Equipment Display diagram 031417

Photos from Mississinewa that took place between October 13th and 15th are now up in the photo gallery!

Here is a link to photos from the event.

New photos from the events Grande Tactique 2017 and Heritage Days OBX have been posted to the photo gallery!

Click the following links to view them:

Heritage Days 2017

Grande Tactique 2017

This Brigade Napoleon event was the second Grande Tactique for 2017, the first being at Ft. Erie in June.  Because there were two Grande Tactique events this year, attendance at this event was not as large as previous years.  There were 10 cavalrymen, all from French regiments.  Unfortunately, the horses provided for the event were not trained to reenactment gunfire.  After the Saturday skirmish it was clear to everyone that untrained horses were a danger to both riders and the infantry.   In an effort to make the horses more comfortable to gunfire, the 95^th Rifles were asked to provide noise at the picket line to determine if the horses could be acclimatized to the noise.  It didn’t help.  In was decided that the cavalry would not participate in the Sunday skirmish.

Because of the intermittent rain on Saturday, the spectator turnout was very sparse.  However, the clear skies on Sunday brought many more spectators.

There was a special unit achievement on Saturday morning for the 95^th Rifles.  We were able to start a camp fire for cooking using only flint and steel.  Fortunately, we made this fire just before the rain came and were able to have a hot breakfast.  Attending this event were John Dittamo, Bill Goumas and Jim Tate.  John was still recovering from a back injury and was responsible for the mess arrangements and for taking photos.

The skirmishes on Saturday and Sunday afternoon were small events with no more than 10 soldiers in each of the Allied and French forces.  The two riflemen were augmented by a Pomeranian Landwehr and a Kiev Grenadier.

The instruction for this weekend was sword exercise.  We learned and practiced the seven cuts for a sword using our sword bayonets.  At the next event we will continue with sword exercise and learn the guards and parries for sword fighting.

This event was also the annual meeting of the Brigade Napoleon on Sunday morning.  Nominations were made for a new slate of officers for the next two years.  Nominated for officers were Iain Burns for president, Chris McKay for vice president, Jim Tate for secretary and Bill Buser for treasurer.  Unit commanders will vote on the candidates in an electronic ballot in October.  I will keep you informed of the results.

Submitted,

Jim Tate, Chosen Man

Rifleman #67

This was a living history event at Old Bedford Village, Bedford, PA.  Riflemen in attendance were John Dittamo, Dan’l Cripps, Bill Goumas, Rich Miller and Jim Tate.  Kathy Cripps, Dan’l’s wife, joined us for this event and was a welcome addition to our presentation.

For the 2^nd Company this was both a demonstration and a training event.  As a step to improving our authenticity we learned how to start camp fires with flint and steel.  Matches were not invented in the early 19^th century and the ability to strike sparks with flint and steel was an important means of starting fires.  Dan’l Cripps is very experienced in this method of fire starting and helped all of us to learn this technique.  It is important to have char cloth (Dan showed us how to make this tinder) and frayed rope, or hemp, to catch the spark and start the fire.  While learning this technique we were able to demonstrate this method to spectators and allow them to try this method for themselves.

We also experimented with a magnifying glass as a starter; and using the flint and steel in the rifle lock to ignite the char cloth.

In addition to fire starting, we conducted firing demonstrations each day.  Rich Miller showed spectators how bullets, toy soldiers and buttons were cast using lead in the early 19^th century.  This demonstration attracted many spectators.

John Dittamo was in charge of the mess arrangements for the weekend and we ate well.  Bill Goumas brought a raised fire grate that allowed us to cook without the need to dig a fire pit.  This grate will be very helpful at events where the site must be protected and fire pits are not allowed for cooking.

We were billeted in House #4 on the main village square.  This central location brought all the spectators to our displays and demonstrations.  The OBV staff counted over 600 spectators for the weekend which was a very good crowd for the village.

There are new photos available for viewing from Waterloo, 2017 that have been posted to the gallery.

Click here to see them!

New photos from 2017’s Military Through the Ages have been posted to the Photo Gallery.

Click here to see them!

New photos from Military Through the Ages 2016 have been posted to the Photo Gallery.

Click here to see them!

Military Through the Ages (MTA) this year (Mar 18-20, 2016) was a busy event for the 95th Rifles 1st Battalion. There were over 2900 visitors on Saturday and a total of 4500 for the entire weekend. This traffic kept the four riflemen, John Dittamo, Bill Goumas, Rich Miller and Jim Tate very busy answering questions. Using wooden rifles we could train these visitors in our manual of arms. We almost completely used up our supply of recruiting brochures. A new supply will be ordered.

In addition to camp activities, we conducted a demonstration of the loading procedure and firing of the Baker rifle. John Dittamo gave a demonstration of the whistle calls for the skirmish drill. One problem we found was that having a small group of demonstrators makes it important that all rifles have been test fired. We need to find a way to test fire the rifles before the demonstration.

Our friends, 3me Regiment d’Ligne, camped next to us and provided camp fire meals for us. Everyone enjoyed our company dinner at the King’s Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg on Saturday night. This dinner was arranged by Billy and Donna Colwell and our thanks go out to them for a wonderful evening.

The plans for next year’s MTA are underway. One possible idea is to set up the camp as a picket outpost at the bridge at Barba del Puerco on March 19, 1810. In this engagement, four companies of the 1/95th held off an assault of 600 picked French troops with a reserve of 1,500. More information on this idea or others will follow on the website discussion page.

Photos of MTA were posted on Facebook by Bill Goumas. More photos taken by Jim Tate and Erika Louis Onsager (3me Regiment d’Ligne) will be posted on this website.

The weather in Virginia in March can be fickle and this year was no exception. Although we had clear sky and mild temperatures on Saturday, the rain started at 2 PM on Sunday and continued intermittently the rest of the day. Yes, we packed up wet canvas.

New photos from the recent event in New Orleans have been posted to the photo gallery.

Click here to view them!

Baker Rifle                                                              Forage cap

Pick & Whist                                                          undress coat

Sword bayonet & scabbard                         undress trousers

Shako                                                                         Canteen

Waist Belt                                                                Haversack

Waist bullet pouch                                             shirt

Cartridge box & sling                                        Neck scarf or stock

Powder horn                                                          Blanket

Tunic (regimental coat)                                    greatcoat

Trousers (green)                                                   wool gloves

Gaiters                                                                        white gloves

shoes or brogans

We have a limited quantity of equipment for loan to a new recruit until they can purchase their own equipment.

We encourage recruits to delay buying equipment until we can advise them on the best prices and most authentic prices.