UTR Unit Commander's letter

Welcome to the Fifteenth Annual Edition of Under the Redcoat! UTR has grown to be one of the most popular events at Colonial Williamsburg, both for the visiting public and the participating units.

We would like to dedicate this edition of Under the Redcoat to the memory of Bruce McNeal of the Maryland Loyalists.

After UTR 2007, we looked at UTR from the ground up. We solicited opinions and input from both CW and the reenactors who work together to put on this fantastic event. We looked at all the various interpretations we have tried out over the years, from the “Cornwallis’ Army in miniature” concept of the early years, to the “Provost Guard” scenario we introduced as a reaction to the 225th of Monmouth. We looked at and discarded a few other scenarios, coming to the conclusion that the Provost Guard fits best. We made one significant change from earlier editions of UTR; we are not going to have an offical Opposition. That means there will be no “Offical Spy”, or “Deserters” to seek out. Nonetheless, we expect that there will be numerous civilians in town going about their business. Some will be CW employees. Some will be attached to participating units, and some may very well be unregistered “guest players” pursuing their own “hidden” agendas. Therefore, once again we will present UTR as a full scale representation of the Provost Guard in the center of town.

It is going to be a busy weekend. As far as we are concerned, Cornwallis’ main army is encamped in farm fields on the other side of the College of William and Mary. The Crown Forces at UTR 2008 will represent the Provost Guard in the center of town. What this means is that we are not trying to represent the army in miniature, we represent the Provost Guard at full strength. Therefore, with the exception of Church Parade on Sunday, we will have no large “Battalion” formations. No Troop the Colours, no Reviews. Instead, we will have three guard mounts per day, with a proper changing of the guard twice a day. Please study your copies of “Guard Mount, Sentry Duty, and Relief”, and be prepared do a complete and proper Changing of the Guard. We will still be responsible for patrols, drill, and other military activity. We are also expected to spend some of our “off duty” time interacting with the public.

As part of our role of interpreting the Redcoats in Williamsburg, Colonial Williamsburg has asked us to bear in mind four interpretive goals;

We are looking for detailed, personal, interactive interpretation. If you choose, you can go 53 hours straight - from noon on Friday to Retreat on Sunday. It's one of the hardest working weekends you'll ever have had a great time at.

As the Town Major, Geoff Scheffer (Major, 4th Company, Brigade of Guards) is the overall military Commander for the event. Geoff’s job as Town Major is to establish the Guard Duty rotation, and ensure that the units are warned and present for Guard Duty in a timely fashion. If you have any problems with the scheduling of Guard Duty - see Geoff. He will have a tent in camp to use as a base of operations, as well as an interpretive location. The “Town Major’s Marquis” should be known to the troops as the location to report to for real world emergencies. His immediate subordinate officer is the Provost-Marshal, who will serve on a daily basis. The Provost-Marshal is responsible for interviewing prisoners and petitioners, “secure deserters and all other criminals, hinder the soldiers from pillaging, indict offenders” &c.

As the Deputy Provost Marshal, I, Radford Polinsky (Sjt. John Savage, 33rd Foot - Sjt.major for the weekend)) am the senior Non-commissioned officer for the event. My job as Deputy Provost Marshal is to ensure that the events published in “This Week” happen on time. I will also interpret a prodigious amount of paperwork - have your ink and quills ready!

I am also the Event Manager for UTR. I am the primary liaison between the reenactors and Colonial Williamsburg. If you have any problems at the event; with the camp, access to water, ice, straw, wood, bathrooms, people, timing, planning, events, scenarios, safety, visitors, CW, or CW staff - see me. I will be circulating all over the event, but my base of operations will be at my tent - in the 33rd Foot Company Street. Tent “A No. 1”.

Judy Polinsky (Ensign Prym, 33rd Foot) is primary liaison between the reenactors and Colonial Williamsburg’s Coach and Livestock department. If you have a problem with anything that clucks, oinks, peeps, moos, baaas, or whinnys - see Judy. This includes wagons, carts and other rolling stock.

Judy is also coordinating the “Following the Army” civilian interpretive program. She has a unique dual perspective on the male/female military/civilian aspects of life on campaign. In the 18th Century civilians who traveled with the army were expected to pull their own weight. Similarly, CW expects all of your attached civilians to pull their own weight by interpreting the lives of the men, women, and children who were on campaign with Cornwallis' army. Please ask every one of your attached civilians to prepare to interpret some aspect of campaign life, and then contact Judy Polinsky so she can work out a schedule.

