by Jim Barnes
On April 1st and 2nd, Linda and I attended the annual School of the Longhunter at Pricketts Fort near Fairmont, WV. (https://www.prickettsfort.org/) This a yearly symposium style event that provides expert speakers on various aspects of 18th Century life in this area as well as hands-on demonstrations of pioneer skills and other fun and informative activities. It is always also an opportunity to see old friends and make new ones.
WWII- July 15-17, “Berwick WWII Weekend 2022, The Home of the Stuart Tank!! -Friday, Saturday, Sunday, July 15-17, -Riverfront Test Track Park, Berwick (South Eaton Street, Berwick, Pa.) Informal Public Hours 2 p.m – 5 p.m Friday 7/15 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday Free Admission, -Set up starts Friday,...
Civil War – June 17-19, 2022. 160th Civil War Anniversary event. “Storm in the Ozarks”.Location: Jackson Farm Highway 117 Between Black Rock and Smithville Arkansas. Civilian Reenactor intense Weekend. Living History Encampment. Keynote Historian Presentations. Authentic Reenactment of the Skirmish on James McKinney Farm (Smithville Arka...
Two additions to the events schedule: 18th Century – Labor Day weekend, Fort Henry Days, Oglebay Park, Wheeling, WV. http://forthenrydays.org/ 18th Century- October 14, 15 and 16. Fort Ligonier Days, Ligonier, PA. https://fortligonierdays.com/ ...
All listed events are tentative pending Covid restrictions, government rulings, etc. Several events have not yet posted their schedules. February 2022 18th Century – February 25-27. Prickett’s Fort, Prickett’s Fort State Park, Fairmont, WV. 18th Century Firearms and Accoutrements Show. http://www.prickettsfortstatepark.com/event...
The weekend of October 16-17 saw the resumption of the reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek after a year off due to Covid. Linda and I joined the 7th Louisiana Co B. for the event. An old friend from “Gods and Generals,” Tony Morgan, was our commander. ...
On the weekend of June 25-27, the Fort Loudon Historical Society had their annual 18th Century market fair. I believe that this was the third such event for this group and was, by all accounts, the largest. This was due in no small part to the canceling of the much larger Fort Frederick event earlier […] ...
All listed events are tentative pending Covid restrictions, government rulings, etc. February 2021 18th Century – February 26-27. Prickett’s Fort, Prickett’s Fort State Park, Fairmont, WV. 18th Century Firearms and Accoutrements Show. http://www.prickettsfortstatepark.com/events.html March 2021 Timeline – March ? No info a...
After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, Pricketts Fort, (near Fairmont, West Virginia) held its School of the Longhunter, which is largely a symposium on various aspects of life on the 18th century frontier. This year, due to ongoing restrictions, all aspects of the event were held outside of the visitors’ center in and […] ...
I know that I have been pretty quiet as of late. The situation with Covid restrictions has been tough to assess. They seem to be loosening up in some areas and some groups are finally starting to plan events. There are other questions that I have heard expressed by concerned reenactors. Will Cancel Culture put […] ...
We all know that this reenacting season has been pretty much a wash. Linda and I decided to regard this as a “rebuilding year” and just work on our impressions. In an effort to keep our skills sharp and see what needs repaired or improved, we have set aside an area in our backyard to […] ...
I learned today that the Tidioute Remagen Bridge reenactment has been cancelled, although this may be partly because the organizers have heard that the Reading Airshow may be moved to that date. How everything shakes out remains to be seen. At least we have books to read. Book Review: Sacred Ties Sacred Ties by Tom […] ...
It isn’t exactly news at this point, but just about every event that I know about through June has been cancelled or postponed. Since we have no idea whether we will have much of a reenacting season, or whether we will have one at all, I will try to put in some historically related posts […] ...
This is what we have so far: January 2020 WWI – January 10-12, 2020: “Fortifying the Line” (Unit Sponsored Event) (Hosted by Fusilier Regiment 90). Time period: Early 1915. Event held at the Caesar Krauss Great War Memorial Site, Newville, PA. http://www.greatwarassociation.com/Schedule.html ...
The reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek was held over the weekend of October 19-20. Since I hadn’t fallen in with the Confederates at a larger event, I decided to do so this time. I have known Tony Morgan since the days of filming ‘Gods and Generals,’ and he was pleased to have us […] ...
On the weekend of October 12-13, Ligonier, PA celebrates Fort Ligonier Days commemorating the 1758 siege of the British fort by French and Indian forces. My wife and I joined up with Les Compagnies Franches de la Marine du Contrecouer, which recreates one of the French Marine regiments garrisoned at Fort Duquesne. I as a […] ...
The Fort Henry Days celebration is held at Oglebay Park near Wheeling, WV every Labor Day weekend. The original Fort Henry, built in June 1774, was not erected by any specific plan or design, but was one of a number of similar forts built to protect settlers on the frontier in the middle years of […] ...
D-Day Reenactment 2019 We have been less active this summer due to my wife having her arm broken when our new neighbor’s large dog attacked her. She was finally up to making it out to an event in August albeit with her arm in a sling. So, we journeyed up to Ohio for the reenactment […] ...
The 25th Annual School of the Longhunter was held at Pricketts Fort, 88 State Park Road, Fairmont, WV 26554 As usual, the speakers were excellent and the event was worthy of it’s anniversary status. ...
June 2019 18th Century – June 1&2, “for the Defence of this Province”: Artillery and Musketry. Fort Frederick, MD. http://www.friendsoffortfrederick.info/calendar.htm WWII – June 7-8-9, Reading Air Show, Reading Airport, Reading, PA. http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html Civil War – June 8-9, Old Bedford Village, Bedford, ...
