By TORY DENIS
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CHARLESTOWN — Two militias brought the Revolutionary War era in New England back life over the weekend in Charlestown at The Fort at No. 4 with firing and artillery demonstrations, encampments inside the fort, and colonial displays throughout Saturday and Sunday for visitors.
Wendy Baker, museum director at the Fort at No. 4, said on Saturday that the militia comes to Charlestown about twice a year to put on the demonstrations.
“They’re a hoot,” she said.
The group travels to Charlestown once a year for the garrison weekend in July, and once more in September.
On Saturday, a fire was burning steadily in the small oven inside the 1750s-era kitchen. Sliced cold cuts and vegetables were spread out over a table inside one of the rooms of the fort for several militia members “nooning,” or partaking in a noon-time meal. About 16 militia members were taking part in the living history weekend, including Laurie Farkas and her son Sandor Farkas of Haydenville, Massachusetts. Sandor has been participating, with his mother in tow, since he was 11 or 12 years old, he said. Sandor took part for so many years, that eventually, “I just stayed,” Laurie said.
The UTA is always recruiting new membership. Youth can join with a parent, or at 18 years old without a parent.
Outdoors, visitors milled around the fort’s multiple connected buildings, while re-enactors dined in the shade, artillery set up nearby for an upcoming battle re-enactment. The meal planned for Saturday evening was a Colonial Williamsburg recipe, a rich stew.
Dick Davis of Littleton, Massachusetts, a member of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment, and Kitty Tyler of Merrimack, New Hampshire, a member of both that regiment and the UTA, were outdoors greeting visitors and having a noon meal on Saturday. Tyler said that when she is with the 1st N.H. Regiment, she portrays a woman, but when she is with the UTA, she portrays a cannoneer.
Tyler said the fees collected by the museum during Living History Weekend and other events helps the museum with needed roof repair.
“They could use a lot more people coming out,” she said. “They need the support so they can keep this place maintained.”
The Fort at No. 4 is an independent, nonprofit, open air museum: It does not receive any state or federal support. The museum is supported through admission, grants, donations, and volunteers.
The fort, in Plantation No. 4 (Charlestown), is an open-air museum where once stood the northwestern-most village within the British colonies in North America from 1735 until 1761.
Baker said that the Abenaki people trading in town warned the residents of the plantation that the British would be invading, and were not “keeping agreements.” The people of No. 4 asked for help from the Massachusetts colonies, and they voted to create the fortification in Charlestown, strengthening the plantation.
The United Train of Artillery and the 1st New Hampshire Regiment both took part in the Fort at No. 4’s Living History Weekend on Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22, setting up camp in the fort, preparing meals, answering questions and giving demonstrations.
The Providence, Rhode Island-based UTA is a reenactment militia committed to educating the public about the Revolutionary War and colonial life in New England.
Joe Giammarco is a captain with the UTA out of Providence. Giammarco said that in the Revolution era being re-enacted, he would not have been firing any cannons or artillery, but would have overseen the militia members as they did so. Giammarco said that in 1906-1908, when the National Guard was formed, the founders went to local militias and “talked about the advantages” of joining the guard.
The first question the militias asked, he said, was “Can we still elect our own officers?” The answer was “No.”
Some decided to join — but others, like the UTA, all said “Thanks, we’ll continue on as militia,” Giammarco said.
Eventually, he said, militia “was obsolete,” but still participated ceremonially, such as escorts and cannon salutes. Some are now independent charters, some run museums, and some do fife and drum companies and re-enactments, he said.
The UTA has been visiting the Charlestown area on and off for at least the past 20 years, he said.
Demonstrations included formation and cannon drill, cannon-fire, artillery and small arms; Colonial Surveyor, and cooking.
The museum is open through the first weekend of November with events, tours, workshops, lectures, and static displays. The next Living History Weekend is scheduled for Sept. 15-16. For more information, visit www.unitedtrainofartillery.weebly.com. For more information on the Fort at No. 4, visit http://www.fortat4.org.
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