The camp will be on the East side of Market Square, rather than the West side of Market Square as in earlier years. We have moved the firing events to the West side of Market Square due to concern for the effect firing is having on the historic buildings alongside the Palace Green. Friday afternoon and Saturday morning registration is at the garden behind Chowning's to make it more convenient to the troops on Market Square.

Registration was due in by 1 June. CW will absolutely, positively not take any changes, additions, or deletions after 13 June. If you have changes after then, be prepared to stand by at registration with the list of new names. If you have un-registered people arriving before you are, please have a designated person available to stand by with your list of changes at registration. CW cannot accept “walk ons” from the XYZ Regiment unless a designated member of the XYZ Regiment is there at registration to vouch for them.

The schedule of events for the weekend is final! In addition to many interpretive programs specially crafted to work with Under the Redcoat, Colonial Williamsburg is offering its “Revolutionary City” programming in the mornings. “Revolutionary City” is set at a time before the Redcoats have taken over the town!

ATTENTION: DUE TO REVOLUTIONARY CITY PROGRAMS EACH DAY, NO BRITISH TROOPS ARE TO BE SEEN BETWEEN WALLER STREET AND COLONIAL STREETS PRIOR TO 12:30 P.M.

Friday, registration opens at 10:00 a.m. at the Fife and Drum building, stops at 4:00 p.m. and opens again in the back garden behind Chowning's from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Saturday registration opens at 8:00 a.m. in the garden behind Chowning's. Please note that registration is closed as of Noon Saturday.

Please note that troops who register on Saturday morning too late to make the 9:30 a.m. Safety Inspection are required to present themselves at the 1:30 p.m. Safety Inspection. We will take names of those who register after 9:30, and we will note who does or does not show up for the 1:30 Safety Inspection.

Please let your people know that the program starts on Friday. Many people take Friday off to travel. If they plan to be in town by early afternoon, we encourage them to participate in the Friday events. A patrol will enter town, followed by the Quartermaster, who will lay out the camp. At 3:00 p.m. the main body of the Provost Guard will enter (If you are not with the initial Patrol or Quartermaster groups, please do not enter the Historic Area in uniform until after the main body has marched in at 3:00). The staging area for this is the parking lot of the Fife and Drum building. Bruton Heights is the closest parking area to the Fife and Drum building. You can drive your cars there during the day while the historic area is off limits and unload your period camp equipment. Even if you were planning to be “Quartered on the town”, please bring your canvas. CW wants to see Market Square filled with tents! The camp equipment (please - tents, poles, and pegs only) will be loaded onto a wagon or cart provided by CW. The baggage will accompany the army as it marches into town. Once in camp, you can unload your canvas and poles and set up the camp in a period military fashion.

Please pay careful attention to the vehicle access routes marked in blue on the map. CW wants driving in the Historic area kept to a minimum. Please use North England Street to get to Nicholson Street. Please use Queen Street to get to Duke of Gloucester Street.

On Friday at 5:00 will be the reading of the Proclamation of Martial Law. Several of the Friday events will be published in the CW “This Week” brochure, which means they have to happen, and they have to happen on time. We understand the difficulties of travel. No person or regiment’s invitation to Under the Redcoat will be in jeopardy if they are not able to participate in the Friday scenarios.

To support the claim that we are an army that has been on the march for a long time, the troops are being asked to wear their well-worn clothing, to forbear polishing and cleaning, and even to avoid shaving for a few days.

Speaking of not shaving, as of 2003 Under the Redcoat is a no facial hair event. British troops, to include English, Scots, Welsh, Irish, Loyalist, Naval, and Marine forces will be clean-shaven. No moustaches. No sideburns. No beards. No exceptions will be granted to Highlanders or Pioneers.

Despite that we have no Official Opposition Force this year, we should not relax our guard! There may be any number of people present who might try to challenge the authority of the Crown. Over the past years we have captured many spies, and cartlaods of contraband. We must stress the continued importance of military security to our troops. We need to pay attention to the form and function of Guard Duty. Besides being the most visible symbol of occupation, the Guard and Town Patrol are our primary defense against the mischief provided theh miscreants, layabouts, and ne’er-do-wells that may inhabit Williamsburg. Make sure your sentries know their orders. Make sure their orders include that they be alert and vigilant on their posts.

We have a new Guard Post this year. Lt. Gen. Cornwallis will be spending some time at the St. George Tucker House. We will need to post sentries there when he is present, so we are adding a Quarter Guard which will be responsible for the posts at the St. George Tucker House, the North England Street Barricade, and the Town Major’s tent.

