This was a Brigade Napoleon Grande Tactique event held at Endview Plantation, a Newport News city park.  The site is on a 1660 land grant.  The plantation house, which is still standing and has been occupied from 1740 to 1998, dates from 1740.

The event was attended by the 95^th Rifles, 88^th Foot (Connaught Rangers), 42^nd Royal Highland Regiment, 2^nd Pomeranian Landwehr, 3eme Regiment de Ligne, 3eme Hussards and 3eme Cuirassiers.  A special attendee was Mark Schneider from Colonial Williamsburg.  Mark portrayed an Imperial Guard Chasseur a Cheval on Saturday, and the Emperor Napoleon on Sunday.  Both impressions were superb.

The 95^th Rifles were represented by Dan & Cathy Cripps, John Dittamo, Bill Goumas, Rich Miller and Jim Tate.  We were also joined by our new recruit, Jonathan Bettancourt.  Although he wasn’t able to assemble his equipment, Jonathan was able to meet everyone, to see our kit, and learn firsthand how we operate at events.  He was able to spend all Saturday with us.  John Dittamo managed the mess arrangements for the weekend.  Cathy Cripps provided lunch food each day.

This was a living history event with a tactical demonstration and uniform demonstration each day.  Saturday also had a Regency dance demonstration for both reenactors and the public.  The 3eme Regiment de Ligne had their new 3 pounder French field gun on display for the first time.  As they practiced their gun drill, they could show the spectators the loading procedure for a Napoleonic field gun.

There was a morning parade each day to assemble all the units.  After a safety inspection and announcements, the units returned to their camps to greet spectators.  The 95^th Rifles had a display of firearms assembled by Dan Cripps.  Included in this display was a matchlock gun, a Brown Bess musket, an 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle and a Baker rifle.  Because of the large number of military bases in the area, the weapons and equipment display generated a great deal of interest.

The tactical demonstrations took the form of a small unit scenario.  In this scenario, a wood cutting party was surprised by a scouting party.  The resulting skirmish showed the close order tactics of line infantry and the open order tactics of rifle and voltigeur skirmishers.  The Saturday tactical was ably narrated by Ted Sahlin of the 3eme Hussards.  Sunday’s tactical was narrated by the Emperor Napoleon himself.

A new type of demonstration was the uniform display.  Each unit furnished a soldier in full field equipment.  The soldier gave a brief history of his unit and explained the different parts of his kit.  The 2^nd Pomeranians had enough uniforms to show Pomeranian, Wurtenburger and Bavarian soldiers for the spectators.  Most of the spectators were familiar with American Civil War history.  Because we were showing a different period of the 19th century history, this demonstration, with its variety of colorful uniforms, gained close attention from the spectators.

All units camped around the 1740 plantation house for the weekend.  There was plenty of firewood and water. Although our cars were out of sight, there was easy access to the parking area.  The park staff was very helpful and enthusiastic.  They were pleased with the size of the spectator crowds.  This park is not well known in the area.  However, the spectator crowds for the weekend were much larger that the usual weekend crowds.

The Brigade Napoleon will consider sponsoring another event at this site in 2020.

Respectfully Submitted,

James Tate

Sjt, 95^th Rifles, 1^st Battalion, 2^nd Coy