00:18 - Good afternoon.

00:19 - My name is Carolyn Wallace.

00:20 - I'm the education director here at Clifton.

00:35 - And was built

00:35 - as a summer house for the Chou family, completed in 1767.

00:39 - And it was the site of the Battle of Germantown

00:41 - that happened on October 4th, 1777.

00:44 - And that's what this festival today, the Revolutionary Germantown Festival,

00:47 - is memorializing.

00:48 - On the morning of October 4th, 1777.

00:50 - It was Washington's brilliant plan to send four columns from northwest

00:54 - of here, out near Peter, one's farmstead is where they started it.

00:57 - Goal was down towards Philadelphia, where the British had occupied

01:01 - the city, and the goal was to try to get the British out of that city.

01:04 - A very brilliant plan that actually did not work very well.

01:07 - And part of that was because troops

01:09 - that were marching down Germantown Avenue, which is found in front of our property,

01:13 - actually end up engaging with the 40th Light Infantry,

01:16 - the British, contingent that ended up using this house behind me as a fort.

01:20 - The exterior walls are 23in thick.

01:23 - And Washington's army spent about 4 or 5 hours

01:26 - trying to get about 100 hundred and 50 British men out of that house.

01:32 - So we are portraying a historical regiment

01:34 - that was called up here, to the Battle of Germantown.

01:38 - They were active for three years, 1777 to

01:41 - 1780, and basically as an additional regiment.

01:44 - They were set up because when Congress called for more,

01:48 - troops, essentially to fulfill the needs of the army in

01:52 - Germantown, we were engaged on our left flank.

01:55 - We actually overshot the house, essentially

01:58 - in the very beginning of the battle.

02:00 - But once they heard that the British

02:02 - were inside the 40th Light Infantry,

02:06 - they turned around thinking it's confusion cause there's troops behind us.

02:10 - We already march past it. There was no one there.

02:12 - So they turned around

02:13 - and in the confusion ended up on the other side of another column.

02:16 - So we had some casualties on our left,

02:19 - side of our rank and file and everything.

02:22 - There was confusion because it was very foggy.

02:24 - Logistics kind of got a little messed up in the middle of the night.

02:29 - The men were still coming off of the defeat of Brandywine

02:32 - and then the massacre.

02:33 - And that's kind of why this place was very,

02:37 - important for the continental Army, because they wanted to exact revenge,

02:40 - kind of, for what happened at.

02:41 - And the gentlemen that portrayed the massacre

02:45 - were actually held up in the house right there.

02:48 - And Spencers was again one of the others who engaged

02:51 - and then heard fire from behind, turned around and

02:56 - basically it was just a big, confusing mess

02:58 - because fog, black powder going off, you had bullets,

03:01 - musket balls flying this way, mosquitos flying that way.

03:04 - And they didn't know what was happening really.

03:07 - And communication was very difficult, obviously, as you could tell back

03:10 - then with no radios, best way would get a messenger back and forth.

03:14 - You also had groups of Continentals that were wearing stolen,

03:19 - British regimental coats from the Battle Saratoga.

03:23 - Now, this was much to,

03:26 - the chagrin of George Washington, the higher ups.

03:28 - But that's all they had.

03:30 - So you had men, American Continentals wearing red uniforms,

03:34 - and it was just the best you can imagine.

03:37 - All this great.

03:39 - To my knowledge, basically, en route,

03:42 - the Continental Army was marching in there about six different groups.

03:47 - I believe.

03:48 - And the planning the night before kind of

03:52 - mate said they would all meet eventually, but because of just people

03:56 - getting late starts, you had just the weather in general was very bad.

04:00 - As I stated before.

04:02 - And there was a bigger English force at British force ahead.

04:06 - And essentially what happened was, as I said before,

04:09 - this was coming off of the tail end of Brandywine.

04:11 - So which was a big defeat for the American, Army.

04:14 - There was a big defeat at Haley, which a bunch of, men, Anthony Wayne's

04:19 - men, were massacred by the British Light Infantry Company in the 40th.

04:23 - They came in at night, you know, fixed bayonets charge.

04:26 - And men were sleep and were prepared, and it was a bloodbath.

04:30 - So a lot of Americans were very angry about that, as you can, as one might be.

04:35 - So morale is kind of low.

04:37 - So they continue marching for half.

04:41 - The group gets in front of the house.

04:43 - There's still men coming behind here with all the cannons, baggage and everything.

04:47 - And the men in front realized something's going on back there.

