January 24, 201610 yr http://www.vicksburghistory.org/battle-of-sunset-lake Between 200 to 300 volunteer reenactors from the North West Territory Alliance (NWTA) will kick off the event with a Fue de Joie on Friday evening at dusk, when all of the reenactors will fire their guns into the air to signal the opening of the two-day event. A Fue de Joie is a rifle salute fired by soldiers on a ceremonial occasion, each soldier firing in succession along the ranks to make a continuous sound. The feu de joie - literally, 'the firing of joy' - began with companies discharging their muskets one soldier at a time, going from right to left and back to front, hundreds of years ago. ...(more details in source links) Joining in will be an estimated 400 to 500 Boy Scouts from Southwest Michigan who will be helping out during the weekend activities and will camp out at a nearby church, Moore said. They will be "runners" providing water, ice and assistance to the re-enactors and their families. They will be led by the Vicksburg Boy Scouts of Troop 251 who got the village thinking about the Battle of Sunset Lake when re-enactors from the 84th Scottish Highlanders regiment of the NWTA attended a Vicksburg scouts' 75th anniversary camporee last April at the Historic Village. ... The idea for such an undertaking began with the 75th anniversary camporee that the Boy Scouts in Troop 251 celebrated in April in the Historic Village. Stefan Sekula (co-commander of 84th Scottish Highlanders re-enactors) was invited by Troy Smith, a Boy Scout volunteer, to come in costume and help educate the campers about the Revolutionary War. He brought two other members of his unit, Ric Hansen, and Larry Hengesbach. The scouts were enthralled with the gear, the clothing, and the historic aspect of the Scottish Highlanders Sekula was representing. He was asked if they would come back again with lots more of his compatriots. Thus the idea was hatched for a full scale re-enactment. Sekula and his larger unit of the 84th Scottish Highlanders regiment have volunteered to be the host unit from the NWTA. This means he and his helpers will make decisions about staging the mock battles, recruit the re-enactors, and plan for their participation. The sponsors of the event will help with the expenses, promote the two days of activities, and provide the venues. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2016/01/vicksburg_to_host_revolutionar.html http://southcountynews.org/2015/08/05/battle-on-sunset-lake/ Edited January 24, 201610 yr by RememberSchiff
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