Wholesome park.

 Hole park!  Some would say the flagship event of the Napoleonic association calender each year.. obviously missed in 2020 how would it go in this post-covid but not really post-covid autumn?

I think the sudden panic about petrol probably effected the weekend more than any pandemic issues.. with some late arrivals and early departures and possibly a few would be visitors staying at home, you really can't get there except by car. 

Being outside covid might never have existed, except for sanitizer in the portaloos and a bit around food, and no longer do bottles get passed around the camp fire, which is probably a good thing on many levels. 

I actually decided a few days before to put on a display table and found someone coming along who would kindly bring a fold out table as I certainly couldn't manage one and three bags on the train part of getting there, and got some pictures/information laminated. 

"What is the parsnip for?" May well have been the most common question of the weekend, usually answered with "Oh, that is for my dinner later."

"What, really?"

I actually thought it would be a conversation piece, but in practical terms it was also a good paper weight. 

No one guessed what the most common ailment in the French army was (scabies), dysentery or syphilis being a common guess and 'Lice' one of the closest. 

The display could of course be left unattended but I felt I had a bit too much spare time at Crouch ridge and then not enough here, I had to wait until the public were distracted by an artillery display to sneak off to the ice cream van. 

Whether I will do a display in future is uncertain, and table dependent, our infirmiere/surgeon already runs a grand display when he is with us although I was mindful of how I cover sickness, disease and medicine more than surgery, yet people do love to ask about bits being chopped off.

It was a good crowd, and the chap who owns the estate was very pleased with the weekend with talk of making the event bigger. I'm not quite sure how that would work, make it a multi period event or add something like an evening concert?

My British counterpart possibly being offered a cup of tea. My other roles of the weekend included Imperial coffee valet and returner of lost cavalry pom poms. 

The battles were in a smaller area than normal for Hole park but there were some wooden barricades and a little faux wood to break up the field. 

Casualties were taken generously on both sides but as a 'medic' I was quite limited in who I could reach owing to the firing lines, a Napoleonic no man's land. 

                

                      "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

Sunday being a French defeat, the last survivors withdraw with the Eagle! 

A novel part of the weekend was the after hours (i.e. no public) skirmish off away from the camp. I was asked to be a secret agent 'Ducos' type character that the British had to capture. If we survived an hour we could make it back to the French camp.

There were eight of us in a wood, and two cavalry, just outside and I decided if the enemy came from the front, half of us should fire and retire and hopefully lure the British into an ambush by the second half. 

After about fifteen minutes of suspense we heard the British band playing and assumed the sound was carrying from the camp as surely our opposing force would be about ten riflemen? They weren't going to have a band playing! but soon the sound was clearly coming in our direction. 

Our piquet line started firing at enemy in the trees as the British cavalry met ours.

Soon I had to fall back and seek shelter, with my attached guard, Simon. 

The cavalry met again near us and it was a memorable sight to see light cavalry fighting amid the trees. The Brits rode away but may have seen us.

Suddenly Brits seemed to be everywhere and running round the top of the wood I got collared. 

Crikey. No wonder our plan floundered. The Brits had about twelve riflemen, 3 officers, twenty redcoats, two cavalry and a cannon and crew! I suspect they had just assigned a brigade to it.

              

 Enemy observation balloon?

I certainly don't think it was a deliberate mismatch as I heard the British continue to look for 'the rest of us' after we had been disposed of.

I then laid on the comedy as it was decided I was such a rascal that I would be shot. 

I obliged by walking away, then just before the order to fire was given collapsed into the long grass, then ran away to the left.

No one gave chase but on another order to fire I collapsed into the long grass and threw my hat into the air. Then again lying on my back with one leg briefly being lifted up that was seen as my death throes.

Once again my trousers died, both flap buttons! I think an evening of fine dinning and a regency dance is more their thing... Three days in camp and on battlefields is beyond them. I intend to sew the whole area shut with strong thread. 

