Battle of Bladensburg Event 2016


This past weekend, my unit the Royal Marines and I participated in the Battle of Bladensburg in Riverdale, Maryland. The last couple of times we've attended it was either pouring down rain or your typical July Summer. This year was different; it was ...a bit warm….did I say warm? I meant hot as an oven at 450 degrees!!! 

This past weekend, all of Maryland was HOT with a heat index of 110. Too hot to be outside and too dangerous to be outside to be doing events like this. But we trudged on anyway. We packed everything we could think of for this event: water, water, ice packs, water, more ice, First Aid Kit, Food, even more ice, fans, umbrellas, 100 SPF sunblock, hats, Gatorade, and of course…6 crates of water thanks to the Museum. It seemed we were all ready for whatever the temperature had to throw at us. And surprisingly, we did hold up pretty well. We even selected the perfect shade for all 3 British Units to stay under, while the American Units stayed in the equally large shades on the other side. 

As for the visitors we were so eager to do this event for? . . . Only 7 at a time. And were mostly locals. By 11am, we all figured it was way too hot for there to be a turn out, and decided to just do our own thing while sticking to the event schedule. We had a huge picnic, did a self guided tour of the Riverdale Mansion, met Mrs. Calvert and company, and even mingled with other reenactors on the "opposing side" who were participating and trying to keep cool. 

Everything was pretty good, but by the time 3 O'clock rolled around, the heat and humidity it was getting to be too much for me (even while I was in the shade). So back indoors of the Mansion I went, and took advantage of their A/C system. HVAC never felt so good :) 











Next month is the Colonial Market Fair at George Washington's Mount Vernon. 

Updates soon to follow : ) 


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