F&I Grand Encampment at Fort Ticonderoga |
|
Historical Information Press Coverage Photos
|
|
|
|
This of course was the reenactment of the 1758 campaign in which Lord Howe was shot by a sniper and
with his death went all the hopes and dreams of the British troops. Though they attacked Fort Carillon
(Ticonderoga) with vastly superior forces, the lack of leadership on the British side and the strong defenses
on the French side around the fort resulted in
enormous carnage of the British troops and their eventual withdrawal, after losing most of the Black Watch.
We marched from the preparatory meeting in the high school down Lord Howe Street to the battlefield. We joined up with another much smaller "green" group of Rangers (as opposed to Gorhams' and James Rogers' Rangers in black), then split into two companies. My company scouted out in advance at the bottom of a hill, "doing the Ranger crouching thing" (as they put it!). The film crew from last winter was there--this time in semi-18C clothing--and I hope to see us on film again. Anyway, as I moved onto the hill doing the Ranger crouching thing and we moved into position on the far side of the hill, my hair stood up on the back of my neck as I thought, ohmygod, this is where it really happened, this is really it. This is so amazing!!
Our backs were to the north, with the French facing us from the south, because in the real thing 243 years ago, a party of French were accidentally cut off from their return from Lake George to the Saw Mill at Fort Carillon, and thus they met the English heading northward. (How do I know that? Click here to learn more.)
The battle came off almost exactly as planned. John-Eric Nelson was Lord
Howe and when leading the attack on the French up the hill, took a hit from
Cliff Bearor in spectacular style and died gloriously.
Ohmygod, did that
look fabulous! (See the attached photo -- notice his sword in mid-air.)
I'm glad I was watching at that moment. John -- well done!! We rangers were
on the far right flank and angled up the hill. The leader of the company I
was with was fairly incompetent ("Make ready, fire." Umm, how about
"present" -- you know, aim the musket somewhere??) but fortunately we
coalesced together with the second company for which our own Major was
giving the right commands. We moved at an angle up the hill to flank the
French while the regulars were doing the same on the left side, and pinched
the French forces on the high ground. The French took heavy casualties
(ohmygod, the French are actually taking hits for a change), and the battle
was over in short order.
From there we marched into town for dinner. We were supposed to go along the main street through town for a parade but -- being Rangers -- Horst led us the back way, so we got to the food they provided long before anyone else.
|
|
That evening we were joined by one of our two new recruits: Blake Fowler. Blake was going to be at our annual meeting in March but couldn't make it. He now works at Fort 4. Earlier that day, we were joined by another new recruit, Jack Chandler, who volunteers at Fort 4. When Blake showed up, I thought to myself, ohmygod, two new recruits! We must be doing something right. Jack unfortunately had little brothers in the Indian camp and so he and Blake were captured, and either run through the gauntlet tied to a tree to be burned (as shown here), several times during the weekend. A white girl adopted by the Indians felt sorry enough for Blake to give him a nose ring and her phone number.
Saturday was hot and sticky in the morning but the clouds didn't look good. We drilled for awhile and worked out the kinks and bends that our wheeling suffers from, practiced the new and improved F&I drill (really, Jonas, I think you make it up each time), and refreshed our memories about doing turns and extensions. Then we had an impromptu rolling part and rolled loads of tubes for Sarge to fill later. Now THAT was a great idea.
We formed up for battle and another ohmygod -- I could NOT believe how many
of us there were: Paul, Bill, Blake, Bob, Craig, Dan, Dave S., Ed G., Ed
R., Eric, Evan, Fred H., George, Ian, Jack, Jay, Jim, Jonas, Mark, Mel,
Sean, Travis, and myself. Brett was there as a powder monkey. We looked GOOD!
Unfortunately, the Major wasn't with us in the field, as he was ill. Paul
stood in his place and wore the Major's sash, and did a fine job. We were
joined by two others just for the weekend, so we had 26 going into the
field. Our two corporals for the weekend were Sean and Jay. And then, we
stood in formation at the top of a small rise at the far end of the field
and so had an amazing view of all the forces. Looking down the line of
Brits was a very impressive site. I think everyone agreed this was one of
the largest contingents of both British and French that had ever been
there.