       Make Britain French again! 

The picture above, and indeed all the really good, high definition ones, are by Charlie Richards of Hushpuppy productions. 

And so it was the end of a season, three events, all good ones. The tea and biscuits grandeur of Stanstead house, the windswept rise of Crouch ridge and the estuary and the lively timetable of Holepark with it's dashing horsemen and host of friendly faces. 

Who knows what the future brings? It would be niiiice to see some of our continental comrades next year, small scale events have been going ahead but only within their own borders.  So many events (not just reenactment) have been postponed twice that maybe it will be a busy year, third time lucky.

The parsnip survived the weekend. 

                See you on the other side! 

Crouch ridge

Stanstead was a fine start to a season but the first big Napoleonic association event was here, in Essex, at Crouch ridge. 

It was a modest turnout and everyone had taken a covid test and it was outdoors. Sadly pingmageddon had hit some units, one after a training event took down most of the regiment. The French would outnumber the British for a change.

It started off wet but the wizard J'Ohn used fire magic to stop the rain by ten o'clock, it worked bar a couple of very brief showers.

He would also summon me a pint when the beer tent.. well, beer gazebo.. proved to only take cash! I know we dress like people from a previous age but....

    Top of the ridge looking down to the estuary of the river crouch, of all the places the French might have been driven into by bad weather... It was fortunately right on a vineyard! 

I would be joined in medical matters by the infirmiere, Tony, who is a great showman with a display of medical tools, bones, leeches and severed limbs strewn about. We came to a good pair up where he is the surgeon's assistant who learnt everything in the field and has stepped up as the surgeon is.. missing. Whilst I am the university taught Doctor who deals more with sickness, disease and everyday ailments (Although see below). 

I must confess I enjoyed sitting In the Imperial tent with Napoleon and a couple of staff and having a glass of wine, a lunch time tipple, but I will ALWAYS remember that I fought barefoot in my youth in the muddy fields of Valmy! 

Me, second rank, 37th man in from the right. 

The enemy approach from the camp, we must steel ourselves for the fight! It apparently looked great with the French appearing from nowhere on the ridge.

Both days battles went really well (bar some confusion after a unit decided it would die and disrupt the rough plan on day one). The downward slope meant the French could come down into a natural amphitheatre. Spliting into two main groups we could advance in a pincer movement down to the British and now we have the 2eme as a group of dedicated skirmishers they can contain the usual interference from the inevitable riflemen. 

  Said troops tried to get behind us on day two by going into the field but this was unfortunately off limits as a farmers field. Our officer is a great leader who did of course rise from being a trooper "Oi, get out of the f*cking field. It's not ours.... Chris, tell them to Fu*k off!"   

In the second battle I got to draw my sword to stand by the Eagle as the unit moved a little further away.   Shortly after that three of the 60th rifles tried to charge the flank and I found myself in hand to hand combat, cutting a greenjacket down. Then moments later trying to treat his wound, at least I already knew where it was. 

       The dead and wounded in the tall grass                     receive assorted treatments.

                             Rocket troupe! 

Only moments after getting back a very keen member of public started plying me with questions, until my voice started to dry out, but it was still enjoyable to see someone so intrigued by our display and also as an Essex man, he became open to the idea that the French/Napoleon did bring some good changes to Europe and the Brits were not the avenging angels at all. 

One casualty of the second day was my fall front trousers (so called because of a square flap at the front), literally as the 'assemblé' was sounded for the battle I had a wardrobe malfunction, the second of my buttons decided to give up and I had to improvise with a length of bandage being tied around my waist. War is very hard on the trousers. 

I have over a month to sort that out as the next event isn't until September at Fort Amherst, pings nonwithstanding.

Vive L'emporeur!

Stanstead park

 After nearly two years since the last event.. green lights have been given to several shows.. this being the first, hosted by the light dragoons. 