04:51 - There's firing going on there.

04:52 - They're hearing all this gunfire and smoke billowing, and the winds are shifting.

04:57 - So all the smoke coming back.

04:58 - So they immediately about come back.

05:02 - Now there's British held up inside the house

05:04 - and there's British further ahead.

05:06 - But the American and the American forces in the front

05:09 - were afraid that they were going to be outflanked

05:11 - because you hear shooting behind you, that's what you think.

05:13 - So they about turn come this way.

05:16 - And as I said before, you had American forces in front of the house.

05:18 - You had American forces behind House, you had British in the house and British

05:22 - further that way, too.

05:24 - So you can imagine it was like Continentals, British

05:27 - Continentals, British.

05:29 - So it was just a culmination of just,

05:33 - I won't say bad planning, but just miscommunication, bad weather

05:36 - and just the British taking the Citadel, basically,

05:40 - because that's what that thing turns into when you're using musket balls.

05:43 - The mosque walls were bouncing right off that front of the, the Clifton House.

05:46 - The two houses.

05:48 - Nothing's getting through that.

05:49 - But the weaponry at the time.

05:54 - My name is Noel Lewis,

05:57 - and I'm portraying Edward Hector, also known as Ned Hector.

06:01 - Ned Hector was a person

06:04 - who fought in the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown.

06:07 - He was right here on Germantown Park Pike.

06:11 - He was with four cannons that will bombarding the true house.

06:14 - During that battle at Brandywine, he was noted for his courage

06:19 - when he refused to let his his supplies,

06:23 - of ammunition and

06:26 - and horses fall into the hands of the enemy.

06:30 - He is a teamster, and he is a bombardier.

06:34 - As a teamster, he drove a wagon load

06:36 - of ammunition supplies,

06:39 - pulls one of the cans behind his wagons, probably

06:43 - as a bombardier.

06:44 - He helps to fire the cannons manning one of the three rear positions of the cannon

06:50 - up in New York.

06:52 - The battle is not going well.

06:53 - We're losing every last engagement with the British.

06:57 - We're getting pushed down through New York

06:59 - all the way back until our backs up against the river at Brooklyn Heights.

07:02 - We're trapped. The next day, the British are going to close in.

07:05 - They're gonna annihilate this army.

07:06 - They're going to capture the traitor Washington.

07:08 - That's going to be the end of our fight for independence.

07:12 - But under the cover of night falls

07:15 - under the very noses of the British warships

07:17 - anchored in that harbor that night, men would run the boats up.

07:22 - They would load the armies into the boats.

07:24 - They would take them across the river.

07:25 - So make that trip as many as seven times that night.

07:28 - What you don't know is that many of those men will ruin the boats.

07:32 - Are black sailors from Marblehead, Massachusetts.

07:35 - That night.

07:37 - These men will not only just save our army, but save our revolution as well.

07:50 - My name is Matthew

07:51 - Psychic, and I'm portraying a fifer of the Continental Army today.

07:55 - So my name is Eric White Shack, and I portray a drummer

07:58 - of the Continental Army during the time of the American Revolution.

08:01 - So today we're here commemorating the history

08:04 - that happened here in Germantown.

08:06 - And that was the Battle of Germantown on October 4th, 1777, one of the larger

08:11 - battles of the Revolutionary War, a British victory.

08:15 - But today, we're portraying,

08:18 - Fifer, a drummer of the Continental Army, to teach people about the diverse

08:23 - people of George Washington's army that participated in this battle in 1777.

08:28 - So drums would be used.

08:29 - You know, it's sort of multifaceted to be used in camp or garrison for,

08:34 - like, the reveille to wake soldiers up to tattoo, to go to bed.

08:37 - And they have everything in between, like a water call or would call the troop,

08:41 - grosbeak speak to give out rations.

08:44 - They would also play, cadences to keep soldiers in step for drill.

08:48 - Or if you're going to marching to a city soldiers would, you know, form up

08:52 - and they would actually march in, I think, as Matt was saying before,

08:56 - and of course, on the battlefield, it was important

08:58 - because these gave signals.

09:00 - So of course they didn't have the same communication devices that we have today.

09:04 - So the drums, I think they're even mentioned in Sun Tzu's Art of War.

09:07 - It talks about using drums.

09:08 - So it's amazing how they were still used throughout Revolution

09:12 - and even bugles up until World War one and World War two.

09:15 - Believe it or not.

