Editor's Note: The following article consists excerpts of a letter that I received from Mr Gilbert following an inquiry that I sent to him asking for information about his unit. It was so well written that I thought I would share it with readers.
Captain Dubois' 4th Company of the 3rd New York Regiment is one unit among many in the North-West Territory Alliance ("NWTA"), our umbrella organization. We are an old unit, having
originally been started in 1974 as a New York militia unit. We adopted a Continental identity in 1978, and have stayed that way. I joined in 1979, but I am not the member with the most seniority. Our newest member, a high school teacher, joined this past summer.
Though we are not the biggest unit in the NWTA, we are a stable and cohesive one, with thirty members of all ages. We usually turn at least seven uniformed soldiers and musicians at the seven to eight events that we attend during the year. These events range from Wisconsin to Ohio. Every so often, we crank up for a unit trip "out East" and play with the other umbrella organizations ("BAR") for a weekend. We were at Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY in 1992, and attended the joint NWTAIBAR Northwest Department event this August, south of Toledo. We are currently in the planning stages for a unit trip for this coming summer.
Our soldiers get along pretty well with other troops. We are too small to pretend we are a separate unit, so we have become accustomed to amalgamating with similar units to form historically-correct sized units. No ego problems with command here -- we usually rotate the job of commanding the squad.
For example, I often (in a weekend) go from a private to corporal to platoon sergeant to occassionally officer, then back to private again! Another of our members serves in the morning as a private, but in the afternoons performs as the color ensign with our silk color for the evening pass-in-review ceremony. We have a drummer and a fifer, a corporal, and maybe an officer (depends on unit and the overall field command situation). We are pretty flexible and will serve wherever called upon, so long as those in charge can run the demonstrations correctly (naturally we are all expert second-guessers).
British Manual
We use the British Manual for 1764 for our drill, mixed with over period authorities (no 18th century English-speaking manual was ever complete in itself, so we borrow from Simes, Bland, Pickering, and Steuben, to name a few); most of us can perform three drills if given some practice time (they really aren't all that different). The most important rule is to be safe with the musket.
Yes, the musket. Our weapon is a 0.75 caliber (3/4" bore) Second Model British Brown Bess or derivative thereof. Well accept first Model Besses as well, though our research suggests that the older model all had their barrels cut down to 42" and the bayonet lugs were soldered on.
Dubois' Company has a few 1763 Charlevilles grandfathered over from our young and foolish days of poor research No rifles; no buckskin shoes or trousers, and no dead hairy animals on our heads!
The troops all have identical coats, accoutrements, knapsacks, canteens and haversacks. The rest of our equipment is a hodge-podge of home-supplied garments and Provincial issue (historically, the cheapskate politicians did not provide sufficient numbers of small clothes, hats, or shoes to outfft everyone).
So we wear what might be called "Uniform dissmilarity". Our specific month of recreation is November 1775. Military Uniforms in America (Plate 657), in Military Collector & Historian 42 (1990): 110-111, depicts our appearance through a sister regiment, the 4th New York. The very craziest among us have the Canadian with kit of blanket coat, leggings, Canadian cap, mittens and high moccasins. The original company moved from St. John's to Quebec during that time span. Some of us plan to garrison Fort Michilimackinac this January [editor: 1997 at the time this letter was written] as we did last winter. We spent two days in the fort during a blizzard; talk about time-warping! Most of us own additional hot-weaver clothing such as linen smocks or split-front hunting shirts.
We spend perhaps more time than other units do with documenting our impression (well at least I do). I mentioned above that we have privately printed a 95-page "New Member Handbook" of information, specifications, sources, and documentation. It is now being polished for reprinting, in the hands of our regimental commander and computer guru, Marvin Rasch, and will then be double its present size. Two of our members are also authors with the Company of Military Historians, and active in its local Midwest chapter.
The NWTA inspects its members every five years to check each individual's impression with that unit's own historical standards. So this keeps us on our toes. Of course, we are always looking for more historical expertise, especially for the period prior to the Revolution. We would be pleased to learn more about the documented British and French practices of the earlier period!
