Under the Redcoat is a yearly reenactment hosted by Colonial Williamsburg that effectively brings history to life. The reenactment occurs at the end of June, the same time the Redcoats actually descended upon the quiet town of Williamsburg from June 25 to July 4, 1781, bringing it under martial law for nearly a week. As guests, we have an entire weekend to have fun with the Redcoats torturing them with the possibility that they might be able to arrest us, just to pop the password on them, which ensures that we have control over how much "play" we participate with the reenactment.
Seriously though, this is a vivid opportunity to comprehend our history readings of occupied cities suffering under martial law. For them there was no password for ease of escape. We might understand an aspect of that when reading a book or watching a movie, but going through this weekend, our senses are hightened as to what the citizens of Williamsburg (and others) have endured. It gets to the point where my kids and I seek quiet shelter to avoid the Redcoats. Join me as I recreate that weekend, for you to experience our experiences and emotions through this photojournal. Along the way we learned a few facts, dispelling some myths (the audacious Banastre Tarleton should thank me for this.)
The kids and I arrived one beautiful Friday morning, to meet some friends in the historic area. The skies were sunny. The weather wasn't too warm. Our friends were charming as always. What could possibly go wrong? After all in 1781, Williamsburg is a quiet little hamlet on Virginia's middle peninsula. The flurry of activity at the capitol has moved to Richmond Towne. With the burgesses went the hustle and bustle. Between that and the war, the economy is not good. Not so many taverns are open in town anymore. The bulk of the war has been fought in the north and to the south. We've heard news that Lafayette has come to Virginia with his dragoons to seek out the turncoat, Benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold did occupy the town a few months before, in the spring. He is gone now. Hopefully Lafayette will find him. We've heard that the dreaded Banastre Tarleton is in the area. Surely we will be safe here.
To our dismay, we soon hear shouts that the Redcoats are coming. We are all rushed to the Capitol to gather. The Redcoats menacingly march in and surround us, guarding us with their guns, while the dreaded Banastre Tarleton arrives.
Audaciously Banastre Tarleton informs us that he has liberated the town.
If I'm liberated, why do I feel so threatened?
Brashly Tarleton reads the orders that explain the rules of occupation. Then he had the audacity to call a boy from the crowd and give him a copy of the orders to post on his family's front door! Of course the boy didn't understand, so he was impressed, to the townspeoples' chagrin!
They left and the town seemed safely quiet again. However we had been told more of the troops would arrive that afternoon. Oh my. As I watched them arrive up the street I felt impending doom. It seemed a bit cinematic to hear the doomsday beat of the drums. Were there drums? I felt drums going off in my heart, sinking to my stomach. Banastre Tarleton and his dragoons were in the lead, looming from the distance, at the end of the Duke of Gloucester Street. Behind him were scores of Redcoats and camp followers. It seemed surreal. With my heart in my throat, I didn't think to snap pictures until the last minute, from an angle, when they were upon me, which isn't as dramatic as when I saw them straight ahead from afar.
The dragoons...
The audacious Banastre Tarleton...
The Redcoats...
The Hessians...
More Redcoats...
Tarleton kept reminding the crowds that we should pay proper homage to the British troops, then he'd shout, "Hip, hip, huzzah!" to which we yelled "booooooo," causing Tarleton to shake his head. He must have been thinking, "It's going to be a long weekend."
That evening I got my hands on a copy of the book, The Greatest Lawyer that Ever Lived: Patrick Henry at the Bar of History. In case I had any down time in the historic area the next day, I decided to pack it in my basket. I'd be in costume with my kids and if the Redcoats dared to search my basket, it would give them a bit of angst. If they are going to pick on me, then I'm quite up to the task of torturing them with some patriotic ferver, then when things get rough, I would subtly slip the password into my speech so I could be freed. This could be fun! ;)
The next morning we arrived and...there they were, en masse, receiving their orders for the day.
We snuck away to check out their encampment...
After walking through the encampment,
we were greeted by Patrick Henry and I was interviewed by Best of the Road! The interviewer nodded his head to the British troops as he asked me if my husband was at war. We had a nice conversation while a camera whirred away. That was certainly a unique experience! Colonial Williamsburg is in a contest for Most Patriotic Small Town, which I wrote about at the above link.
Walking the back streets to avoid arrest by the Redcoats, we saw some friends and said hi. Our ultimate goal was to avoid Redcoats yet find an open store for some items that I needed, but none of them were open yet. We waited on the corner of Botetourt and Duke of Gloucester, in front of Tarpley's, innocently minding our business. All the trouble we have ever had was around the encampments, during the previous UTRs. We were perfectly safe in our shady spot, waiting for the store to open. Our confidence wavered as several Redcoats approached and asked why we were loitering. Loitering? Harshly he reminded me that the town was under martial law. I was speechless. My basket was sitting on the ground and one of the soldiers started rifling through it. Would he find the Patrick Henry book? He only poked the end of his rifle into it when we heard a shout come from behind us. "Leave them alone! They are trustworthy!" It was the coachman for St. George Tucker coming to our rescue! He had his horses, Brigadier and General at the hitching post on Botetourt, waiting for the next customers for his landau. Some of the soldiers yelled back to him, "How do we know we can trust you?" and they walked over to him while we yelled thanks to him. Meanwhile one of the soldiers, who had stayed with us, whispered to me, "You do know the password, don't you?" After we escaped that incident, the soldiers gleefully went in pursuit of other potential prisoners.
