Drill Sergeants in Dresses

This week is the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Stoney Creek! Like, to the day!

To catch you up: 200 years ago, there was a war going on between the British and Americans, known as the War of 1812. There were several reasons why it started. Most notably, the British navy was still bossing around the American navy, even after the US gained their independence in the Revolutionary War; and the Americans wanted to control all of North America (incl. Canada), and the British didn't like that idea. The Native Americans, who were allied to the British through trade, DEFINITELY didn't like that idea.

The battles largely took place on Canadian soil, and one of the crucial ones, the Battle of Stoney Creek, took place where I live and work. In 1813, the American army were camped at the Gage farm in Stoney Creek, Ontario, waiting for a chance to invade further into Canada. The British army, camped at what is now Dundurn Castle, initiated a sneak attack on the Americans in the early hours of June 6. They were badly outnumbered, but the shock of surprise and the illusion of a larger British force thanks to smart leadership by John Harvey led to a British win.

Battlefield House museum sits on the site of the Battle of Stoney Creek, in the Gage house where the Americans were camped. This weekend, they have a huge re-enactment, with merchants, children's activities, fireworks, cannons, old-timey food, British, Native, and American encampments, etc. etc. Fun stuff.

Yesterday was the day for school groups to come and see the transformed park. As employees at other civic museums in Hamilton, staff from Dundurn and the Military Museum led a mock-battle activity for the 2000-odd visiting students. This involved a cannon demonstration (with real gunpowder, but without a cannonball), and large-scale broom drill battles.

To fit in with the reenactors, we came dressed in historic costume, of course - so the majority of our commanding officers were dressed like proper new world Edwardian ladies (we had a few gentlemen as well). And our job was to scream (in good fun) at children about how to form lines, fire and load their muskets (brooms) in an orderly fashion.

It was a brutally hot day, but I think generally everyone had fun. For me, this was the first time I got to wear my 1812 costume (a dark red, empire-waist dress), so I was pretty excited to run around in my skirts being all hard-boiled drill sergeant-y.

Don't be deceived by the dress; I'll make you do push ups

Shortbread by the Slab

When visitors go on a tour of Dundurn Castle, they'll usually be treated with cookies, fruits and veggies from the castle garden, pickles, jams, breads, etc. etc. All sorts of yummy things made from traditional recipes in our historic kitchen.

One of the many perks of actually working on site is that sometimes, the crazy old stove doesn't behave, and lightly scorches a big batch of shortbread - this means that instead of being served to the public, it is plopped on a plate in the staff room.

Imagine a thick, golden, crumbly slab of shortbread, the size of a large baking pan. Drool. Seriously, even slightly burnt, Dundurn shortbread is the best I've ever tasted. Scarfed it before I could take pictures, sorry.

Butts on the Ground!

Today at the Military Museum, we had a school program with students in Grades 1, 2, and 3 - and because the weather is now sunny and warm, we were finally able to run an outdoor activity as part of our programming: Practising 1812 military drills, using a kid-size corn broom in place of a musket! (We call them 'Broom Drills')

This is actually something that was done in Canadian schools in the 1800's - should the military require your help in an emergency, all students would practice the basic procedures for loading and firing a musket, using brooms as stand-ins for real guns.

This was my first time running Broom Drills, and I was pretty excited. For the most part, my group was very good at listening and responding to my commands of "SHOULDER - ARMS!" "MAKE - READY!" and "COMPANY - FIRE!," amongst other orders. 

But the highlight was definitely the phrase I used to describe the proper resting position, to the command "ORDER - ARMS!" This command asks soldiers to place their muskets vertically, with the base resting on the ground beside their right foot. At first, 'ORDER - ARMS' was a little too confusing for these young kids. Now, the real name the base of the musket is called the 'butt' (one of several cheekily-named musket parts - we've already discussed the "Cocking mechanism"), so I started following up the ORDER ARMS command with "Butts on the ground! Butts on the ground!"  

This became the catch-phrase of the day. Even when we were done the Broom Drills, the kids kept repeating "Butts on the Ground!" to their friends. My apologies to their teachers who may be hearing this phrase the entire bus ride back to school.   

