THE
GEORGIA
REFUGEES
Last updated on April 10, 2001
Fort
Toulouse, first constructed in 1717 (rebuilt c. 1750) in Wetumpka, Alabama,
schedules a French Colonial Living History program every third weekend from
April to November.
Technically, this is
supposed to be a French and Indian War/Seven Years War period event, but they
do allow a bit of wiggle room for other 18th Century-ish folks, so we showed
up in all of our glorious regalia.
For once, the show had enough opponents that the French were required
to give some actual thought to ignoring us.
Although Toulouse is
not our time period or place, it did allow us an opportunity to drill and work
on refining our impressions for those upcoming events when we will be judged
more closely. Although we
encamped a bit more heavily than we plan to in future events, we managed to
present a suitable military presence and acquitted ourselves handily in the
engagement. These photos
are ones I scanned in after the event, but we will have more to post in the
coming days. The first photo
above is the limber and cannon with our camp, such as it is, in the rear.
The
next is a shot from the reverse side looking out toward the open field.
Pulling the piece, so to speak.
Steve Brown by the right carriage wheel (left in photo), Terry Oglesby
by the left carriage wheel (right in photo), Earl Smith on the left bricole,
Chuck Blake on the right bricole, Charlie McCulloh on the left limber tree,
Chris Long on the right limber tree, and Mark Lewis far, far away in yonder
treeline, perusing his copy of pornographic Dutch engravings from 1762.
Our
erstwhile brothers in arms. (Just
wait a few years, fellers, and we’ll be making noise at YOU with our cannon!
The above photos are all ones I took on Saturday, and below are a few (out of the billion or so) that Charlie McCulloh took (and sent me via email—which took forever to download from my mail server). There is also one of Ruth McCulloh over on her new page in the Members section, so be sure and check it, too.
First,
a shot of a bewildered Frog and his well rounded scout, wondering from whence
comes all zee noize—as Mark Hubbs and Linda Jo Smith look on, Steve Brown
fondles a jug of liquid refreshment.
We were pleased to
be joined at Toulouse by Jerald Eyer (right), although he did frequently
facilitate Mark Lewis’ forays from camp to peruse various knives, brain tanned
leather, trade goods and indecently clad spectators of the feminine variety.
AND, a shot
of a big bunch of us ‘round the 3 pounder—from left to right: Ruth McCulloh,
Steve Brown, Charlie McCulloh, Mark Lewis, Jerald Eyer, Earl Smith, Linda Jo
Smith, Mark Hubbs, Al Stone, and Chris Long.