09:17 - Oh, a fife is a small wooden flute, and it's a very loud instrument.

09:22 - And that's the whole point.

09:23 - It's, meant to be used as a communication tool

09:26 - for communicating orders to large groups of soldiers.

09:30 - Much better than an officer's

09:31 - voice could, shouting to, let's say, 500 men at one time.

09:36 - And so fifes and paired with a loud drum were used to tell soldiers

09:40 - when to get up in the morning with a tune called Reveille.

09:44 - When to go to bed at night.

09:45 - Went to assemble with their muskets.

09:47 - Went to charge forward in battle, when to retreat,

09:52 - and also when they entered a town or a city like Philadelphia.

09:57 - Fifers and drummers would play popular tunes

10:00 - that would give a army a more sort of impressive appearance

10:05 - as they are, parading through through a town or city

10:08 - for the drum on the battlefield to commence fire.

10:10 - Fire at the enemy! Cease fire! Stop firing!

10:14 - That you would have a colonel,

10:16 - then the drummer and or fifer with that colonel often.

10:19 - And the Colonel would give the order to the drummer and Fifer play this,

10:23 - and then all the companies would know what to do

10:26 - to advance the retreat, or whatever it would be.

10:28 - So the drum that I'm carrying and playing today is, kind of unique.

10:32 - It was made by Benjamin Eli and Moses Brown.

10:35 - Two of them were veterans, I think one was a private,

10:38 - the other a fighter in the Continental Army.

10:40 - So it was actually made sometime between the years 1810 and 1815.

10:44 - And what's interesting, if you notice, there's attack design on the drum,

10:47 - isn't it?

10:48 - It's like, kind of lopsided where it's there's more wood here.

10:52 - And then this TAC design is cut off.

10:54 - And the reason for that is in the 19th century, particularly

10:57 - during the Civil War period, they shortened the Trumps.

11:00 - That was just the style of the time.

11:02 - So this was one of those drums that, you know, it's

11:05 - not in its original form, but it would have been a few inches taller at the time.

11:09 - And drums during the Revolutionary War typically were a little bit taller

11:12 - than what we have today, or even what we have in the Civil War.

11:14 - Not always, though, but typically a little bit.

11:16 - But otherwise, this drum is about the same as what you would see

11:20 - during the Revolutionary War. Very few differences.

11:22 - So it gives you that actual sound.

11:24 - And the other thing interesting is there's no muffler.

11:26 - They didn't really use mufflers until maybe the mid 20th century.

11:30 - So the drums would ring, it makes the drum louder

11:33 - and it's almost like a drone, just like the bagpipe has a drone with it.

11:37 - This does too, with the fights.

11:39 - So that's one of the reasons that we decide not to put the mufflers in.

11:46 - Good morning.

11:46 - My name is Zachary Long and I'm the basket weaver here.

11:49 - So basket weaving is really very simple.

11:52 - It's a lashing.

11:54 - And then an over under motion the entire way.

11:57 - It's very simple. Anybody can do it.

12:00 - As soon as, the kids had manual dexterity to push and pull,

12:07 - they would be handed, read and told to go for it.

12:13 - But it's very, very simple.

12:14 - This is, what I would call a potato basket.

12:17 - It's a harvest basket.

12:19 - It's a continuous weave.

12:21 - So we start on the side and just weave back and forth and in the center,

12:25 - weave it together,

12:26 - and you go out and pick potatoes, carrots, whatever you want with it.

12:28 - It's a it's a functional basket.

12:30 - Every basket has a purpose.

12:32 - It's not like today

12:33 - you go and buy a basket because it's pretty, in the 18th century,

12:37 - you went and bought a basket because you needed a specific tool.

12:40 - And I think that's what's important.

12:41 - You prepare the material by soaking it in water, preferably warm.

12:44 - It goes faster.

12:45 - And then once that reed, loosens up, it's very flexible.

12:50 - In the 18th century, you would cut down green oak trees, small green oak trees,

12:55 - and split them and then shave that down to get your pliable material.

13:08 - Well, that's.

13:09 - My name is Rebecca Franks.

13:11 - Surely you've heard of my papa, David Franks.

13:14 - He's the finest merchant in all of Philadelphia

13:17 - ever since the British occupied this wonderful city of ours,

13:20 - I have had such a delightful time.

13:24 - You can have no idea the life of continued amusement I live in.

13:28 - I scarcely have a moment to myself.

13:31 - I have store this while everyone is retired to dress for dinner.