  

Children's Water Festival

The Children's Water Festival happens once a year down at Pier 4 Park in Hamilton, and us staff from the Steam & Technology Museum participated this year by offering free educational water-themed activities for hundreds of kids. Possibly thousands. It was crazy, non-stop action. Crazy. Non-stop. Action. But fun. 

I had no idea how huge this event was until I actually got to go participate this past Thursday - there were dozens of other organizations - rowing clubs, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton Water/Waste Water division team, EcoHouse, etc. etc. who came out to provide activity stations for the busloads of Grade 4's visiting throughout the week.  

The Steam Museum activity was two-fold: learning about the history of the Hamilton Waterworks and the importance of testing and filtering our drinking water; and then participating in a relay race called "The Trip of the Drip:" kids pretend they are a drop of water starting in Lake Ontario, and by crawling through pipes, pumping water, and jumping off the 'reservoir,' the drops eventually get to your facilities at home. Kids celebrate their successful water system travels by popping up through an oversized toilet and yelling "FLUSH!!" at the top of their lungs. Good, silly fun.  

I think our station probably was the loudest, with so many kids yelling and giggling as their friends rush through the relay. All of the groups of kids, their teachers and helpers, were happy and excited to learn and try new things at this event. I had three wonderful volunteer helpers on Thursday, and honestly running our activities wouldn't have been possible without them. 

By the end of the day, I'm pretty sure everyone on site had lost their voices - myself included. But it was worth it for a fun, beautiful, educational day learning about the importance of water! Added bonus: everyone now has a snazzy new t-shirt and reusable water bottle! 

Swag

Rock and Roll Zombie

Yesterday at the Military Museum, we had a Rock and Roll Zombie come through our doors. I regret that I didn’t get his autograph…

(It was ‘dress-up-as-a-character day’ at one little boy’s school, and he wanted to be the Rock and Roll Zombie from his favourite show, Scooby Doo.)

During their visit, he and his family also tried on our military uniforms - it may be the first time in history that anyone has ever dressed up as a rock and roll zombie British soldier from 1812.   

*Update* The same week, we also had a young Princess visit us at the Military Museum and Dundurn Castle. She came in full Princess regalia; she was going to a castle after all. I think she and her Mom enjoyed becoming warrior Princesses when trying on our shakos.  

These Things Happen

Stuff happens sometimes at a museum. Stuff like being infiltrated by birds crashing through windows.  This morning at the Steam Museum, we made the unfortunate discovery that some kind of bird of prey – a hawk or falcon – had crashed through a window pane in the Pumphouse. The bird unfortunately did not survive, however, staff were very quick to address the problem and new glass has already been ordered.

But that’s not the weirdest part. In the morning, it was the hawk. In the afternoon just before closing, it was a blackbird. That’s right – we had not one, but TWO bird-related issues this day. As we closed up the Woodshed for the evening, I found that a blackbird had somehow flew inside the building.

Could this beautiful weather be making our birds act a little crazy?  

Staff Field Trip

Every few months, we have a staff meeting at the Museum of Steam and Technology. I realize this sounds boring - but our staff meetings are actually just big potlucks, where we happen to discuss museum business.

Not an exaggeration

But in April, we upped the fun factor of our staff meeting, and went on a field trip. First stop was to Taylor's Tea Room in Dundas, where we had some lovely tea and scones and discussed museum things. Second stop was to visit the old Gartshore Foundry on Hatt Street.

The 1859 walking-beam steam engines at the Museum of Steam and Technology were built in this building in Dundas, which originally housed the iron and brass foundry of one John Gartshore. The building changed hands many times since, and currently has a few new offices for rent inside; but the original workshop area is vacant.

Through her other job with the local theatre, one of our historical interpreters made the connection with the current owners, who graciously took us on a tour of the buildings where our beloved engines were born. 

Usually we receive groups for field trips; this time, it was really fun (and educational!) to be the ones actually going on the field trip!

I definitely did not make Joe and Nancy pretend to be reading something really interesting for this picture. 

Good Question!

'Good Question!' is a recurring feature post about an interesting question or comment that has been made at one of the museums I work at. This question was about a strange story alluded to in a War of 1812 display.  

