WESTVILLE —
The Revolutionary War comes alive this weekend as re-enactors will transform the Pioneer Homestead at Forest Glen County Preserve into an encampment from 18th century wartime.
As many as 150 re-enactors — men, women and children from the Northwest Territory Alliance — will create the Vermilion Valley Encampment, showing a slice of what camp-life was like in this area during the American Revolution.
“There were quite a few families because the wives and children went with the men back then,” Charlie Rhoden, Forest Glen park superintendent said.
Visitors will be able to roam through the encampment while re-enactors go about what a normal day might be, cooking lunch, cleaning and preparing for battle. Questions are encouraged from the public, with the participants being a mix of both amateur and professional historians.
“They’re more than happy to talk history,” Rhoden said.
While many encounters of the weekend will be spur of the moment, there are scheduled events, too. Fashion shows will feature and explain the period clothing the re-enactors wear. Competitions, such as tomahawk throwing, will take place for “bragging rights” alone.
Two battles are set each day at 11 a.m. and also at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. An artillery demonstration will precede each combat, as well.
Rhoden said each combat situation will be more of a skirmish, with smaller groups of men, which is representative of what was happening during the Revolutionary War in this area.
Each battle will be a tactical demonstration of how such groups would go about fighting each other, but the re-enactors will not be replaying any specific battle that took place.
“It will show the battle tactics of how the men would fight and they’ll answer any questions about it,” Rhoden said. “They’d be more than happy to explain it all out.”
Extra activities are planned for Sunday afternoon, with children’s games and old-time craft demonstrations and some hands-on activities available for guests. Rope making, candle making, and apple cider brewing are just a few of the crafts planned.
The free, semi-annual event is sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Governor Bradford Chapter and the Vermilion County Conservation District.
The event has been held at Forest Glen since 1988, annually for a few years in the beginning and semi-annually now. Rhoden said it is a popular event at the park, drawing 200 people a day when it occurs on a good weather weekend that doesn’t conflict with other festivals.
If You Go
The Revolutionary War Re-enactment will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Pioneer Homestead at Forest Glen County Preserve in Westville. Free admission.
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