Reliving a Blast From the Past

Mistress Palmer is just your average 18th century colonist. Like her friends, she makes her own clothes. She cooks up a mean stuffed pumpkin. She’s a charming waltzer and is prepared to follow her soldier husband wherever the Revolutionary War may take him.

Pat Palmer, on the other hand, is a typical 20th century woman. She drives. She wears the latest glasses. But she, too, has learned to follow her husband from battle to battle.

She--as Mistress Palmer--and dozens of other Revolutionary War buffs took over the courtyard of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library this weekend, waltzing in ornate hoop dresses, making lead ammunition for muskets, and marching into the peril--if only pretend--of battle.

“People should have an understanding of what was done for them,” Palmer said. “This is how you lived. You wanted a new shirt, you had to grow a sheep, shear the sheep, knit the shirt. It could have been months before you got it.”

Library officials asked the troops--redcoats and colonists from make-believe units known as the Brigade of the American Revolution--to appear in celebration of the 212th anniversary of the final draft of the U. S. Constitution on Sept. 17.

“We just want people to have an awareness of history,” said Lou Anne Missildine, the library’s education director. She expected about 3,000 visitors throughout the weekend celebration, which ended at 5 p.m. Sunday.

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Cherie Donaldson of Ventura and her daughters Olivia, 10, and Victoria, 5, came to learn. They peeked into tents, watched spoons being made and marveled at the cinched, puffed-up dresses. It looked like far too much trouble for Olivia.

“I don’t wear dresses,” she said. “You could never go swimming with those.”

Sean Moore, 10, and his best friend, Tomer Levi, also 10, came looking for action. They loved the blast of the muskets firing, the clouds of smoke, the fall of a wounded patriot during a reenactment of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

War was a slow affair in the Revolutionary era. The patriots lined up shoulder to shoulder. The redcoats did likewise. One side fired. The other side fired. Both stopped to reload. Occasionally, someone was hit.

The pace didn’t bother Tomer or Sean, who said his ancestors fought in the war.

“I really like the guns and uniforms,” said Tomer, of West Hills.

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The guns and uniforms are meant to be authentic.

Those participating in reenactments study primary sources from the era. Many sew their own clothing.

Don Dooley is an Anaheim city planner during the week. On the weekends, he’s a redcoat--and his wife and 8-month-old baby are right by his side as a Revolutionary War family.

“[My wife] is pretty lighthearted about it,” he said. “If I’m not working, I’m reading history books. But they can’t tell you what it’s like to experience it. How fatiguing it is to carry the equipment, the adrenaline rush of firing the musket. This is living history.”

The aspiration to authenticity only went so far. Henry Kayser of Simi Valley wore his glasses to battle, even though an 18th century soldier would have considered it unmanly, he said.

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“Sometimes, our convenience comes first,” said Kayser, an asphalt plant foreman.

Even if the glasses weren’t, the sentiment remained authentic.

“The things that were important to the founders should remain important today,” he said. “Our interest is to have good government.”

But historical accuracy means a lot to 10-year-old Andrew Weller, at least as it applies to history class.

“I’ve been doing this all my life,” said Andrew, member of a Fontana family of Revolutionary War buffs. “At school [in American history], I can raise my hand to answer every question.”