Battle of Red Bank Reenactment

How to describe today's events:

The Battle of Red Bank happened sometime around October of 1777, where the Hessians attempted to take over Fort Mercer (a fort on the left bank of the Delaware River), but were defeated by the local colonial residents of New Jersey.

2015's commemoration started with me waking up at 4am to get ready for my ride that would arrive at 6:30 am. The hardest part of course was only having 3 hours of sleep after coming home at 1:00 am from an evening wedding.


After my ride arrived, my Artillery Lt. and I headed straight for New Jersey. It literally took us 2 hours with no sign of any cars or traffic. We made great time, and even got to see the sun rise.

The one thing that took me by surprise was how cold it was. I was expecting it to be a bit chillier than normal considering we were by the Delaware River, but I wasn't expecting winter weather so soon. It was a frigid 45 degrees with a 5 degree increase and 20mph windchill. It was so cold, that the knitted caplet and wool cape I wore wasn't enough. I ended up buying long knitted mitts to keep my arms warm. I also spent most of the time indoors at the main house when there wasn't a high traffic of tourists. I also had the opportunity to meet Amanda from "A Dedicated Follower of Fashion", Amanda from the Continental Unit (I forgot the name of the unit), and Crystal from the 43rd Royal Artillery (the unit above mine). It was definitely a lot of fun just walking around and mingling (something that women of the time often did dying the war, regardless of political division).

During the battle reenactment, I decided to watch from inside. The wind had picked up and the temperature dropped. So Crystal and I decided to grab the opportunity while the house was empty of tourists, to take pictures of the "gruesome" battle. 

We even did a video of it (warning, we were VERY silly). 

  

The ride back home was the complete opposite of what it was this morning. Instead of us getting back home in good time, we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic all the way from Delaware and back to Maryland. We weren't sure what was going on, but it was just flat out horrible. 

Anyway, in retrospect it was a small event, but a fun one no doubt. My unit definitely plans on going back and actually setting up like we did at the Battle of Mount Harmon and Mount Vernon. Next month, is the Battle of Iron Works Hill in Mount Holly, New Jersey. I am kind of dreading this event considering how cold it was the last time I went (and almost lost my toes due to a leak in my boot and the snow/slush). This year, I will be more prepared and wear modern boots that are water tight, as well as upgrade my cape to make it warmer. This time, I may have to buy a longer heavier wool cape from Jas. Towsend.