Tolland Soldier at Old Sturbridge Village "Redcoats & Rebels Reenactment" Aug. 4-5

OSV Revolutionary War reenactment is New England’s largest

Visitors can attend both days for the price of one

 To watch a click this link: Redcoats & Rebels video

Tolland resident Sal Carmosino (at left in photos) is one of 800 soldier reenactors participating in Old Sturbridge Village’s Redcoats &Rebels Revolutionary War event on August 4-5. He is a member of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, and will be marching with the Sixth Connecticut Regiment for this event. Redcoats & Rebels  is the largest such reenactment in New England, attracting 7,000 spectators over the course of the weekend. The highlights of each day are the realistic mock battles and skirmishes fought between the Colonial and British troops and their allies. Visitors can also see cannon and musket demonstrations, marching and drilling, fife and drum music, and they can see what life was really like for the soldiers in camp. Since Old Sturbridge Village offers a free return visit within 10 days, visitors can attend both days of the event for the price of one. Redcoats & Rebels admission also includes free parking and extended evening hours on Saturday, Aug. 5, when the Village stays open until 8:00 p.m. for the popular "Twilight Encampment," a chance for visitors to mingle with and talk to the soldiers around their campfires. For details, visit www.osv.org or call 800-SEE-1830.

The Continental victory in the Revolutionary War was due in large part to the help of the Colonial allies. Two units participating in Redcoats & Rebels this year portray French troops who helped the Americans win: Regiment Bourbonnais and Regiment de Sainte Onge. Both can be identified by their distinctive white uniforms.

"With hundreds of people in authentic uniforms and costumes bustling about among our historic homes and buildings, the Village really comes alive during this weekend," notes Jim O'Brien, coordinator of special events at Old Sturbridge Village. "And with 200 acres, no street lights and no traffic noise or other modern distractions, the Village is the perfect setting for a large reenactment like this."

Old Sturbridge Village celebrates New England life in the 1830s and is one of the largest living history museums in the country.  The museum is open daily 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. seven days a week.  OSV offers free parking and a free return visit within 10 days. Admission: $24; seniors $22; children 3-17, $8; children 2 and under, free. Woo Card subscribers get $5 off adult daytime admission; college Woo cardholders receive $12 off adult daytime admission. For times and details of all OSV activities visit: www.osv.org or call 1-800-SEE-1830.

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Sidebar:

Reenactors are living history experts -

Soldiers eat, sleep, live and breathe Revolutionary War lifestyle

Forget history textbooks with boring dates and dry facts. One of the best (and most memorable) ways to learn about the Revolutionary War is to talk to a military reenactor. Most of the soldiers in the Redcoats & Rebels event at Old Sturbridge Village on Aug. 4-5 have meticulously researched the Revolutionary War history of the actual units they portray.

These amateur historians can tell you what it feels like to fire a musket or cannon, what the food tasted like, what it sounds like in battle, and how hot the uniforms were. And they know lots of interesting, little-known facts about military life when our country was young. Consider:

• Grenadiers were the "shock and awe" troops of the British Army. Large, imposing men were recruited for these units, and they wore helmets with tall, bushy bearskin plumes to appear even bigger and more fearsome. They also carried swords.

• Why do British uniform trousers have baggy seats? Soldiers need the extra room when they drop to one knee to aim and fire. Otherwise their pant seams would split!

• There were more uniforms than just "Redcoats" and "Bluecoats" in the Revolution. Some British units wore yellow, others white, some wore blue coats trimmed with red, and other coats were trimmed in green. Some reenactors confess to choosing to portray British soldiers because of the fancier uniforms.

• The British 29th Regiment of Foot – an infantry unit – earned the gruesome nickname "The Vein Openers" for drawing first blood at the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770 during the lead-up to the Revolution.

• The Lexington Minute Men did not actually fight at the Battle of Lexington. The unit that faced off against the British troops on April 19, 1775 was known as the Lexington Training Band. Lexington did not have a minute man company at that time.

• One Continental Army general, Rhode Island's Nathanial Greene, lost every major battle in the south, but he won the campaign simply by letting the British chase him - thus exhausting them and making them quarter in Yorktown, where the war ended.

• The Musick (fifes and drums) played an important role on both the Redcoat and the Rebel sides, relaying the officers’ commands, which would otherwise be hard to hear amidst the crash of musket volleys and thunder of artillery. The Musick also communicated what was happening when not in battle, from the crack-of-dawn Musicians’ Call to the evening Taptoo (Taps). Favorite calls for the soldiers on both sides were Mess Call and the seemingly all-too-rare Pay Call.

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