We headed out through the grass, as usual, and then had to stop part way
down the field to wait for the battle to begin (the ambulance hadn't
arrived). The French Indians didn't know we were required to wait and moved
forward to engage the British militia, and kept going far enough that they
flanked us and were practically at our backs. That was a bit frustrating
because we had orders to stay facing the field, or at least at an angle, and
so the Indians stayed behind us. Jonas single-handedly held them off (being
an Indian himself and therefore less restricted by the need to stay in
position). At about the time the battle finally commenced, it started to
drizzle. I was grateful we had been told to wear regimentals that day. We
moved forward as usual, through the grass, firing on the milice and Indians,
when we were beyond the tree line and at the bottom of the hill. It started
drizzling harder as the battle went on. We moved forward, and back, and
Stoney (Bob Stone) took a hit as did a few others. A few of our Rangers rushed the hill
to fire on them and emulate Lord Howe, but the French weren't ready for it
and didn't fire back. Ian ended up right on them and one milice fought Ian
in hand-to-hand combat, which, unfortunately, is a no-no. Ian died.
The battle, fortunately, was over not long after that, as most of the muskets were getting too wet to fire. I'm sorry that I never really know what the regulars are doing, and can never describe anything else about the battle. I'm also not clear about who won, but I was told we lost this battle with overwhelming forces -- thus a continuation of the real Lord Howe scenario.
Saturday night, Chauncey disappeared and Sarah came out. With the help of Kerry and Jonas, and everyone else pitching in, we dined like kings on pot roast with gravy from the dutch oven, tons of veggies, and a huge loaf of bread from the fort. And blueberry cobbler for desert, thanks to Jim S. Unfortunately, it rained on and off while we were cooking, and not long after dinner, the skies opened and it poured. We all huddled under the kitchen fly or in a tent, and looked out say, ohmygod it's coming down so hard you can't even see Mt. Defiance! It stopped about 8:30 but by then things were pretty wet and people weren't too interested in being out and about. I was told one of the Herschman boys closed down the Belching Pig at an early hour, before midnight!
Sunday morning we formed up and marched to the fort for our picture. I'm really sorry more of you weren't there, as we had so many people who were. It was impressive. Fingers crossed that we get some good photos out of it!
 These are my rangers (or most of them, plus two new recruits), the best bunch of people you could ask for!! Back row (standing), left to right: Jonas Sanchez, Bob Stone, Travis Fitzgerald, Mel Walts, Fred Herschman, George Herschman, Jim Spring, Evan Williamson, Ed Gagnon, Jack Chandler, Craig Villeneuve, Jay Fiedler, Major Mike Fitzgerald Front row (kneeling), left to right: Sgt. Paul Stevens, Brett Williamson, Blake Fowler, Mark Pellatier, Ed Radowitch, Chauncey Goodrich, Dave Shaw, Eric Toriello, Dan Williamson, Bill Filkins, Ian Fiedler, Cpl. Sean Kavanaugh. Absent: Alec Asten, Dave Granton, Loren Harris, Jim Hayes, John Nelson (who was there as Commander in Chief and Lord Howe), John Santos |
The battle Sunday was a bit more fun, as we started out at the top of the field and shortly after it started, we rushed forward over a small rise and into a ditch to take on the French milice. I'm not sure if they were ready for it, but the crowd loved it. We moved to the right on the field away from the crowd as we kept going and the milice moved opposite us. The "black" Rangers (James Rogers' Coy. and Gorham's Rangers) were all grouped together to our left and made a charge forward up the rise of us just as the French artillery fired and most of them went down. Our front rank rushed to pull back the bodies while the second rank kept firing at the French. Then the regulars came and and again I missed all that. And somehow, again, we lost the battle. But we were dry and had a lot more fun. And that was that!
Click on the images below to see the pictures and descriptions.
Other high points of the weekend were getting to see my dear friends from the MacWilliam Clan, Seamus and Malcolm, and Timothy and the rest. Uncle Quasi was nowhere to be seen, though. I also got to see Sue and Rob Rowell and their children Ali and Flint, the Cheney family, Wayne and Jason Mee (Jason was going French this weekend), Horst Dresler, and many others.
|
Finally, I was sporting my new powder horn, carved for me by Seamus, in the style of Rangers' carver John Bush. |
Well, I'm sorry the rest of you weren't there. Hope to see you soon.
YHOS,
Pvt. Chauncey
aka Sarah