Hello from Williamsburg, Va. My regiment, the 43rd Regiment of Foot, one of the finest groups of British re-enactors in the U.S., has once again been invited to participate in “Under the Red Coat”, recreating the summer of 1781 when Cornwallis’s forces occupied Williamsburg just prior to the battle at Yorktown.

Most of you have seen the reenactment of the Battle of the Brandywine every year as hundreds of re-enactors recreate the encampment and battle of Sept. 11, 1777. So I thought I would let you know what it’s like to be the one in the “funny clothes” by answering the top 5 questions we hear all the time.

Weren’t women camp followers, well …uh… prostitutes?

Absolutely not! They were wives of the foot soldiers who, not being able to support themselves with their husbands away, signed on with the army as laundresses. Depending on the regiment, they were generally paid half rations. If a “slattern” were found, she would be drummed out of the encampment to the fifer’s tune of “The Rogues March”. Did you know there were upwards of 400 women on the rolls during the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge?

Did you make your costume?

Ouch! Never say the word “costume” to a re-enactor. A better word is garb. The clothes are replicas made from actual patterns and clothing found in museums and private collections. Materials used are generally linen, wool, fustian (linen with cotton) or linsey-woolsey. Cotton was rare and very costly prior to the invention of the cotton gin. The women’s gowns are pinned at the front; the petticoats fitted with draw-strings at the waste and shifts fitted with drawstrings at the neck and sleeves. We also wear a boned bodice called “stays”. Skilled re-enactors (yes, men too) sew their own clothing, but many buy them from 18th century merchants known as sutlers or have them custom made by 18th century seamstresses.

Are you really eating that food?

Yes we do and it’s delicious, thank you! Despite the deprivation of some of the armies, we have had whole pigs on a spit, capons, and roasts of beef. One of our camp followers can even make an apple pie from scratch in a Dutch oven over the coals. Uh…that wouldn’t be me. I specialize in hauling wood, water, straw and scrubbing dirty iron pots.

Do you really sleep in those tents?

Yes we do. And I can testify from my younger days that I have camped through sweltering heat in Williamsburg and Daniel Boone Homestead, sub-freezing nights in the Shenandoah Valley and Hope Lodge in November and monsoon rains at Fort Ticonderoga and Ft. Frederick. But for the most part, primitive 18th century camping is fun. Now? I can walk right into Williamsburg from “ye olde” Patrick Henry Inn. Their pool is nice too.

Are those muskets and cannons real?

Yes. Our men use the reproduction Brown Bess or Charleville. Our cannon was made in Germany. They fire blank at re-enactments but can fire live. But because they use real black powder, a line is usually set up for the public’s safety. And yes I have fired a Brown Bess more than once.

So, wish you were here. See you next week.