July 7, 1777 was the date of the Battle of Hubbardton where British Troops under General John Burgoyne caught up with and in an early morning battle defeated Colonial Troops under the command of General Arthur St. Clair. To be a part of this reenactment on the exact spot, day, and time 225 years later was a gas! I've always been fascinated by the Hubbardton Battle as it's the only Revolutionary War Battle fought within the State of Vermont and being a Native Vermonter, how could I not be?

Sue and I took the afternoon off on July 5 and drove up to the battlefield site to set up our tent. John & Rebecca were already there and we added our monster museum wedge to the tent line. The site was beautiful, both camps, Colonial and British were set up on opposite corners of a very large field with the Historic Site on one side and a big cornfield on the other. As night fell we built a fire and cooked some steaks and shared a meal with John and Rebecca and wondered when the rest of the Regiment would show. As it happened they didn't come until Saturday morning so without the Kitchen fly to pitch our evening was cut short by a strong rain that swooped down onto us quite suddenly. Bed time came early to say the least!

Saturday Morning dawned on what may be recalled as the Battle of the Porta-Johns. For some reason the organizers of the event, even though they were expecting 1000 reenactors and as many or more spectators, only had 9 Porta-Johns in place. These were overtaxed by early Saturday morning and clean up not expected until 4:00 p.m. Things got ugly and the Park personnel wouldn't allow Reenactors to use the facilities in the visitors center, that wasn't entirely unreasonable as the septic system for the Center just isn't designed for that kind of volume, even so, words were exchanged and tempers flared. It became necessary for two of our British Commanders to go and explain the facts of life to the staff and point out that the battle wasn't going to happen if the British left. The light was seen, trucks with additional (20 or more) Porta-Johns arrived and disaster was averted. Things got much more pleasant after that.

We did a tactical on Saturday afternoon and I must say the Doodles were in fine form. Their volleys were impressive and tight and I felt at some point I'd have to take a hit to reward them. We were in line with the Lights from the 20^th Regiment when the guy next to me took a hit. "You shot Orvis!" I cried, J. P. Barber next to me yelled "You rotten Bastards!" and we both raised our muskets and fired at the dastardly rebels. Later as we maneuvered down the field towards that crowd they unleashed another impressive volley at us and I gave them credit for it by throwing myself backward screaming to the ground. Now normally when you take a hit the battle passes you by and things are quiet and peaceful. Not so this time, for some reason the two lines came back and forth across my spot several times with me being caught in the middle with my hands over my ears during the volleys, it was quite loud to say the least. It also caused a pile of dead and wounded around me of soldiers from both sides to collect. In between volleys we dead and wounded shared our water and chatted. One of the Rebel wounded near me looked over and said "You know, earlier this morning we were all getting along just fine in camp and now look what happened!". The battle ended and resurrected we rejoined our units and did our march by the crowd with our colors.

Later I committed a faux pas with some tourists who were visiting us at our kitchen tent. Reenactors love to talk to the public and share our interest and enthusiasm with them. However sometimes the questions we get asked are unbelievable. Someday I think I'll list them all for amusement. Anyway, I was chatting with a man and his two daughters when he said "In the actual war your camp and the American camp wouldn't be this close." I responded "No, but fortunately they are downwind of us." Well, he took offense and turned on his heel and was off. Oh well, not everyone appreciates my wit!

Saturday night brought a memorial service for the men who fell there 225 years earlier which all units participated in, words of remembrance were spoken and the artillery batteries fired multiple rounds in honor of the fallen.

After the service the 20^th Regiment had a bit of a soiree at their kitchen fly for all officers and sister regiments. Captain Izzy, who is chef in real life, provided excellent and tasty tidbits. However we retired early as the drums were to roll at about 4:30 a.m. to get us up and out for the battle.

In the original fight the British had made an all night forced march to catch the Rebels so contact and battle took place in the wee morning hours. Hence the British were tired and pissed off, and so were we at having to get up so early and march a few miles to get into position. I was saved some of the misery by Sue (my wife) who got up with me, boiled up a pot of coffee, and ran along beside me as I trotted to formation so I could hand the mug back to her before I was in the ranks. Officers frown of coffee drinking in the ranks, rat bastards!

Thus fortified with caffeine I marched off in the column to get into position on the other side of the hill from whence the British came 225 years before. It took some time to march to our embarkation point and then we advanced towards the wooded slope we needed to make our way up with the Rebels defending the top. We joked that the battle being so early, 5:30 a.m. that there'd be no spectators. We were wrong. Later when we did get to the crest of the hill and looked down there was a huge crowd!

Then our advance guard began to engage forward Rebel elements and the battle began. It had rained the night before so there was a low fog and the ground and tall grass was wet. An interesting effect with the first part of the battle going on up on the hillside out of sight with the black powder smoke sliding down the hill low over the ground and out of the trees toward us. It was an interesting sight! The unpleasant hour was forgotten.

Then we made our way up through the woods to a stone wall at the top and began firing on the Rebels in the field below, we pushed them back down the hill and to their surprise a regiment of Hessians sprang out of the woods on the Rebels right flank and poured murderous fire into them. Hessians, even reenactor Hessians, are a deadly and tightly disciplined group. It's impressive to watch them in action. The Baron in charge of them got separated from them and was too near a group of Rebels so we were ordered to run down and provide him with a bodyguard which was just as well, it was so damp and we'd gotten really wet coming up through the trees and brush that it was difficult to keep our muskets firing.Finally the Rebels were forced off the field and surrendered. The battle was over and the Crown Forces, with the force of right and good behind them, were once again victorious on this battlefield

The sun had risen at this point but wasn't having much effect on the dampness, it looked liked a copper penny low in the sky. Only the next day did we find out that it was being blocked by smoke from huge forest fires up in Quebec. This was a bit of a problem as our tents had gotten wet in the rain the night before and took a long time to dry out.

Hubbardton is a rigorous and physically challenging reenactment to do. The terrain that has to be covered is rough and steep and the battle is always fought at the original time which is rightly called an "ungodly hour". Yet afterwards there is a sense of accomplishment and some reflection on what it was like for the men on both sides 225 years before who fought the battle for real.

We'll be there next year.