It was at Stanstead park, a country house with connections to Lord Ponsonby, the cavalry commander killed at Waterloo.  It was the estates first open day since covid too.

It would be my debut as a Westphalian doctor attached to the French brigade, after a few years of pondering a role where drill is not required. It was perhaps apt that I nearly had to leave the house in a cloak after struggling to get a coat on, but just managed amidst gnashing of teeth. 

After so long it was amazing how quickly old habits and routines re-asserted themselves with everyone.

The troops marched out to go through the moves and I remained to look after the camp with a few other non-soldats.

I wanted to champion the age as one of medical improvements and the beginning of the modern era... But engaging with the public I soon had to resort to humorous opening lines "Vaccinations here, your choice of knife." *Holds up small scalpel or fairly large curved knife* or just (still holding scalpel) "Have you had your vaccinations?" 

 People often know about Edward Jenner and it's a quick jump to mentioning the Napoleonic connection. The two met and Napoleon gave him a medal to recognise his scientific achievements. 

I had expected more of a partisan crowd given that it was a very 'British' occasion, with cricket, the band of the Grenadier guards and the looming football game but surprisingly there were relatively few 'French jokes'. 

The first modest battle.. a brief clash of cavalry then our two French infantry units versus two British. 

My plan was to dash to casualties, check they were not dead (and soon started asking if they wanted to stay dead, which was most often answered with a yes)..  and apply my tourniquet with it's corkscrew tightening device which I hoped looked intriguing, then reveal a clean bandage before swapping it out for a bloody one. I may even start hiding one up my sleeve for some sleight of hand action.

It went pretty much as intended except I found the straps needed tightening as arms are deceptively narrow. 

The French were meant to win but apparently no one told the British and there is a point where someone has to give or it all looks a bit silly as no one is dying/running away. 

This was put right on day two when the British were actually defeated.. on a Sunday!

       The sophistication of reenactment.
 

                                Er.... yes. 

How was the experience of being a Doctor compared to a fusilier?  

I had a bit more time on my hands but then this was often taken with talking to people by a small display of medicines and paraphernalia. 

I felt I didn't see as much of my comrades as usual, the comraderie is more apparent when you're marching and fighting together, and firing a well loaded musket is always satisfyingly.

But the freer reign was also pleasant at times and a British officer even bought me a drink! 

As with many events at country houses I got to enjoy a stroll around the grounds before the general public were about. 

An enjoyable weekend, only a bit wet to start off with, and it looks highly likely that a bigger event will be held there next year. 

..and speaking of bigger events it is only a little over a week to Crouch ridge, Essex, where Napoleon and a ship full of French troops have been blown ashore to be confronted near the estuary where the ships are being repaired.. 

Watch this space!

 

 

2020; CANCELLED.

                                       CANCELLED.

So for reenactment 2020 was pretty much a non event.

For the optimistic it went 'Maybe August will be okay.. September?  October?. Oh dear.'

I did plan on going to Austerlitz at the very end of November in Czechia (as the former Czech republic is apparently now known) but first UK travellers were banned, Then it was okay, then quarantine was imposed and unlikely undone in time so I cut my loses, with both sadness and relief, it is not a great time to be mixing it up and expected attendance at the event (not including public) had gone from 1000 to 3000 as event starved reenactors saw a big date that might be actually happening. At this moment I don't know if it still will. 

At the time of writing I have my doubts about 2021, it's like we've gone back to March in terms of rising infection numbers, international travel has ground to a halt again for many places unless you want to spend a fortnight each side of your trip in quarantine. I have heard the 200 years since the death of Napoleon event in St Helena has already been pulled.

How have we coped!? Some folk had zoom meetings, with most participants kitted up, some camped out in their own gardens particularly to mark big cancelled events like Waterloo. I only did a few zooms during lockdown, I find the stop - start -whose - talking? lack of social cues thing rather awkward. 

