Commemorating The Revolution - "A Day Never To Be Forgotten [And More]"

Reenactors, scholars and historians will remember the Revolutionary War with a variety of events in September and October of 2024.  Several will commemorate Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's failed 1777 campaign, including his surrender on October 17th, as shown in this photo taken last year at a recreation of the event in Schuylerville, New York.

September and October are great months to visit historic sites in New York and New England.  First up on my list is "Soldiers on the Mount", on Labor Day weekend at Mount Independence, a Vermont State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont.  Several reenactor groups will camp out there to portray the American occupation of the site from July 1776 through July of 1777.  Site staff are organizing what they call their "Walkabout" on Saturday, August 31st.  This will feature a number of reenactors and historians at several points along the site's Baldwin Trail, who will interact with visitors on a variety of topics.  Later in the day, and again on Sunday, September 1st, participants will fight a mock battle to demonstrate the arms and tactics of the period.  Visitors may also view a artifacts found by archeologists in the museum at the base of the hill, and hike the trails there that crisscross the site and overlook Lake Champlain.

Two weeks later, directly across from Mount Independence on the New York side of the lake, Fort Ticonderoga will commemorate Colonel John Brown's September 1777 raid with a weekend of living history that includes both American and British encampments, large scale tactical demonstrations, and fife and drum music, as well as tours of the fort.  If you have never been to Fort Ticonderoga, or seen a large scale reenactment, this is as good a weekend as any to visit.  If you have been to Fort Ticonderoga before, but it's been a while, this would be a great opportunity to see the work that has been done there to create outstanding museum exhibits (including a new exhibition to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution) and build one of the finest living history programs in the country; not to mention to take in the beauty of Lake Champlain from the walls of the fort - or the top of Mount Defiance, or get lost in the 2024 corn maze.

The following weekend, from September 20th through the 22nd, Fort Ticonderoga will host an event of a different nature, its twentieth Annual Seminar on the American Revolution.  Topics will range from "Why did Horatio Gates become a Revolutionary", "Energy, Geography, and Geology in the Saratoga Campaign, 1777", and “'Anxious to be of some Service to the Government': The Trials and Tribulations of Burgoyne’s Royalist Corps after Saratoga", to "Archaeology, Archive-Making, and Interpretation: Military Kitchens at Fort Ticonderoga".  As of now it appears that seats are still available for those who are able to attend in person.  It's also possible to join the conference from home, via the Fort Ticonderoga Center for Digital History. 

That same weekend The Fort at No. 4, on the east bank of the Connecticut River in Charlestown, New Hampshire, will host its annual Revolutionary War event entitled "Return to No. 4" on September 21st and 22nd.  While the fort was built and defended during the 1740's, it served as a stopping point and mustering place during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, including for New Hampshire Brigadier-General John Stark's troops prior to the Battle of Bennington.  Though no actual battles were fought there during the Revolution, typically there are tactical demonstrations on the grounds of the fort just outside the stockade which surrounds a number of recreated buildings.  In addition to touring the fort, visitors can explore the camps of the British and  American units which will be set up there for the weekend.

Saratoga National Historical Park will commemorate the final weeks of Burgoyne's unsuccessful attempt to reach Albany with a number of special programs in September and October.  These events are listed on the Park's calendar page, including one on October 12th and 13th, where groups portraying the 24th Regiment of Foot will camp at Freeman's Farm, and the 2nd Continental Artillery will be at Bemus Heights.  Further north, at the Schuyler House, a blacksmith will demonstrate 18th century forging techniques, while others talk about healing arts and eighteen century clothing.  Whitcomb's Rangers, an independent company of Continental Army rangers, will be encamped at the Saratoga Monument (seen here in a photo from the Park's website).  I plan to be there, with Whitcomb's, so stop by and say hello if you are in the area, and talk with other unit members who portray this specialized unit which scouted into Canada, took part in Brown's raid on Fort Ticonderoga, fought with the light infantry in the Battle of Freeman's Farm, and helped block Burgoyne's retreat by trapping his army in what is now Victory Woods, leading to his surrender. 

Burgoyne's surrender will be remembered again this year in Schuylerville, New York, on October 17th, the actual anniversary date, in the Saratoga Surrender Day Ceremony.  This community event involves local school children as well as community leaders, reenactors and history professionals from the region.  A short ceremony commemorates the surrender of arms at Fort Hardy, as well as Burgoyne's surrender to Gates, which actually occurred a little to the south at what is now the National Park Service's "Saratoga Surrender Site".  There, Park Rangers will be available to discuss the surrender, as well as the battles fought at Saratoga.

Last on my list, so far, is the commemoration of the Burning of Kingston the following weekend, from October 18th through the 20th, in Kingston, New York.  I've yet to experience this event, but based on last year's schedule it appears to be a combination of a battle reenactment, encampment and living history demonstrations, together with lectures on relevant topics to mark the 1777 British raid on the town, the high point of Sir Henry Clinton's unsuccessful attempt to save Burgoyne and his army by attacking Albany from the south.

Feel free to leave a comment if there are other events you would like to share.  Be it viewing a battle reenactment, touring an encampment, or listening to a talk, these events offer visitors the opportunity to remember the sacrifices made on all sides during the American Revolution, and in particular what Doctor Samuel Merrick, who was present with the Massachusetts Militia at Burgoyne's surrender, described as "A day never to be forgotten by the American States..." [1]

[1] Samuel Merrick, "Journal of Samuel Merrick", as printed in Chauncy Peck, The History of Wilbraham Massachusetts (1913), 137-138.

Next Week: Waltham, Massachusetts - "At Night We Staid At Walth Ham"

For more on the Convention Army's 1777 march from Saratoga to Boston, see:

1777 March Blog Home          Overnight Stopping Points          Towns and Villages Along the Way 

                                Burgoyne in Albany                    Annotated Bibliography