The Final Battle....for now.

Today was the battle of Fort Mercer, a place in history where many a Hessian Grenadier met his end. It was fairly well attended, the rebels had something like 7 cannon on their side, and a decent force to field. We even had our new Hessian music, a competent drummer and a fifer. Swifty!

it was not without problems. I found out my bayonet scabbard was rotten as the leather tore the mounting bracket off. Grrrr. I am destined to not be able to have a bayonet. I gave it to our unit's leathersmith and asked him to make me a new one.

Oh, and I almost set a bunch of haybales on fire. Less said the better.

You can tell that the season is winding down: The musket failure rate starts to become appalling. My own faithful Brown Bess had a wonderful flint that managed to go through Germantown and Brandywine with scarcely a single misfire. That flint died today, chipped to dullness, barely able to fire one time in four with lots of work. Ah well.

I am quite glad that I never bought one of those Potsdam muskets years ago when they were made available. They were costly ($1,000+) and they have since seen just about every way to fail imaginable. They started out as near flint crackers, probably able to spark with a piece granite place of the flint. For a while, I was envious of those who bought them.

Then, like a Ford Pinto, they started to show their dark side. Hammers broke, springs failed, and the stocks started to crack, or even break. There is no-one who has one that is not faulty in some way. The guy who made them started not showing up at events simply to avoid the trouble of dealing with the problems brought to him. Frustration with these new toys has peaked several times. I sometimes wonder why some folks just don't go back to their old Brown Bess's, assuming they did not sell them.

Anyway, this is the next to last battle of the year. There is the Hessian occupation of the Trenton Barracks on December 10th, followed the next day by a small battle near Mt. Holly. It was kinda goofy last year, but enjoyable. Basically we chase the rebels down the streets of the historic district, and they jump in their cars and drive away. Then I think the town then rolls up the sidewalks. At least that is the way it seemed last year.

The last battle of the year would normally be the Battle of Trenton, usually held soon after X-mas. But this year they have scheduled it for December 31st. I don't think so guys. Almost everyone this date was mentioned to said pretty much the same thing. So much for that.