Some concentrated on making or researching kit and equipment for next year... See more below..

Me at virtual Bretten 2020. Just like it but without the crowds of people taking part, parades, (more than one) beer, food, markets, music, fireworks, and properly seeing friends in person, and not being in Baden-Württemberg. 

Friends. That is the main loss, none of my reenactment friends are local. Every year it's great to catch up and enjoy the social side of things. 

The closest I got to camping out was an overnight cycling excursion on the south downs  with a fair amount of Napoleonic gear for bedding and wearing a flouncy shirt.

In the brief glimmer of improved times there were actually a few events, one with redcoats and jacobites and one with Vikings that I know of, but the public were limited and at social distancing range and generally given a one way system to wander around the event.  

My own research has been in Napoleonic medical matters, much is made of the gruesome surgery of the day and that has been a part but I have mainly concentrated on the role of Doctors, not surgeons, so disease more than wounds although being generally overwhelmed by casualties most army doctors may well have had to roll up their sleeves and join in the bandaging, cutting and sawing.

If covid had come along in 1810.. It probably would not be recognised except as just another fever, such was the terrible mortality rate to sickness that we should all be thankful that covid isn't a patch on typhus or Smallpox which killed millions. Typhus killed more French soldiers in late 1806 Then the battle of Austerlitz itself due to the perfect storm of malnourished men being packed together in squalid conditions, for we know now that it is spread by tiks and parasites from one warm body to another. 

Stop there!  This is not a talk on contagions. Where was I? 

So what of 2021?  We will just have to see how the winter goes and of course hope for a vaccine.

 One suggestion has been more events without the public, which are more common in France, where to my observation it seems events are either over civilised with big hats at chateaux on what I call the champagne circuit or else it's out in the wilds stomping through the countryside, hoping to find some water. Here in the UK most events seem to be a partnership between the given reenactment society and some estate/museum/landlord who hosts the event in return for punters paying at the door. 

Smaller events like the two mentioned above could be a template, keeping visitors in their bubbles, but a bigger area for viewing a battle would be needed, possibly having spectators on three sides instead of one to spread them out. 

But what of the troops themselves? In an age where soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder could you get away with everyone in skirmish order? Or trust in declarations of not having symptoms? The trouble is you don't always know if you've got it until the symptoms come out. Maybe have a camp site re-enacting a camp site where cholera is present and where the chief medical officer is a contagionists (The contemporary term for those who believed in the theory of human contagion versus the anticontagionists) with historically correct face coverings and precautions in place.  Maybe! 

Who knows, maybe in 2120 people will be re-enacting the covid years. 

Ciao for now.

To the Netherlands in a big hat.

Wuustwezel! (Vurst-veezel) just up the road from Hoogstraaten In deepest Belgium. Promised another fantastic event from Ron Van Dyck.

As the last huzzah of the year, with not many 45eme going and me wanting to give drill/Musketry a rest for the reasons put in the previous post I pondered what I could go as..

 Journalist maybe? But I rather wanted to be in the battles which looked like they'd be interesting, with cavalry, barricades and pyros.. too good to be in a role where I mainly kneel down and fail to finish drawing anything. Hey, stand still!

I had Austrian officers kit I'd never made use of, on the French side it was passibly close to the Westphalian eighth regiment but without epaulettes and with the blue collar somewhat faded.. but with a rainy weekend predicted I'd just wear a greatcoat over it.
Narrative wise I was an orphan, the flotsam and jetsam of the eighth regiment disbanded after Leipzig. I'd never met/heard of anyone reenacting the Westphalian army. So one of the first things I was told on arrival was 'Oooh there's another Westphalian over there!'

Earlier it was up to London to stay with good friends then a Channel tunnel crossing and drive with three reenactors in a mini, which proved a bit longer than predicted. *Understatement* and the closer we got the worse the rain.. fortunately other than raining on the parade it was mainly in the early hours/morning.

