Ticonderoga 2000
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Rangers, Only Paul, Bill, Ed, and I were there. Mike was going to be there but had serious car troubles and couldn't make it. I could sympathize with that, as Paul picked me up at my car repair shop where it was to be repaired.
We got there before dark and pitched tents with Neil's company, with Paul at the top of the street as Sergeant. Bill was at the bottom of the street going "primitive" with just his trek tarp. Our camp was where the French typically camp for the F&I, while the Yanks were camping where the British forces normally camp. But I like this better, as our tents were in the shade by mid-afternoon, which really helps in the heat. I cooked dinner in modern clothes, which felt really weird. But I wanted to get it done before dark. Marinated pork tenderloin ... Saturday started out really misty but the camp and the fort looked beautiful in the mist. Breakfast was late for us because we had to borrow cooking stuff -- Major Mike had it all in his car. We had a relaxing morning and I took some time to stroll through the fort. I really love this fort -- the buildings and grounds, the view, just the feel of the place. Bill Filkins wandered around with me and we found time for a photo op. The battle took place on the NW side of the fort, in the trees. I'm not sure that was the best thing for the audience as they would have had a high-level view but we would have been hidden by the trees. At any rate, it sure was fun for us compared to being on the open field on the south side. The Yanks had their backs to the fort. Their troops were spread out along open fields, in shrubs and trees and along a road.
On the British side, we had the Royal Irish Artillery who I had met at Strawbery Banke, ME earlier in the summer, Gage's Light Infantry, some Grenadiers, and others. I don't know the units well enough yet to recognized them. Neil was in charge of the Provincial forces, consisting of us King's Rangers plus a Loyalist militia company. We had 2 companies of 6 men each, and Neil asked Paul to take command of both companies, which made him Major for the weekend. Big John and Little John (our own John-Eric Nelson) were the two sergeants. We looked pretty good marching out, with all those people.
 We managed to get really spread out during the battle. We headed up a low rise through dry shrubs, including hawthorns (ouch!). The Lights were way off to our left and we were expected to go that direction but doing so would have left a huge gap on the low ridge we held. Neil asked me to run a message to the general command, asking for men to fill the void. I delivered the message but was told that the artillery would cover the gap. Neil wasn't happy with that response and so left four men from one company, including myself. But we were forced to join the other company to help with the advancing militia, and we chased them back. And then it was over. It seemed to be really short! I think we won.
Dinner and the evening were low-key. Chauncey disappeared and Sarah came out to cook a stew. It was fairly cool that night and I bundled up in a blanket. We had a few visitor and a quiet time around the campfire. Sunday, as we were in formation, a few people with cameras came around and took close-up shots of some people's faces. They photographed Big John, Little John, me, and others, and I recognized one of them from the filming for the F&I battle this past June. I spoke to him and indeed he was part of that crew. It turns out they were filming more for the same film on Ticonderoga, and they were going to use the head-shots they just took as part of the advertising. They said the production would be aired next March on PBS. Can't wait to see that!!
Sunday's battle was much like Saturday's, except that the Royal Irish Artillery were boycotting because, they said, the general command didn't know how to deploy artillery. We were in the shrubs as before, but this time we got caught by one of the Doodle's units that surprised us, and we all basically had to die. Our position in the trees limited my ability to see anything else about the battle, and I really don't know what happened, except that we lost (as we were scheduled to do). And then, as usual, we packed and left. Otherwise, it was a quiet weekend. At this point, I can feel that my first season is near ending; there is only an event at Fort 4 and the Lake George Tactical. I hope I see you all at one or both! YHOS, Pvt. Chauncey |
