SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

1st battle of the Revolutionary War

Jul 4, 2012, 5:47 AM | Updated: 10:09 am

This morning, we aired part of a hilarious sketch. How
the Independence was won. Here it is:

We might not know all the facts about our Revolution, but
there is a hardy band of people out there who are trying
to get as close to the experience as possible by re-
enacting the battles.

Charlie Schroeder is one of those players and has a new
book out called “Man of War: My Adventures in the World of
Historical Re-Enactment.”

He says even though you repeatedly tell yourself the
battle scene in front of you is merely a reenactment,
there’s still quite a rush when confronted with hundreds
of men pointing muskets in your direction. You hope
they’re not loaded.

“It’s called a period rush,” says Schroeder. He explains
that the intensity increases the longer you’re out there
and the deeper involved you become.

“You forget for awhile. Even by walking around in those
clothes and not relying on modern items. You tend to start
to think, believe and understand what it must have been
like to be alive back then.”

But there are some things we can’t imagine giving up, like
modern day bathrooms. Schroeder, who played the role of a
German soldier, recalls a WWII reenactment in Colorado.
He walked out of his tent in the morning seeking a port-a-
potty and someone told him, “dig a hole.”

“I didn’t dig a hole, however, I felt like I was out in
the middle of cattle fields so it was appropriate for not
digging.”

And for today, Schroeder leaves you with shared outrage
over this tea tax.

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1st battle of the Revolutionary War