The battlefield, both sides of the tree lined path, which had a nice ditch for skirmishers to fire from and us to leap across in retreat.

Wuustwezel by night, the church is the local landmark which we passed on the way to a/the restaurant, a change from bread and cheese.

As officer without portfolio I felt I had to balance the impression of being useful with retaining an air of dignity. The air of dignity was probably more important and when I took a place on the far left as our unit lined up with the rest of the French army it transpired a Caporal was meant to take this place as guide a gauche. so I smartly took a step forward.. only to find myself one pace in front of the entire army, I couldn't really push back through so turned on my heels and marched along the front of half the army to get one end and walk back to just behind where I'd started. I think it worked.
By the end of the weekend myself and this corporal had a great rapport for me stepping out of his way just as he was two paces from it.

The strangest thing about the role was in my mind I was about nineteen, I was the expendible ensign from Sharpe, even if other officers were about the same age they were the veterans who could doubtless order three platoons to do three different things at once, I mainly just stabbed people.

And stab people I did on the Sunday, or rather cut at them in telegraphed slow motion.
 Having not done much on Saturday I felt I might as well assist against any close  assaults including to neighbouring units, and the soldiers were willingly defeated, indeed a theme of the weekend was when a unit knew it was to lose, especially the Prussians and Dutch they would go down like nine pins. One volley was comically effective in turning nearly a whole unit into a heap of groaning bodies.
It was a really good natured event.

I had fully planned to die after falling back to the barricades but after one big attack from the allies the Dutch commanding officer called for a parley, and one senior and one junior officer appeared in no man's land, our General strode out to meet them, on his own? Should he not also be flanked by an attending officer for the sake of etiquette and moral support? I found myself as ADC, not that any ADCing was required.
I thought we might yet refuse to surrender, but a truce was agreed, there would be no final assault. I would live!

It was then straight from the battle to the camp, a flurry of hugs and handshakes, and to the car for a quick get away!

And so the year ends. The possibility of an event in Corsica was broached and some talk about Russia! Mental calender is already filling up. I just need to win the lottery and retire to it full time (tough when you only do the lottery about twice a year).

I feel 2020 is going to see some big events!

A lighter shade of bleu...

Way back in the spring of 2018 Quatra Bras was my first event of the year after a winter where my shoulder had 'frozen'.  The muscle plate was like stiff, scarred leather but the general prognosis was of getting better after two, or three years, hopefully, maybe.

The foggy nights in Belgium that weekend didn't help and when we started doing drill  I pondered if I should take up another role. I simply couldn't make all the shapes.
But it wasn't so bad at later events, and I soldiered on, until drill at Cheriton suddenly agitated something.

What to do? Of course we do this for enjoyment, my officer was first to point that out, if someone can't do something, nevermind. It's a hobby.

But at Quatra Bras after that drill we had been by the roadside when the Marshal had appeared, quickly we drew together and presented arms! The salute. Except I had a twinge in my shoulder and transferred the weight to my other hand for a moment or two.
Click. A picture later appeared on Facebook deriding the unit for not saluting properly. Of course I'd like to get that guy's head and crack it against a table until it also hurt, but he will never know that there was a reason for me holding my musket like that. I don't know what his problem with the rest of the unit was, maybe his protractor was stuck up his arse and he couldn't measure the angles properly, or maybe he was upset that he had to go more than five miles from Paris and the champagne and truffles parade circuit.
Even with a note from matron I'd rather not be the only one in the unit going to Porte arms differently to everyone else.

We already have a very good medical display from our infirmiere, there are other camp roles like traders, or my journalist impression or running an illicit gambling set up or being some administrative/political post or what about being even a proper regency era painter with canvases and an easel etc?
Or take the chance to do something obscure (especially in the UK) like a Bavarian cartography officer or a Westphalian pontoniere?  These would need to be tailor made and have the disadvantage of only being apt for the French side from 1805/7 to 1813.