Ongoing Research
Our ongoing research continues in several flelds: Canadian winter clothing - an excellent study is in progress by our own Dan Joyce. We are evolving period camp cooking utensils, especially tin camp kettles, and reevaluating our regimental coats in point of wool weight, cut and construction. Transcriptions of officer's correspondence, journals and account books are in progress. I am in close correspondence with the other New York Companies out east who are involved in the same game.
I am probably the biggest "damn button counter" in the unit, because I want to be as historically correct as possible. However, we are psychologically a unit that will not accept a domineering personality, or pushy agendas, though we accept information when we need it.
Cost: expect to slowly build to the tune of $2,000.00 to be fully outfitted from head to toe. One's biggest expense will be the firearm and its accessories, proper shoes, and hat (we have a purchasing schedule to assist you). Custom-made clothing may also run up the bill. We make most of the equipment ourselves, though we can point to those who can make it for you as a shortcut. We make the coats within the regiment, though we are investigating the possibility of having tbem sewn by outside contract tailors.
On the other hand, we allow at least two years for recruits to equip up to the minimum acceptable level. We participate in the NWTA's Loyal Irish Volunteers program, where new recruits can spend up to a year testing out tbeir fit by spending successive weekends with different units in the Alliance. This way, both parties are happy with what they finally wind up with -- no deceptions. We also have a stockpile of clothing and a musket that can be loaned out.
Our unit owns its own period correct tentage and cooking gear as is the case with in virtually all other units. We share in the transportation of the gear, and in the camp setup/takedown, and cooking chores. If you dislike socialism, or at least cooperation, then you probably won't like the 3rd New York. We cook in the period manner for four of the five meals during a weekend; meal cost totals are approximately $5.00 for the weekend. We tend to eat much flner fare than the poor soldiers originally had it. [we had real trouble getting wide acceptance of my hard bread, salt pork and boiled saltfish lutefish! As a damn fanatic button counter, I'd go period as much as possible, but for the fact that I have a wife and daughter who are not quite so enthusiastic for the same].
No "Farb"
We try hard to show no visible "farb" or anachronisms in our camp during authentic hours; all help keep camp policed and safe. We want to store as much in our cars as possible during the day and not overcrowd the tent.
Hair and beards - unlike some groups, we have no set rules, though it is clear that clean shaven, or very long stubble, was the general rule in the 18th Century. However, we live in the 20th Century and so we do have one close-trimmed beard in the group, a moustache or two, etc. Two of us had wigs on our own, and I'm currently growing out the back of my hair in a Billy Ray Cyrus imitation of Charles Willson Peale's American officer portraits. Short hair is historically and militarily fine too.
Dues
Regimental dues are $12.00 per year for individual members, not including the mandatory $16.00 annual NWTA dues. The unit buys black powder by the case, and sells it at cost to the members. For example, I just bought two pounds for $10.00 and some odd cents. Rolling our own paper cartridges at home prior to events is the responsibility of each musketman. We use 80-100 grains of black powder per blank paper cartridge, no powder horns.
This year's event schedule is now undergoing finalization. It is somewhat similar to last year's events. We vote as a group to show up in force at selected even allowing members to show up at other events on their own. Not all units allow this, however we discourage joining two units in the NWTA at the same time.
Personalities: most of us are married, between ages 25 and 50; we bring our families along and get along very well. We make a point of keeping mum about modern day politics and religion. Members come from all walks of life including school teachers, sales people, anthropologists, musewn curators, bankers, the self-employed, business managers, secretaries, machinists, writers, hospital and college administrators and seven kids between the ages of 4 and 15.
If you are still bravely reading this article and wish to know more about the 3rd New York Regiment, Capt. Dubois' Company or the NWTA, then I wou1d urge you to write to Marilyn Hess, 2088 S. Linden, Palatine, IL 60067 [phone: 847-397-4805] for information about joining the Loyal Irish Volunteers. Of course, if our unit sounds like your cup of tea, then contact our own commander, Marvin Rasch, who can be reached by calling (708) 871-9569.
Back to American Revolution Journal Vol. I No. 2 Table of Contents
Back to American Revolution Journal List of Issues
Back to Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1997 by James E. Purky
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com