By: Nick Hoffman
Once again Tute's Rangers
have been invited to celebrate Fort Niagara's Siege of 1759 held
in Youngstown, New York (suburb of Niagara Falls). For those of
you who haven't attended the event or even heard of it, here is a
little background information. First of all, Niagara happens to
be one of the largest F&I events in the nation! Nearly 1,000
reenactors will converge on the site representing units from
Gorham's Rangers to George Washington's Virginia Militia. All
F&I organizations are invited including Parcs Canada, the
Associators of the F&I War, the Forces, and Nouvelle France.
Since there are so many organizations, the Niagara staff holds a
massive safety inspection, has daily officers call in the
mornings, and give out plenty of packets to the reenactors
explaining all rules and regulations. The event is three days
long, holds four battles, and two color ceremonies. Saturday
evening is full of historical seminars and presentations in the
French Chateau. Last year we had the pleasure of listening to a
presentation dealing with the Second Battle on Snow Shoes.
The event is set up during the actual siege of Fort Niagara. The French camp is inside the fort with the British on the outside. However, almost all activities happen inside the fort and hardly any visitors come back to the British camp. Also there are no fire pits allowed due to the need to preserve the sites of future archeological digs. During the day, tours are given to tell the story of the siege and to show the exact locations of the actual events. Ken Hamilton, who is noted as one of the ultimate Native American reenactors, does a superb talk on the culture, warfare, and clothing of the natives. There is an outstanding fashion shown which was very interesting to me for I have never seen most of the units. I was awed by the many different officer uniforms, especially the French. The finest sutlers also attend so if you aren't in a spending mood-leave your money at home. Also invited were two of the most noted artists of the period--Robert Griffing and John Buxton. I was truly amazed to see all of their artwork up close.
The huge tacticals are awesome. The French defend the fort's earthworks and the Brits assault. There is constant artillery fire. The final day holds the real treat. The park service marches the units out to a local park on Sunday morning and (without the public in attendance) we recreate the actual Battle of LaBelle-Famille. This was excellent for now you could actually see all the large numbers of troops and witness the French army advance across the field. The volleys we sent off were incredibly loud and set off many car alarms. That afternoon we fought again over the fort's earthworks and the Rangers stormed over the top with the 77th Highlanders bagpipes blaring in the background. Finally the French surrendered, we marched into the fort and held a large surrender ceremony.
All in all, the event was a huge success. We are going again this year. Last year, my father and I were the only ones from the unit to go, but we hope more of you will join us in 1998. We already have the information from the park service. Due to the large number of troops they had last year, the battlefield is being expanded. The fort is very particular about accuracy and they aren't afraid to show it. We will lend you equipment if you need it. Last year, bayonets were used on marches and we do have extra bayonets. Backpacks are necessary, but most Rangers just wrapped their blankets around them if they didn't have one.
This January my father contacted Moses Hazens Company from Indiana. They will be attending and hope that we could do the same camp format at Niagara as we used at The-A-Tike. They plan on having ten men-at-arms, so if we could add several more, we would have a respectable company of Rangers. There were both early and late Rangers represented so we can dress according to the weather.
This year's date is July 4-6. Last year we left two days before the event on Thursday evening and stayed in South Bend, Indiana. The next morning we drove straight to the fort and set up. Sunday evening the fort closed and we drove to Erie, Pennsylvania where we stayed over night. The next morning we left for home. Another option is to stay at the fort Sunday night, but you must leave early the next morning.
For more information please call Jim Hoffman at (920) 235-1386. If you are planning to go, we will be receiving the safety rules/information packet sometime in June. Photocopies of this information will be sent to those who are planing to attend. Hope you all can make it with us in 1998. It will be another memorable event.
The website is-- http://www.oldfortniagara.org --which included the history, a virtual tour, etc.