[RP TownTalk] Battle of Bladensburg Reenactment Noon - 4 pm Saturday

[Rob Oppenheim]

We have beautiful weather this weekend and a great event to enjoy here in town!

The Battle of Bladensburg Reenactment at Riversdale Mansion, 
Noon - 4 pm Saturday 8/12/06

Join American and British War troops in full costume as they camp on the lawn to prepare for the battle. They perform demonstrations, drills, and representations of military camp life. You'll see cannon firing, gunnery drills, and camp and kitchen displays. Also meet Rosalie Calvert, the mistress of Riversdale. Enjoy children's activities, music, and refreshments.

IN 1814...

The British forces moved on to Upper Marlboro under the watch of the Americans who chose to prepare for the attack on Washington rather than engage the superior British troops. On August 24, 1814 the British marched towards Bladensburg. There the British met the ill-prepared American forces under the command of General Tobias Stansbury. 

Only Joshua Barney, his Flotillamen, and marines under the command of Captain Miller engaged the British. Thousands of other militia men retreated, but Barney and his men stood their ground and managed a valiant but futile counterattack. Barney was wounded and captured by the British who congratulated him for his gallantry. Continuing on to Washington, the British troops looted and burned most of the city including the White House, the Capitol and the Treasury.

The wound Commander Joshua Barney received at the Battle of Bladensburg was a bullet deep in his thigh which could not be removed and which he lived with for three years before it caused a fever that caused his death on December 1, 1818.

[ Read more at http://www.pghistory.org/PG/PG300/barney.html ]

-Rob
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