At the Hamilton Military Museum, we have a display case containing the cutlass belonging to Major General Phineas Riall – who was one of the British leaders during in the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, 1813. 

To give some very limited context, the Battle of Lundy’s Lane (near present day Niagara Falls, Canada) was a fight between the British/Canadians and the Americans in June 1813. It goes down in history as the bloodiest battle on Canadian soil during the War of 1812. 

There was no clear ‘winner’; both sides experienced crippling losses, and the battlefield was chaos. Initially, the Americans seemed to out-manouver the British, and were able to capture some British officers. But at the end of the long night, the Americans were out of supplies and despite some strategic advantages decided to retreat back across the Niagara River into the United States. 

The text panel for the cutlass talks about what happened to Phineas Riall during this battle; let's call him Phineas, because that is an excellent name. Unfortunately for him, he was one of those British officers captured by the American Major Thomas Jesup. The story that follows is admittedly odd: the cutlass on display was given by Phineas to his captor, Thomas, and Thomas used the cutlass for the remainder of the War of 1812 before giving it back to Phineas.

Wait, what? Phineas gave his weapon willingly to the enemy, the guy who just captured him? 

That is correct. Apparently, even though they were enemies on the battlefield, officers in the two opposing armies still treated each other with gentlemanly respect. In 1812, officers were not necessarily made by leadership skills and merit. Mostly, they were made by money. So there was a sort of aristocratic understanding between the higher-ups. 

During the battle, Thomas lost his cutlass. Not wanting to see a fellow officer go without the largely symbolic weapon,  Phineas offered up his own to his enemy.   

Basically, they were adversaries on the battlefield, but they were still members of the same exclusive club. 

But can you imagine that conversation, as Phineas is being held captive by the American army? 

The...*ahem*... "Cocking Mechanism"

When talking about battles from the War of 1812 to school groups, it is important to explain the use of muskets; when explaining the use of muskets, it is useful to discuss the parts of the gun and how it works, in order to show how cumbersome these weapons were in battle; and when discussing the weapon parts, is necessary to say a taboo word in front of a large group of children. The cock.

It’s the part that holds the flint to make the spark that ignites the gun power. It looks like the head of the rooster; hence the name. And it always get students riled up. 

The joke gets kind of old for us interpreters just trying to do our job. So at the Hamilton Military Museum, we have re-written history and now refer to the cock as the very official and technical sounding “Cocking Mechanism.” No more disruption!

All credit goes to Mike.   

The Bug Building

At the Museum of Steam and Technology, we usually cook up some activities for kids on Family Day. This year, the theme was ‘Building Cities’ – one of the activities was to recycle old cartons, cardboard, paper, tubes, etc. and add a building to our 3D model city.

The activity area is not always staffed, and because it was quite a busy day with tours, I didn’t get a chance to see the city building in action. In a way, that made it even more impressive when I walked into the Woodshed at the end of the day and saw this awesome recycled city that had grown in just a few hours.

There were not one, but TWO versions of the Museum of Steam and Technology, recreated with cereal boxes and toilet paper tubes.

My favourite was the mysteriously labelled “Bug Building” that was still under construction at the end of the day. When I asked the little girl who had made the “Bug Building” with her Dad what a Bug Building was used for, she gave me an odd look and said very matter-of-factly, “It’s for Bugs.”  Makes sense. 

What Does Assassin's Creed III Have to Do with a Museum?

One weeknight at the Hamilton Military Museum, a scout group was scheduled to come in and participate in our Red Coats and Muskets program, which would help fulfill the requirements of their Heritage Badge.

During our programming, I tend to ask the kids a lot of questions to get their brains ticking. Although the other scouts were very excited to raise their hands or even shout out answers to my questions about the War of 1812, one in particular did not have any interest in participating. He was actually becoming quite disruptive – until I started asking questions about the use of flintlock muskets by British soldiers.  You could almost hear something clicking in his head.  

