War of 1812 Discovery Series (#5 - Continued)

by Judi McWilliams

Over the past few years the Festival Nomad and I have had wonderful experiences visiting War of 1812 Re-enactments around Ontario. We find these re-enactments amazing and extremely interesting! In this NEW War of 1812 Discovery Series, I want to share with you some of our experiences, while attempting to shed some light into the actual historic.

A Musketeer 1812 and Now (Part Two)
While investigating the "how to’s" of learning all there is to know about how to use the Musket, I was amazed by all the terminology used. It would not only require a good memory, but an accurate one! An example of one command, when loading a Musket, is the term “cast about your piece”. To do this, "hold your left hand with the match, put the Musket butt on the ground on the outside of your left foot, make sure the muzzle is pointing away from you and others and the pan should point downwards". Oh my, that is a lot to remember for one stage of a long list of procedures just to “Give Fire”. I began to wonder how these instructions work if you are “left-handed”? Other interesting terms I discovered were “make ready”, “prime your piece”, “place the charge, place your ram, place your wadding”, “blow upon your colts”, “cock your match”, “present upon your piece”, “secure your scouring stick”, “open your pan” and finally “Give Fire”. All of these stages require specific foot stance, arm and hand positioning and a LOT of co-ordination!

Beyond this part of the battle, should the enemy not fall, some re-enactors may choose to partake in "hand-to-hand" combat. There are specific rules and conduct guidelines, of course, for this type of combat. It would not go over too well if an actual encounter became “an all out real brawl”! With any re-enactment, safety is the number one issue! There are strict guidelines about “gunpowder” as well, that must be adhered to. As frequent visitors to re-enactments, I was pleased to find out all of this information. It’s good to know the precautions are taken, and rest assured, we are safe!