All persons in 18th Century clothing must have some form of identification. Regiments may choose to use the CW issued “Freedom of the City” pass, or they may issue their own military style pass. Make sure your members take their “Freedom of the City” pass out of their registration packets and carry them with them. The “Freedom of the City” pass is your admission ticket to all of the ticketed CW exhibitions and venues. It is also good for a discount in the CW shops (except for the Prentis Store and trade items found at the Golden Ball)! Every civilian must be identified one of four ways: they have a military ID from the regiment to which they are attached, they have a Parole, or they have a Loyalty Oath. Regiments that are providing their own ID are asked to give a sample to the Guard so the Guard may be able to identify them. The fourth way is if they use the pass phrase “Queen Charlotte”. This identifies them as a CW employee who is choosing not to participate in the program. If someone says “Queen Charlotte", don't detain them further. Let them go on their way - even if it seems unfair.

Every person who stops at the Guard House for a Parole or Loyalty Oath will be given a paper which explains the Rules of the Game: All persons in 18th Century clothing are subject to search. Pockets on the right side of the body; coat, waistcoat, breeches, ladies pocket - are off limits. That is where to keep keys, camera, wallet, credit cards, ID, &c. All other areas may be searched. That includes baskets, baggage, packs, parcels, pouches, hats, shoes - anything.

Please note carefully: Women and female children will not be permitted to conceal contraband or documents under their stays or petticoats, therefore, they may not be searched under their stays or petticoats.

We may enjoy a large number of un-registered participants at this event. The open nature of Colonial Williamsburg means there is no practical way of excluding someone, nor would we necessarily want to. Most of the “guest players” at Under The Redcoat are aware of the mutual limits of our behavior and are welcome additions to the atmosphere of the event. It is possible that some of the uninvited “guest players” may arrive with their own ideas; and push us to the point where a real Redcoat would have bashed them. Of course, we cannot do this. If any of your troops get into a situation where things are getting out of hand, the best thing for them to do is stop, swallow their pride, and walk away. If that’s not possible, tell them to get help - get (in this order) their NCO, their Officer, or Sjt.-major Savage (33rd Foot). The excitement of the event can lead to heightened emotions. We need to keep this in mind, and practice a level of professional restraint.

Many of the Colonial Williamsburg employees who are not part of the interpretive staff also enjoy participating in Under the Redcoat. They have received instructions from CW on the limits of their role in the event.

We should be prepared to deal with those who might wish to interpret the black experience during the AWI. It has been estimated that “Between four and five thousand [black] men and women of all ages followed behind the baggage train of Cornwallis’ army on its doomed journey to Yorktown.” (Sylvia R. Frey - Water from the Rock). Blacks were used by the British as guides, spies, and informers, as well as a wide range of both skilled and common labor. Ewald’s Diary contains this observation: “Every soldier had his Negro, who carried his provisions and bundles.” “ Every officer had four to six horses and three or four Negroes, as well as one or two Negresses for cook and maid. Every soldier’s woman was mounted and also had a Negro and Negress on horseback for her servants. Each squad has one or two horses and Negroes, and every noncommissioned officer had two horses and one Negro.”

The Blacks attached to the Army were under military discipline (this entry was written in the Brigade of Guards Orderly Book after Jan. 6, 1781 and before Jan. 7, 1781. At this point in the Orderly Book, Cornwallis repeats orders issued on 27th Sept. 1780, Sept. 30, 1780, and October 4, 1780):

Blacks attached to the Under the Redcoat forces will have an identification ticket with their name and Regiment or Department on it. This ticket will be issued by the Provost-Marshal or his Deputy. It may happen that a Loyalist master comes to reclaim possession of his slaves. Lord Cornwallis permitted masters who were loyal to the Crown to search his camp and take their slaves, provided that the slaves would consent to go. Clinton stated that slaves belonging to Loyalist masters would be restored only on condition that they would not be punished for running away. Clinton further said that Negroes formerly belonging to unfriendly persons now belonged “to the public”. If the escaped slaves of rebel masters served their new master faithfully for the war’s duration, they would receive their freedom. (Adapted from The Negro in the American Revolution by Benjamin Quarles)

All of this is an opportunity for us to make full use of our interpretive skills; in fact, it’s what has been asked of us!

Colonial Williamsburg is a major tourist attraction. Under The Redcoat is one of their most popular events. As reenactors and as living historians, we need to exhibit a high level of professionalism. We represent Colonial Williamsburg to the public, and should give them a dynamic and interactive living history experience.