Battle Road
British troops open fire.
“Battalion Volley,” yelled generals on saturday as hundred of muskets fired into a grouping of British regulars. Cannon and musket fire filled the air with bangs, explosions and lots of smoke as the Battle Road reenactment in Lexington at Tower Park.
Every April men, women and children get into uniform, grab their muskets and head to Lexington to take part in the Patriot’s Day reenactments and Battle Road battles that took place back in 1775. They are commemorating the first battles of the Revolutionary War.
British Drummers prepare to march.
Colonials take aim and fire. Muskets were not that accurate so firing in a straight line was the best option when trying to hit a target.
The Charlestown Militia took part in Battle Road reenactment on Saturday April 18th. They participated in Parker’s Revenge and the battle of Tower Park, which commemorates Percy’s Retreat. “General Percy was a British commander and his forces were retreating from Concord when Militia blocked them off on their way back to Charlestown,” said Tom Coots, Captain of the Charlestown Militia. According to history the British were marching to concord to take the munitions that were being stockpiled by the colonial militia. They were about 800 British soldiers who marched out of Boston at 11pm the night before, but they never made it to the munitions depot, they were stopped by about 3000 militia and the first shots were fired that April morning. “The shot heard round the world” as its been called. The Militia then chased the British all the way back to Charlestown were they camped at Charlestown Heights.
The Charlestown Militia, with Rick Young, Tom Taygan, Ryan Hayward, Capt. Tom Coots, Dan Dudley and Joe Brown.
“I have been captain of the Charlestown Militia since 2007, but I have been doing this since 1986,” said Coots. Coots is a Revere resident who loves teaching people about the American revolution. “I had always loved history as a child, but you can only get so much out a text book. When I saw the reenactments back at the bicentennial I was hooked!”
There are about 14 members of the Charlestown Militia, but only six were present at Battle of Tower park reenactment. One of the soldiers was Rick Young, Lieutenant in the Militia under Coots. Young, a resident of Charlestown also loves to teach people. “I got the history bug from my dad, who started the Charlestown Militia back in 1968,” said Young. “I would follow him to parades, ceremonies and reenactments, and loved it. When Tom started the Militia back up in 2007 (the original disbanded in 1986) I joined in.”
Dylan Potter of Lynn as part of the British, His majesty's 10th of foot, light infantry speaks with six year old Ezra Devonshire about his role in the reenactment.
Young’s goal is to show and tell people about the history Charlestown during the creating of out country. “It shows a different side of Charlestown, its shows its history and contributions to creating America,” said Young. “People don’t always see Charlestown in the best light.”
As part of the battle at Tower Park, Young was part of the Picket Guard and headed out ahead of the main militia body to harass the British and hold them off till the main body could arrive. “We get to do more guerrilla warfare stuff,” said Young.
Not everyone is in the Militia though, many people sign up to play the part of the British. People like Dylan Potter of Lynn. Potter, a young 22 year old has been dressing up and shooting at Militia men for nine years. “I saw a reenactment back in 2003 and knew I wanted to do it. I went back again in 2006 and saw the Battle Road reenactment, saw a flyer and joined up,” said Potter. “When I first saw the reenactments I was really impressed with their (British) uniforms, they were impressive and drew me right in.”
The fog of war, latterly, with all the gun powder going off it creates a fog.
According to Coots, it cost about $1200 to get set up to be a militia or British soldier. After that its not a lot of money. Some units have dues but most don’t. The people who due this do it because they love history and America. “Its a great honor to honor America’s first veterans. I like to teach people who might not know a lot about the American Revolution. A lot of higher educations don’t touch it,” said Potter.
People from all over come to watch these reenactments. There was a few thousand on Saturday to watch the Battle Road reenactments. These reenactments take you back in time and teach you what it was like to be fighiting for freedom back in 1775. As Coots said earlier there is only so much you can learn from a text book, bus seeing it live is a whole different thing.
Rick Young and his picket guard take fire from British Infantry.