13:34 - I am but come under Mr.

13:36 - J box hands, and I am most elegantly dressed for all this evening.

13:44 - As for the balls in Philadelphia,

13:46 - including the ones at Smith's Tavern, I have no loss for partners.

13:50 - Even I am engaged.

13:51 - Seven different gentlemen,

13:52 - for as you know, it is a fixed rule never to dance with the same person.

13:56 - But twice.

13:57 - I wish that you could join me as well, darling.

14:01 - I'll tell Mrs.

14:02 - Harrison that she has got a gentleman in her house, and

14:05 - that he promises to keep everything in good order.

14:09 - As you know, the the British are occupying our town of Philadelphia,

14:12 - and they've taken into occupying some of the houses,

14:16 - although mine has not been occupied for as you know, I'm still here.

14:20 - So for the ball at Smith's Tavern,

14:23 - the dress I have prepared is more ridiculous

14:27 - and pretty than anything I ever saw a great deal of colored

14:31 - feathers on the head, and a time besides a thousand other things.

14:35 - The hair dressed very high in shape.

14:37 - It's Miss Vining.

14:38 - This was the night you returned from

14:40 - Smith's see, hat we found in mother's closet would be a proper size.

14:44 - I have an afternoon cap with one wing.

14:46 - Although I assure you I go less in the fashion

14:50 - than some of these ladies do, especially in New York.

14:53 - Now that the British are here in Philadelphia occupying, you will find that

14:56 - there will be so much more theater will be brought back.

15:01 - I heard that Captain Andre is preparing a few, few plays for the winter,

15:05 - and I will be providing some entertainment as well. I'm

15:08 - going to be doing a concert for a couple, for a few gentlemen, my papa insists.

15:14 - Speaking of

15:15 - my outreaches on the fidgets to have me married,

15:18 - I don't want to, for my life is perfect as it is.

15:22 - Why should it change?

15:24 - I mean, I suppose I should wind up getting married before I turn into

15:28 - my dear friend Becky Redmond, who is 20 and seven and still not married,

15:33 - although she has so many times to recommend her, she's just picky.

15:38 - You know that gentleman, a shoes with his mouth open?

15:43 - That gentleman, he doesn't make enough money.

15:46 - That gentleman

15:48 - leaves the chamber pot wherever he pleases and it's quite disgusting.

15:53 - She tries to find any excuse she can

15:55 - and honestly, I don't blame her.

15:58 - Forgive me.

15:59 - I've ranting to you.

16:02 - You need not know about

16:04 - the woes of my little society at third and fourth Street.

16:08 - That is what my thought is.

16:10 - What the locals call us.

16:12 - It is myself, Peggy Chou, Becky Redmond, and Peggy Shippen.

16:17 - We call ourselves the Little Society at the third and fourth Street.

16:22 - But I like, you know, the friendship that you know,

16:24 - you can make with people that are interested

16:26 - in the same type of music, like, Matt and I've been playing for like 25 years.

16:30 - It's something that brings us together.

16:32 - And I like to,

16:33 - you know, preserving our history

16:35 - because very few people play this type of music anymore.

16:38 - And this is the music that was played during our revolution,

16:41 - which changed the world.

16:43 - Like,

16:43 - these are the different calls and signals and tunes that inspired our forefathers.

16:47 - So to me, it's important that we play it and I like the music.

16:50 - I like the style. I don't find a pleasing.

16:52 - I've been doing this since age 11, so, just about, 20 years now.

16:57 - And, and so I've been really enjoying sharing

17:00 - musical history with, a variety of people throughout this region,

17:04 - basket weaving and a lot of our, our older crafts tend to, to fall away.

17:08 - And I think dressing just gives it a layer.

17:11 - It makes it more,

17:13 - appropriate.

17:14 - It gives you a context for everything.

17:16 - Today.

17:17 - You can weave a basket and it's a cute arts and crafts project,

17:20 - but dressing it gives that extra layer of why we'll do it.

17:24 - The festival is a great living day of living history and community engagement.

17:28 - We've got craftspeople,

17:29 - so we've got a blacksmith and a candle dipper and a basket weaver.

17:33 - We've got women doing textiles.

17:36 - We've got a tea, tea party that you can come sit at.

17:39 - We have, activities with the sights at Historic Germantown.

17:43 - We have tours of the house which you can see behind me.

17:46 - And we have continental and British soldiers, in, in encampment.

17:51 - So you can meet with them as well. You.