{"id":121,"date":"2012-06-28T01:59:44","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T01:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/?p=121"},"modified":"2012-06-28T02:00:56","modified_gmt":"2012-06-28T02:00:56","slug":"niagara-on-the-lake-war-of-1812-battle-reenactment-how-its-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/?p=121","title":{"rendered":"Niagara-on-the-Lake War of 1812 battle reenactment: How it\u2019s done"},"content":{"rendered":"

Niagara-on-the-Lake War of 1812 battle reenactment: How it\u2019s done<\/h1>\n
Published On Thu Jun 14 2012<\/div>\n
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\"FortFort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake was shelled and captured by the American troops during the War of 1812, who razed the town before they left.PARKS CANADA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Bill Taylor, Special to the Star<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Handy stuff, peat moss. Not only a useful aid to growing a healthy lawn, but, when it comes to blowing something up \u201creal good.\u201d Peat moss adds a great deal of the \u201creal good\u201d factor.<\/div>\n

There\u2019ll be lots of the stuff flying around Fort George during the War of 1812 bicentennial commemoration, especially at the July 14-15 naval assault on the fort (a classic battle still taught at America\u2019s elite West Point military academy), and the Oct. 12-14 celebration of the Battle of Queenston Heights.<\/p>\n

Recreating a battle on \u201carcheologically sensitive\u201d ground is tricky. For one thing, says Peter Martin, you can\u2019t dig in case you disturb a relic. That means you can\u2019t bury the explosives needed for the pyrotechnic effects.<\/p>\n

From volunteers in period uniform firing Brown Bess muskets several times a day for visitors to the fort to full-scale battle reenactments, creating the illusion of reality is all-important, says Martin, special events coordinator for Niagara National Historic Sites. That and ensuring it all goes off safely.<\/p>\n

Which is why firing a cannon in battle involves more than one big bang. Cannon were actually aimed at the ground so the solid ball would skip, rather like a flat stone across a pond, and take down as many enemy troops as possible.<\/p>\n

To simulate this, several small charges are laid in line where the ball would bounce and set off remotely with split-second timing so you\u2019d swear you were following the deadly progress of a chunk of iron. The flying peat moss that was heaped over the charges makes it even more dramatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just fireworks,\u201d says Martin, who\u2019s always ready to put on a uniform and swell the ranks as anything from a private in the Glengarry Light Infantry, a sergeant in the 41st Regiment of Foot or an officer in the Royal Engineers. \u201cWe hire experts who know how to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right first time; there are no rehearsals.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get one shot . . . literally,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Different armaments created different results. A mortar fired an explosive shell, generally fused to blow up before it hit the ground and spread mayhem among enemy troops. Martin compares it to a basketball, lobbed over obstacles with a certain amount of precision.<\/p>\n

A simulated mortar blast needs smaller, secondary detonations \u201cwith sparkly things\u201d to suggest the shell explosion.<\/p>\n

Cannonballs, he says, were more like baseballs: \u201cYour fastball, straight and hard \u2014 [They] go through everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then there were \u201chot shots,\u201d cannonballs heated until they glowed red with the aim of setting fire to buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Americans showered Fort George with hot shots and burned it to a cinder,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Ground-charges to blow up a building become complicated when no digging is allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019ve worked with the experts to use big tubes of steel. You put the charge at the bottom, fill them with peat moss and then hide them. All you see is the explosion and the flying earth; you don\u2019t think about where it came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there are the Congreve rockets, designed by Sir William Congreve and notoriously unreliable and inaccurate. But they were one of the first \u201cterror\u201d weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey screamed really loud when they were in flight,\u201d Martin says. \u201cThey were psychologically terrifying. Trying to emulate that safely is difficult. It\u2019s not nearly as straightforward as the rockets used in firework displays.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing a battle reenactment is totally different. It\u2019s not all pretty colours and \u2018ooh\u2019 and \u2018aah\u2019 and it\u2019s usually over quite quickly \u2014 boom, boom, boom, pow! But it\u2019s very spectacular.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, it has to be safe, both for the spectators and the reenactors. You may have 300 of them on the field and it has to be very clear where they can and cannot go. There\u2019s always a staff guy on hand to say, \u2018The field is clear,\u2019 before they cross.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just keeping them away from the explosions; there are holes left behind and you don\u2019t want them tripping and maybe getting injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just a pretend battle. Guys fall over and play dead, but then they get up again. The idea is for it to end without a single casualty.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the 1812 celebrations, visit http:www\/pc.gc.ca\/voyage-travel\/provinces\/intro-ontario\/1812.aspx<\/em><\/p>\n

How to fire a cannon<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the madness of battle, firing a cannon depended upon method \u2014 the same disciplined movements time after time from the gun crew, which could be as many as six men.<\/p>\n

Peter Martin explains: \u201cThe vent-man would be at the back of the cannon. He\u2019d use a long metal needle to check that the vent-hole was clear. Then a \u2018worm,\u2019 a long pole with a screw at the end would go down the barrel to pull out any debris left from the last shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen the piece would be sponged with a pole like a big Q-Tip, dipped in water. That was for cleaning the barrel and putting out any burning embers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe powder and shot would go in and be rammed down \u2014 very carefully. If the cannon went off prematurely, it could take guy\u2019s arms off. Then the vent-man used his needle to piece the powder-cartridge and insert a quill filled with powder and the cannon would be touched off with a rope soaked in saltpeter that burned rather like a cigarette.<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds complicated, but a well-trained crew could get off a shot every minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some unscrupulous commanders \u2014 \u201cNone of ours,\u201d he says \u2014 could boost that rate by omitting the safety steps. But such was the risk of a misfire that reserves waited behind the gun to take over from the inevitable casualties among the crew.<\/p>\n

Musket-fire, too, calls for a carefully disciplined display of precision.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut an experienced man can get off four shots a minute,\u201d Martin says. \u201cThe fastest I\u2019ve seen \u2014 and done myself \u2014 is 10 seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Need overnight accommodations? \u00a0Call 1-866-226-4730 for our last minute specials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Niagara-on-the-Lake War of 1812 battle reenactment: How it\u2019s done Published On Thu Jun 14 2012 Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake was shelled and captured by the American troops during the War of 1812, who razed the town before they left.PARKS CANADA … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[3,152,23,25,157,143,148,17,150,153,155,5,39,145,151,147,159,887,149,8,140,142,158,156,144,154,141,146,14],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-niagara-on-the-lake-2","tag-1812-war","tag-41st-regiment-of-foot","tag-50-reasons-to-visit-niagara-in-2012","tag-balls-falls-conservation-area","tag-battle-reenactment","tag-bill-taylor","tag-brown-bess-muskets","tag-canada","tag-cannon","tag-cannonballs","tag-congreve-rockets","tag-fallsview-casino","tag-floral-clock","tag-fort-george","tag-glengarry-light-infantry","tag-july-14-15-naval-assault-on-the-fort","tag-musket-fire","tag-niagara-falls","tag-niagara-national-historic-sites","tag-niagara-on-the-lake","tag-niagara-on-the-lake-war-of-1812-battle-reenactment","tag-parks-canada","tag-peter-martin","tag-sir-william-congreve","tag-special-to-the-star","tag-the-americans","tag-the-toronto-star-newspaper","tag-west-point-military-academy","tag-whats-happening-in-niagara-on-the-lake"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123,"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}