Brigade Of The American Revolution<\/a> (BAR) step in, establishing authenticity standards \u2014 the latter holds annual schools featuring experts from various fields of 18th-century study. Individual units also do their part to prevent themselves from resembling a Rev War version of a Renaissance Fair.<\/p>\n\u201cThis is literally the Empire strikes back,\u201d said Costantino (pictured). \u201cThey send the entire British army to invade and conquer the city of New York, capture and kill George Washington and put this silly little notion of the United States of America at last to rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go to Party City and you get the Jack Sparrow costume and you decide to hang out with us with a plastic musket or something like that, we\u2019re going to be like \u2018you can\u2019t sit with us,\u201d laughed Costantino, who will bravely don an authentic wool coat Saturday \u2014\u00a0despite the late August heat and humidity.<\/p>\n
And don\u2019t call it a \u201ccostume\u201d in front of the varsity LARPer \u00a0\u2014 who politely but firmly informed a reporter that this was, indeed, a \u201cuniform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Realism comes at a steep price, too \u2014\u00a0authentic regalia, complete with all the trimmings and a bonafide 1700s musket, will run enthusiasts between $2,000-$4,000 online.<\/p>\n
Re-enactors row across the river during a simulation of the Battle Of Brooklyn in 2021. Robert Levine\/Old Stone House<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can finance a Mercedes or become a Revolutionary War re-enactor,\u201d quipped Costantino, adding they help recruits curb costs by letting them borrow \u201chand-me-down\u201d uniforms and other articles from the regiment.<\/p>\n
Theis told The Post he\u2019s actually gone as far as making gear from scratch, becoming proficient in leather-working. His wife sews many of the uniforms herself, including her husband\u2019s. <\/p>\n
The method re-enactor even fashioned traditional bearskin caps worn by the British Grenadiers using pelts are sourced from \u201cethically harvested bears.\u201d They\u2019d set participants back $2,000 otherwise.<\/p>\n
Re-enactors crouch around a cannon during a Battle Of Brooklyn event in 2021. Robert Levine\/Old Stone House<\/p>\n
Looking the part is only half the battle. These colonial cover bands must master the drills, movements and weapons-handling of an 18th-century soldier \u2014 while wielding reproduction firearms with real gunpowder, albeit sans the projectile.<\/p>\n
Instead of holding pickup battles before game day, tribute troopers can stay sharp by participating in smaller exhibitions through the year. <\/p>\n
Aspiring rebs can hone their skills at immersive BAR events, from period-appropriate social gatherings to firelock shooting competitions.<\/p>\n
In a single campaign season, Costantino said he\u2019s seen recruiting go from not recognizing a flintlock to falling in line for inspection and \u201crolling their own cartridges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The upcoming Battle Of Brooklyn reenactment will be the largest since 2001. Robert Levine\/Old Stone House<\/p>\n
According to Theis, an army veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm, understanding the history behind these maneuvers is equally important.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to break the Hollywoodisms and show how things really work to the best of our abilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One movie misconception this veteran re-enactor wants to bayonet is that the Crown\u2019s troops \u201cmarched in straight lines and fired in unison while the Americans hid behind rocks and trees and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The redcoats arrive at the Battle of Brooklyn reenactment in June 2021. Robert Levine\/Old Stone House<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, that\u2019s true. But it\u2019s also true that the Americans fought in straight lines and in the style of a European army,\u201d Theis clarified. \u201cAnd it\u2019s also true that the British did fight behind trees and would go to ground and lay on their arms and not present themselves as a target.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his meticulous prepwork, some scenarios will inevitably end up backfiring. Theis recalled a re-enactment of the Battle of Guilford where the British were supposed to sustain \u201cheavy casualties\u201d despite ultimately emerging victorious.<\/p>\n
Each unit supplies their own uniforms and other accoutrements. Robert Levine\/Old Stone House<\/p>\n
However, through a miscommunication, a staggering \u201c98% of the British line went down\u201d following a Continental volley, leaving around three guys standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody had a good laugh,\u201d he said. \u201cThree quarters of us stood back up again to go finish the engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of this is choreographed beyond maybe moving markers on a map,\u201d Theis explained. \u201cWe\u2019re all volunteers at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, even die-hard interpreters don\u2019t normally muster such an army for the Battle Of Brooklyn. <\/p>\n
Costantino says that a typical commemoration draws about half a dozen or so re-enactors, but America\u2019s 250th B-day has transformed the small-scale celebration into a \u201conce in a lifetime\u201d historical tribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be able to get the guys from Illinois and Virginia to come in if it was, \u2018Oh, come celebrate the 248th,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Theis, success isn\u2019t measured by enemy body count. \u201c[I want to] encourage them to find out more, pick up a book and read about it. If that is what a few people do, then I consider [the event] highly successful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once more into the breeches. New Yorkers need not be alarmed by the sight of squadrons of Redcoats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[23877,98,100,99,6638,232,57,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-326807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-american-revolution","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-george-washington","tag-lifestyle","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}