripped, blown, and some destroyed, tent poles were snapped in two, and even trees were downed, again due to the straight line winds.
I was not able to attend either event on Saturday, but I did make it to Frankenmuth on Sunday, along with good friends Mike & Jackie, and luckily the storms had all passed by then and we had sunshine, lower temps, and low humidity - picture-perfect weather.
For this week's post I will present a photographic report:

Most of the Americans were set up on a hill and caught the brunt of the storm,  though the British were in the lowlands and didn't seem to get hit quite as hard.

Joey, Chandler, and Ross.
Ooops--- - Joey, Richard, and Mike.

Michael Scott, who goes by the name Nodin  (which means "The Wind"),  is a Native American  who is a part of the Turtle Clan of the Sault Ste. Marie  (Michigan)  Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Nodin and Joey do some trading.
I enjoy when scenarios such as this can be set up
for the public to see the way historical trading
between the natives and the whites took place.
This needs to be done more often.

The doctor is in.

Dr. Tripp performed numerous surgical procedures.
I find the medical technology of the day fascinating and enjoy watching and listening to the surgeons at work.
And we think going to surgery today is scary---!

Colonial girls.
Too many believe that historical reenacting is only for us
old folks, but there are many, many younger people who
also take part, such as these two young ladies, 
which will ensure that it stays alive.

Idle hands are the devil's workshop, as the old adage
goes.  Mistress Baxter has no idle hands as they keep 
busy knitting.  Perhaps she is making warm items for 
the coming winter, even though it is still hot in July.

I always enjoy seeing this sort of accessory.  
What a great place for your apple jack!

Battles are almost a must at any reenactment,  and Colonial Frankenmuth was not a let down.  Seeing and hearing the flint-locks flash and fire is a real treat, even for those of us who get to see and hear such a thing quite often.  And one of the battles for this event (there are four battles total over the weekend), centered on one that took place during the French & Indian War.

The Battle of Carillon, also called the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, was fought on July 8, 1758, during the French and Indian War  (also known as the Seven Years' War).

It was fought near Fort Carillon  (now known as Fort Ticonderoga)  on the shore of Lake Champlain in the frontier area between the British colony of New York and the French colony of New France.

In the battle, which took place primarily on a rise about three-quarters of a mile from the fort itself,  a French army under General Marquis de Montcalm and the Chevalier de Levis decisively defeated an overwhelmingly numerically superior force of British troops under General James Abercrombie.

The French Army frontally assaulted an entrenched British position without using field artillery, a lack that left the British and their allies vulnerable and allowed the French to win a decisive victory.

The fort, abandoned by its garrison, was captured by the British the following year, and it has been known as Fort Ticonderoga  (after its location)  ever since.

This battle gave the fort a reputation for impregnability that had an effect on future military operations in the area.

Voyageurs & frontiersmen~

42nd Regiment of Foot. The Royal Highland Regiment

The Royal Highland Regiment:
"We survived the storm of 2019!"

Mr. & Mrs. Mann of the Queen's Rangers

Not a posed picture.
Well, kinda sorta not.
Seriously - - Mike had no idea that Joey was sneaking up behind
him with a hatchet.

Sons of the American Revolution – Detroit Metropolitan Chapter:
When the SAR comes out to our reenactments, they add so much.  I always enjoy seeing them come out to our events.  
Now the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) needs to come out, too, for we need all hands on deck to help get the history of our great country out.

Everyone survived the crazy weather and most tents and accessories survived as well, though maybe a bit battered.  But we are reenactors;  I, myself, was holding my tent down during such a storm about a decade ago when a tornado was within a mile of our campsite, so, yes, I've been through it as well.
The past must go on!

Time to head back...

Any event is only as good as those who participate and what they are willing to put into it.  By that alone Colonial Frankenmuth is a fine event indeed.  Walking about the camps throughout the acreage and speaking to the other reenactors is one of those things I enjoy, for it's in this manner I can get to know others, whether patriot or loyalist (lol).  Also, I am seeing more and more of my Civil War reenactor friends are joining the era of our country's birth and finding it much to their liking.  Not that they plan to leave the 1860s, mind you, but just another time to add to their list of traveling to the past.  That's one of the reasons why I formed Citizens of the American Colonies - for my interested Civil War friends. However, I am glad to find others joining as well.
And speaking with visitors can be one of the best parts of all,  and it's those guests who had never been to a reenactment before that I enjoy talking with the most, for they remind me of a wide-eyed child filled with wonder.  Well...most of them, at least.  Yeah, you also have those who think we're bat-s*** crazy for what we do and how we dress.
And that's fine, too;  they are a challenge and usually we can win them over to some extent.

I want to thank the Massachusetts

Until next time, see you in time.

Provincial Battalion, who are a top-notch French & Indian War unit run by Brent Kemmer, for they host this event.  Sometimes they do strictly F&I events while other times, like this Frankenmuth event, it's a mix 'n' match of F&I and Rev War.  Either way the public gets a fine demonstration of America's 18th century history.
The city fathers & mothers of Frankenmuth also make all of the reenactors feel welcome and have provided a delicious chicken dinner for the Saturday participants.
Each year Colonial Frankenmuth continues on to give the tourists that little extra that maybe they weren't expecting.  In this day and age, presenting history nearly anywhere we can is a good thing.


By the way - - -
the very top picture in this week's posting is a photo-shopped photograph.
All others are as you see them.

To read a bit on colonial everyday life, click HERE
To read about life on a colonial far, please click HERE
To read first-hand accounts on the battles of Lexington & Concord, please click HERE

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