Also I'd still like to take to the field and do some fighting.
Voltigeur? I didn't want to diffuse the appearance of the 45eme any more, we need a measure of uniformity and things are looking good, plus you should really still be in the ranks doing the same drill.. I needed to be attached to the 45eme and yet not..

A supply role? Logistics would also give me something to talk about, the sheer amount needed just for a gun battery is quite astounding. Every infantry battalion had two supply wagons attached.

The uniform for the artillery train, the train d'equipages (general supply) and the Ambulance drivers is very similar and with a cover over my shako I could easily adapt my look to each as required. Each was issued a musket or carbine and could fight, defending a gun position in the artillery role or helping and protecting our Infirmiere as an Ambulance man.

Research! Research! Research! Napoleon's specialist troops' from Osprey and the book below was very good for all sorts of supply/support services. 

One of the key factors was eliminating oddities, like one book that described Ambulance drivers as having brown trousers, something which doesn't tally anywhere else. 

I will keep all my fusilier kit for campaign events and for those events where we are sometimes short of troops, particularly firers.
So the project for this winter is to get this impression together with its curious mix of infantry and cavalry style gear, although the wagon and horses will have to wait a bit.

Twenty nineteen.

Crisis!  This blog has somewhat fallen aside this year, I was writing up every event because I liked to keep a record, a diary, of every event for future recollection.
But it does feel like repeating oneself sometimes. I missed three events due to having my appendix out, then cracking a rib, so a recap of those I managed to get to..

Horsham Bastille Day!

A big French market of cakes and pastries and saucion and, er, vegetables..  and gallic attractions such as a band, vintage cars, our comrades in the children of the revolution with their guillotine display and ourselves made up this festival in small town England.

It was surprisingly civil and full of genuine interest, with only one awful bloke who seemed to channel the spirit of top gear repleat with making offensive jokes then saying 'only joking!'. I volunteer this man for the guillotine.

The unit had been here years ago for similar events at the behest of a French cafe/restaurant, and we had been at the museum for their Waterloo 200 event.

Cheriton multiperiod!

Hosted by the Sealed knot (English civil war) with added medieval, Napoleonic and some American civil war shenanigans it was the first large multiperiod event I'd been to for a while, not far from Winchester, and apparently not easy to find if driving around the country roads.

It was a tightly packed schedule with us waiting at one point whilst the medieval  display over ran with us clearly twiddling our thumbs and coughing. As one battle ended the next lot were ready to march in. Unless British of course.

The Sunday battle really was like this.

The parliamentarians, or possibly the Royalists, push forward. I never can tell unless Prince Rupert is involved.

Grössbeeren!

To Berlin.. the battle of Grössbeeren took place in August 1813 when Napoleon sent Oudinot to capture Berlin and hopefully knock Prussia out of the war. It failed. Terrible rainy weather and the geography of lakes and sandy soil turned the advance into a crawl and a Prussian and Swedish army met the French and Saxons here, who wavered and turned back. Berlin was saved! And every year this event is on, including a big fun fair, craft stalls, the camp, a torchlit parade, a battle, and fireworks.

Napoleon's hat from Waterloo, now in the German history museum.

Anyone for medicine? Good for what ails ye. You can always trust a man in a top hat and bare feet. I should have asked if he had anything for mosquito bites.

The King's Thaler!  Given to all by the Bürgemeister at the commemoration on Sunday morning. After which things pretty much wrapped up for the weekend, giving me most of a surprise day before my flight.

The great Silesian Landwehr before the Bülow monument.

'Our bones will bleach outside Berlin, before we take a step backwards!'

2019 is not done with quite yet, we have a small contingent going to Wuustwezel (in Belgium, although it sounds like it should be in Holland) in a couple of weeks for what promises to be a grand event from the organisers of Hoogstraaten 2014. Once more into the low countries...