"Saturday morning would mark the 250th anniversary of the fort's seizure in 1775 by the Green Mountain Boys-a rumbustious militia of proto-Vermonters who spent years violently defending their bite-size territory-but so far the rain was at best blighting and at worst obliterating every enriching activity the Fort Ticonderoga staff had dreamed up. A plan for the reenactors to sleep under starlight when we'd arrived on Thursday had been downgraded to a plan to shiver in a barn all night."
"A plan to shoot muskets had been canceled. A plan to teach elementary-age children how to cook a meal over an open fire in a town green had devolved into a horde of famished, filthy adults flooding into a schoolroom; propping their dripping muskets against shelves of picture books; and scavenging pencil-shaped cookies leftover from Teacher Appreciation Week. Everything was going less smoothly than it had in 1775."
Cameron Green portrayed Benedict Arnold and led sixty rain-soaked Revolutionary War reenactors around Fort Ticonderoga and nearby roads, wearing period leather buckle shoes and wool coats that saturated in the downpour. Heavy rain forced cancellation or downgrading of planned activities, including sleeping outdoors, musket firing, and children's open-fire cooking demonstrations, driving participants into barns and a schoolroom. Reenactors traveled from across the country and submitted period-accurate photos and insurance to participate. The severe weather strained logistics, spoiled programming for the fort's 250th anniversary, and created real health risks such as potential hypothermia among the group.
Read at The Atlantic
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