Finally Tarpleys opened. Immediately some Redcoats walked in. Oh brother. Well, there were things I needed so we walked in to find the proprietress talking about their selection of Creamware, patterned after Queen Charlotte's dishes. Wow! She was playing it safe. I have never had a presentation on Creamware when walking into Tarpley's before. Also, I am collecting the Creamware, myself. Queen Charlotte has good taste!
While I was in the back of the store, I saw some Redcoats approach my son and lead him outside. Oh dear. I abandoned my shopping and ran outside to find them going through the usual questioning. Where was my son's pass? How old was he? No! They are not enlisting him in their army! One of us blurted out the password and to their chagrin, they had to respectfully back off. My daughter exclaimed, "Didn't you just pick on us when we were across the street?" No, they hadn't seen us before. I replied, "Really? I thought you were part of that first group. All of you look the same." Uh oh, that was the wrong thing to say. I hastily pushed my kids into Tarpleys and we completed our shopping without further incident.
Later that morning, Banastre Tarleton led his dragoons and Redoats down the street to assemble at the Capitol.
Lord Cornwallis came out on the balcony of the Capitol for a short speech.
Afterwards we were privileged to watch the dragoon demonstration, led by the arrogant Banastre Tarleton. He taught us about the job of the dragoons, which is to be the eyes and ears, always aware, able to report important information to the commanders.
Then we attended a review of Cornwallis and the troops.
Later we went to the museum to listen to Banastre Tarleton talk about his background and to defend is case. A rumor has been going around accusing him of things he has not done. He insisted that he is not the blood thirsty destructive individual that the rumor reports. Tarleton presented the evidence, primary source documents...his letters relating his battlefield experiences of how he captured the American colors at the Battle of the Waxhaws.
He also mentioned his disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Cowpens. That's a topic he prefers to avoid in conversation. His case is convincing. He admits to being "Swift! Vigilant! Bold!" Yes, he is arrogant, but "Butcher" he is not.
Later we went to the Courthouse to ask the generals and Col Tarleton questions about the occupation. As bothersome as the Redcoats can be, as audacious as I thought Tarleton was, the generals were really full of themselves, to the point of full blown irritation. I had several points of contention with Lord Cornwallis. I came quite close to challenging him on a few of his remarks, yet I hesitated because one of his aides rudely informed us before we began that they would tolerate no insubordination. My challenging Lord Cornwallis might have been seen as insubordination.
Someone asked Lord Cornwallis what would happen to us after the war, as in what punishments we would receive, if the British won. He told us that the British *would* defiinitely win. At that time, all patriots would be found, taken from their homes, and hung for treason. Really? It is said that 1/3 of Americans were patriot. He's going to hang 1/3 of the citizenry? The process of identifying patriots could become a witch hunt, like Salem in the late 17th century...like McCarthy in the 1950's. Even without that "little" scenario, what would the hanging of 1/3 of the population do to America's morale, among the remaining Tories and undecideds. I'm sure at that point, the 1/3 undecided would most certainly choose a side, most likely not to the King's liking. Of course Cornwallis didn't have the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War to learn from, but the implications are worse. Cornwallis' attitude is not the way to restore colonies to the Crown. I was so frustrated, that I was telling my kids all this after we left the Courthouse but they kept telling me, "Shh! The Redcoats might overhear you."
At the end of the day we watched the review of the troops.
The next morning we attended a drumhead church service at the Capitol, attended by Banastre Tarleton and his dragoons...
the Redcoats...
A drumhead church service is performed when the troops are on the move and cannot attend church in a building where the minister stands at the pulpit. While on the move, the minister stands behind drums.
We had been nearly arrested numerous times by the Redcoats. Another memorable interrogation was when we walked the back streets and saw the Hessian guards ahead. I quickly reviewed my limited German. Hmmm,
Auf Wiedersehen popped into my head. I couldn't remember what that meant. I remembered it from the "Sound of Music." It's the song the children sing at the dance. I tried running through the song quickly in my head when one of the Hessians stopped us. In broken English, with the German accent, I was asked if we had our passes, to which I replied "
Non." Oops! I replied in Latin instead of German. Think, think. Then he asked if I had contraband in my basket. My Patrick Henry book was in the van. No contraband that day. I replied, "
Nein." The Hessian asked me to lift the cover to my basket. I lifted my chintz fabric. He peered in. Disappointed, he let me pass on. "
Danke shon," I thankfully replied as we walked off.
In the afternoon we watched the grand feasting of the officers. I asked her about all of the dishes and she was quite helpful in naming them, though I've forgotten many of them. I had missed the bigger feast the day before, since I had attended Banastre Tarleton's talk.
After patrolling the streets, Banastre Tarleton went to the Courthouse. We were able to sneak in to overhear him and the generals plot to capture Lafayette. While strategizing, Lord Cornwallis' aide brought up the problems with The Battle of Cowpens, which Tarleton lost. The stung Tarleton requested they not talk about that. The aide quickly and rudely reprimanded him. Tarleton humbly admitted he had been put in his place. The generals were not at all settling well with me. They kept bragging that they were gentlemen, but I wasn't seeing it.
At the end of the day, the British left, on a mission to capture Lafayette. The occupation of Williamsburg has ended.