Here is a quick overview of events that we didn’t cover in individual articles. April 6-8. School of the Longhunter – Prickett’s Fort, near Fairmont, WV. This is a very informative seminar on life on the frontier in the 18th Century. Subjects can vary from an enlightening discussion on the life of Simon Girty to […] ...
Here is what we have so far: January 2019 WWI – Jan 11-13, 2019: “The Calm Before the Storm”(Hosted by FR 90 (German). Time period: Winter 1917-18. Event held at the Caesar Krauss Great War Memorial Site, Newville, PA. http://www.greatwarassociation.com/Schedule.html ...
On Sunday, September 2, we took part the reenactment of the 1777 siege of Fort Henry by Native American allies of the British. Scenarios alternated through the weekend as the Saturday battle featured the 1792 attack by natives as well as British regulars and Loyalists. Sunday’s battle reenacted the 1777 event, in which the attackers […...
On the weekend August 11-12, 2018, we and other members of the 28th Infantry, Co. K (reenacted) , set up a WWII living history camp at the National Pike Steam,Gas and Horse Association show at the Association’s property off Rt. 40 outside of Brownsville, PA. ...
On the weekend f August 4-5, we took part in the WWII reenactment of the taking of the Ludendorff Bridge, recalled in Ken Hechler’s book, “The Bridge at Remagen,” which was in early March 1945. It was one of two remaining bridges across the river Rhine in Germany when it was captured during the Battle of Remagen by United States Army ...
This year the Battle of the Bulge Reenactment at Fort Indiantown Gap was held a week later than usual – from January 31 to February 4th. The weather for the event was predictably cold, but there was no snow to speak of. We spent most of our time portraying German volunteers and Volkssturm in charge […] ...
This past year has been an interesting one to say the least. Here is a recap of what we have done since April. We attended the Lantern tour at the Grafton National Cemetery in Grafton which contains 2100 internments, including 1252 Civil War soldiers. I delivered General Black Jack Logan’s address of May 5, 1868 to […] ...
Here is what we have so far for the coming year through April. January 2018 WWI – Jan 12-14, 2018: “Bathelémont: Baptism of Fire”(Hosted by FR 90 (German) and the 18th RI (French)). Time period: November 1917. Event held at the Caesar Krauss Great War Memorial Site, Newville, PA. http://www.greatwarassociation.com/Schedule.html WWII R...
Our site was recently hacked and an unauthorized person posted an article on it. Apologies to all about this. Editor ...
Here is a last minute addition to the events calendar that I just got around to adding. Sounds interesting. 18th Century – October 28-29, 18th Century Scottish festival. Campbellton Landing, Fayetteville, NC. https://www.caledonianfest.com/ ...
One of my favorite events is the Fort Frederick Market Fair. This event held annually at Fort Frederick State Park. This is a Maryland state park surrounding the restored Fort Frederick, a star fort active in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. The market fair is a combination reenactor’s shopping mall […] ...
April brings showers and on April 6-8 of this year, it also brought the School of the Longhunter which takes place at Prickett’s Fort near Fairmont, WV on an annual basis. This encampment/symposium is an interesting and informative event with a lot to offer for the Colonial era reenactor/living historian. This year’s presentations inclu...
This annual reenactment/living history event was held from January 25 through the 28th at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. As usual, it was a great opportunity to see some outstanding impressions, visit with old friends and shop at the many vendors who came to sell their wares at the event. As usual, we assisted at […] ...
This is a month late, but better late than never. The following is a quick summary of events we attended last year: Our first event of the year was at Fort Indiantown Gap for the annual Battle of the Bulge Reenactment, sponsored by the WWII Historical Association. We take part in the Axis hospital […] ...
Below are the events on which we currently have information. More to follow. January 2017 WWII – Battle of the Bulge Reenactment, January 25- 29. Ft. Indiantown Gap PA. Contact: http://www.wwiiha.org/new/index.php/fig February 2017 WWII – Elbe River Event, February 18, Old Bedford Village, Bedford, PA. regardless of the weather as usua...
The USS Arizona during the attack* Today is the 75th Anniversary of the “Day of Infamy,” as President Roosevelt described it. During a period in which our country and it’s history are beset with enemies from without and within, it is important those Americans who lost their lives in this attack and the brave response […] ...
This year’s Reading event was blessed with reasonably good weather for the first couple of days. The third was another story – more on that later. The 193rd was again out in the farthest reaches of the airport grounds, with a US group largely hiding us from view, but we still got a good […] ...
The Grafton Lantern Tour is a memorial to the hundreds of Civil War soldiers buried in the Grafton National Cemetery located in Grafton, Taylor County, W.Va. This cemetery is a particularly appropriate location for such a memorial. “In 1867, Maj. R. C. Bates was ordered by the War Department to locate a permanent burial site […] ...
Fort Frederick State Park is a Maryland State Park surrounding the restored Fort Frederick, a star fort active in the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and the American Revolution (1775-1783). The fort served as a refuge for settlers and was originally garrisoned by the 60th Regiment of foot and local militia. It was never directly […] ...
There are numerous stories and legends about the origin of Memorial Day that have grown up over the last 150-odd years. From the freedmen of Charleston, SC, who cleaned up and landscaped the burial grounds of 257 Union prisoners of war buried at the Hampton Park Race course and then held a memorial service for […] ...
Prickett’s Fort, near Fairmont, WV, held its annual School of the Longhunter once again this year and as usual, it was an excellent event. According to the official website, “Pricketts Fort, constructed in 1774, provided a place of refuge from American Indian attack for early settlers. It was built at the confluence of Pricketts Creek...
