THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 15, 1995 TAG: 9512130127
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER C. O'DONNELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
When British soldiers and American militiamen fought in the Battle of Great Bridge more than 220 years ago, they braved weather conditions similar to those of last Saturday when historians and reenactors commemorated the battle on the grounds of the Central Library.
``The battle was held in pretty much the same weather,'' said Caroline Phillips, organizer of the commemoration. ``If they could brave it, so can we.''
Despite the cold and rainy weather, approximately 20 reenactors showed up to salute the men and women who defeated what many considered to have been the best army in the world at the time.
Dressed in period costumes, which included Virginia round hats, hunting and farming clothes and replicas of guns, ammunition pouches, and other accessories, the reenactors explained the role of the average militiamen to bystanders.
``Most of the men were just volunteers who joined up as the army passed by their homes,'' said Evan Deemer, a reenactor and student of the battle. ``They weren't paid, and they were barely fed. Even the career military man wasn't paid often.''
The Battle of Great Bridge was a major victory for the American patriots. Although the British had many loyalists in the area, local farmers and supporting troops from Culpeper and Fauquier County confronted the British army in Great Bridge and within half an hour, defeated them. None of the patriots was mortally wounded, but the British suffered some 40 fatalities and another 70 wounded.
With the loss, the king's troops were forced to leave the region for three years. That meant that the British lost Norfolk as a base of operations.
How could a group of volunteer farmers, trappers and hunters defeat an organized army like the redcoats?
``The British were too cocky,'' said Deemer. ``The Americans were just armed rebels, but they were fighting for their homes. They had more to lose.''
Not everyone responsible for the victory was a man.
``Most people don't realize that in colonial days, wives and children traveled with the camps,'' said Phillips. ``They fed the troops and they also suffered the way the troops suffered. They were very important.''
Elizabeth Vonasek of Norfolk, portrayed one of those women at Saturday's reenactment.
``The women traveled with the troops because leaving them at home to face Tories or Indians was too dangerous,'' said Vonasek. ``We stayed behind the troops by two or three days because General Washington was very strict about not having loose women in the camps.''
Washington's rule was taken so seriously that if a woman was widowed during the course of the war, she would have to leave the camp and return home.
``The rule said that any woman in the camp must have a male relative in the troops,'' added Vonasek.
To demonstrate what life might have been like during the famous battle, the reenactors set up camp outside the Central Library. Corn chowder and cider bubbled over hot coals, and the reenactors huddled by the campfire to keep warm.
Inside the library, reenactors displayed guns, clothing, flasks, bullets and other items representing colonial days.
The commemoration of the battle was sponsored by the Great Bridge and Chesapeake chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Members of the DAR and CAR, Children of the American Revolution, placed wreaths beside the Great Bridge Monument at the Civic Center, and the reenactors fired gun and cannon salutes to honor the men and women that helped win the war.
The DAR chapters have celebrated the Battle of Great Bridge on its anniversary for several years, but this is the first time they asked reenactors to join the celebration.
Elizabeth Hanbury, a DAR member and one of the event's organizer's, said the reenactors might become a permanent addition to the annual event.
``It makes it that much more interesting,'' said Hanbury. ``Especially for the children.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Participants in the 220th anniversary of the Battle of Great Bridge
march across a bridge near the Chesapeake Public Library.
by CNB