I showed the leather bag used to carry the ammunition and asked what you would put in a musket to make it fire. For the first time, this scout raised his hand and confidently said “They are called cartridges; they aren’t bullets!” Before I could ask my next question, this boy who had previously shown no interest at all starting excitedly running off facts about the use of a musket – "you’d bite the end of the cartridge paper with your teeth to expose the gunpower; you'd use the ramrod to shove the entire cartridge into the barrel; then you’d use the flintlock to make a spark to ignite the musket; it  is very slow and doesn’t shoot very far, and makes a lot of smoke" etc. etc. 

All true by the way, and all important to understanding how the available technology affected battle in the War of 1812 – for example, the smoky muskets is one of the main reasons why the British wore bright red: so they could see their own soldiers through the fog of the battlefield! 

At first I thought it was a little strange that this 13 year old knew so much about muskets after showing no interest at all in military history. So after praising his knowledge, I asked him how he’d learned all this. He told me his favourite video game was called Assassin’s Creed III.

This is a popular video game, which creates an alternate history of the American Revolution; it features Red Coat soldiers and muskets, and battle tactics that were very similar to those used in the War of 1812.

Now, I’m not saying it is great that this 13 year old was playing violent video games rated for adults. I am saying that sometimes you can get kids to connect with history in unexpected ways. Once this scout saw the connection between his game and real history, he was much more excited to learn and participate. 

Oiling Engines with Dessert

During Christmas Break at the Museum of Steam and Technology, we held a drop-in program for kids exploring the Science of Ice and Snow. One of the activities included making ice cream in a ziplock bag. So before taking a tour of the 45 foot tall steam engines in the museum, one little boy visiting with his sister and parents had frozen desserts on the brain.

On the packing deck of the Pumphouse, I started discussing some of the jobs that had to be done to make the engine work – one of which was to oil the engine. For little kids, I explain the process in this way: First, to illustrate the concept of friction, I get kids to rub the palms of their hands together quickly, creating heat. Then I tell them that when the engine is turned on, all the big metal parts moving creates friction. If there is too much friction, the engine might break down. So, they fixed the problem by putting something slippery on the moving parts, to reduce the amount of friction. 

Then I asked them what kinds of things they might use to make the engine parts slippery. The little boy on this tour very earnestly and enthusiastically suggested “ICE CREAM?!”  

Now, the oilers at the Hamilton Waterworks originally used things like lamp black and melted down sheep’s fat (mutton tallow) to make the engine slippery. But I think ice cream could work. This kid is on to something. 

Soldier on Guard

On Saturday, an 8 or 9 year old bespectacled  boy came to the Hamilton Military Museum with his grandpa. As the interpreter manning the front desk that day, their visit turned out to be one of the most delightful interactions I can remember.

Part of my job is to direct visitors where to go, and to encourage them to do the activities we’ve set out – like trying on various military uniforms, or playing strategy games. Usually people nod appreciatively and go on their way, but this boy’s eyes lit up as I explained all the hands-on activities he could participate in; we was clearly a fan of playing soldiers.

I brought him over to the first dress-up station, where I put him in one of our replica 1812 British red coats. He wanted more. So I also put a shako on his head. “What else would they wear?!” I went to the office closet and brought out the full outfit, usually reserved for school programs – a bed roll and backpack; a canteen; a bread bag; a cartridge bag and a bayonet cross-belt. We piled every piece on until the boy was just about to fall over, but he was so excited to look in the mirror and see a real, if rather short, Red Coat soldier.

There was a lot more to see at the museum, but he did not want to take the uniform off. He politely asked me and his Grandpa if he could keep the coat and hat on while he looked through the museum exhibits. We have many others available to use, and besides it wasn’t very busy – so I said he could if he was careful and could remember to bring it back to me at the desk. For about an hour, he and his grandpa played soldiers in our Discovery Gallery; pretending to cook a hock of meat on the campfire, loading our miniature cannon, building a fortification with our big foam blocks. He didn’t want to leave when 4pm came and the museum had to close.

So he, and his Grandpa came back the very next day and did the same thing all over again.

Here’s the best part: On Sunday, when I had him all dressed up again in the Red Coat, he wanted to get other museum visitors excited about dressing up to. So for about 20 minutes or so, he stood by me at the front desk, and greeted new visitors with a salute and a cheerful “HEY! Do you want to dress up like me?! Come over this way and try on a uniform!”

Weekend made.