Battle of Quebec: 250 years on.
Sep. 20th, 2010 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sharpiefan posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
w_i_rThis is a post I wrote up about this time last year over at anything_aos on LJ, and I thought you guys might be interested in seeing something from the other side of the saftey fence... :D
On the 13 September 2009,latin_cat and sharpiefan went to Westerham to see the re-enactment of the 250th anniversary of the famous Battle of Quebec, fought in 1759 (for those whose maths is not so good!) where General Wolfe was killed.
The actual re-enactment was held at Squerryes Court, in the village of Westerham where Wolfe was born. We got there about lunchtime and parked up before walking into the village itself to see the memorial to General Wolfe.
We had lunch and walked down to Quebec House, where we had a chat with a couple of re-enactors who had a stand in the garden. We decided not to go round the house because it was full of tourists.
On arriving back at Squerryes, we found we had missed the Naval engagement, the Battle of Quiberon Bay, held on the lake. There were still ships sailing round, so we got some pictures of those.
The actual battle re-enactment was due to start at 3:30pm, and for the last twenty minutes before it began we were 'treated' to a rather boring countdown by one of the worst commentators I've heard yet. (And I'm speaking as a re-enactor myself!) Even those taking part looked bored to tears...
Finally, the French sentry spotted the British and relayed the news...
The Redcoats of the Royal American Regiment (and one or two friends...) march out to do battle with the perfidious French...
Having found the perfect field for battle, they form line and wait...
... for the French to approach
This is an era before skirmishers were a regular part of the British army. Skirmishers here were the Rangers, hired to fight on the side of the British.
The French halt a safe distance away and send their skirmishers forward to take on the Rangers.
While the skirmishers fight, the redcoats just wait. Their turn will come soon enough...
The French skirmishers fire and retreat back towards their own side.
They march towards the British line...
... pausing every now and then to fire at them.
The British just wait silently as they approach...
...till they are close enough when a volley will have a deadly effect...
They reload, then start firing platoon volleys. Each platoon (in its original meaning, a half-company of men) fires in turn, keeping up a sustained, regular, yet massed volley:
One of the French skirmishers takes a mortal wound, yet, unable to walk, he can still fire, and retreats across the field, keeping up with his comrades as best he can while still returning fire:
The British begin to push the French back, advancing across the field as their enemies retreat:
They fire a last volley...
As the British prepare to charge bayonets, the French fire a last, desperate volley and a lucky shot hits General Wolfe, the British commander:
The British have gained the field, but at what cost? Their General lies mortally wounded. He lives only long enough to hear that his men have won; the news is brought to him by a Naval officer, an observer.
The soldiers reform after the battle is over...
Of course, this only make-believe and the dead do live again:
We had an interesting chat afterwards with these two. The gentleman on the left was kind enough to let me hold his musket (a Long Land Pattern) which is much heavier and 'chunkier' and less elegant than the late Georgian India Pattern musket I use. You can't really see the muskets very well in this shot, unfortunately.
It was a very good day out, and it was an interesting experience being among the spectators. Usually, I'm one of the ones on the battlefield...e
On the 13 September 2009,
latin_cat and sharpiefan went to Westerham to see the re-enactment of the 250th anniversary of the famous Battle of Quebec, fought in 1759 (for those whose maths is not so good!) where General Wolfe was killed. The actual re-enactment was held at Squerryes Court, in the village of Westerham where Wolfe was born. We got there about lunchtime and parked up before walking into the village itself to see the memorial to General Wolfe.
We had lunch and walked down to Quebec House, where we had a chat with a couple of re-enactors who had a stand in the garden. We decided not to go round the house because it was full of tourists.
On arriving back at Squerryes, we found we had missed the Naval engagement, the Battle of Quiberon Bay, held on the lake. There were still ships sailing round, so we got some pictures of those.
The actual battle re-enactment was due to start at 3:30pm, and for the last twenty minutes before it began we were 'treated' to a rather boring countdown by one of the worst commentators I've heard yet. (And I'm speaking as a re-enactor myself!) Even those taking part looked bored to tears...
Finally, the French sentry spotted the British and relayed the news...
The Redcoats of the Royal American Regiment (and one or two friends...) march out to do battle with the perfidious French...
Having found the perfect field for battle, they form line and wait...
... for the French to approach
This is an era before skirmishers were a regular part of the British army. Skirmishers here were the Rangers, hired to fight on the side of the British.
The French halt a safe distance away and send their skirmishers forward to take on the Rangers.
While the skirmishers fight, the redcoats just wait. Their turn will come soon enough...
The French skirmishers fire and retreat back towards their own side.
They march towards the British line...
... pausing every now and then to fire at them.
The British just wait silently as they approach...
...till they are close enough when a volley will have a deadly effect...
They reload, then start firing platoon volleys. Each platoon (in its original meaning, a half-company of men) fires in turn, keeping up a sustained, regular, yet massed volley:
One of the French skirmishers takes a mortal wound, yet, unable to walk, he can still fire, and retreats across the field, keeping up with his comrades as best he can while still returning fire:
The British begin to push the French back, advancing across the field as their enemies retreat:
They fire a last volley...
As the British prepare to charge bayonets, the French fire a last, desperate volley and a lucky shot hits General Wolfe, the British commander:
The British have gained the field, but at what cost? Their General lies mortally wounded. He lives only long enough to hear that his men have won; the news is brought to him by a Naval officer, an observer.
The soldiers reform after the battle is over...
Of course, this only make-believe and the dead do live again:
We had an interesting chat afterwards with these two. The gentleman on the left was kind enough to let me hold his musket (a Long Land Pattern) which is much heavier and 'chunkier' and less elegant than the late Georgian India Pattern musket I use. You can't really see the muskets very well in this shot, unfortunately.
It was a very good day out, and it was an interesting experience being among the spectators. Usually, I'm one of the ones on the battlefield...e
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 01:56 am (UTC)I would personally love an India pattern but WOE not our period.
I'm in the market for a fowler or a carbine. If I had the $$$$ I'd go for the Pedersoli carbine, but alas .... *watches moths fly out of wallet*
The 'no bayonet' rule is a vestige of Bicentennial reenacting -- the real start of Rev War as a reeancting hobby back in the 1970's. There were a couple of infamous accidents and the ban hammer came down on firing with bayonets. The ban hammer also came down on ramrods. It used to be that all ramrods were collected at the pre-tactical safety inspection. That rule has eased up and now ramrods are allowed, but the bayonet rule is still there.
And yes, there was a FLYING RAMROD, which was the start of the original ban.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 07:57 am (UTC)Why do Pedersolis have to be so expensive?! They're good, but really, to have to spend that much on one is ridiculous. Still, you get what you pay for.
I've known of accidents with ramrods, but nobody's ever come down and said we can't use them. (Possibly because those accidents happened while in Spain...) And really, if you're trained properly and know what you're doing, you're not going to fire your ramrod off. It's always pretty easy to see who'd fired their ramrod afterwards - just check for the musket that's missing one, and go and thrash the owner!
The difference in sound between a tap-loaded round and one that's rammed with wadding on top is... pretty big. And I think that ramming is safer all round than tap-loading, which doesn't get all the powder to the bottom of the barrel - especially after firing a few shots.