I live near Belvoir Castle (pronounced Beaver here) and saw the other weekend that a Napoleonic event was being held there so I bundled up the family and went off to have a look. It turned out to be an event put on by the display team of the recreated 68th Durham Light Infantry who reenact the unit as it appeared in 1814.
A recruiting tent was set up by the
main walk to provide people with a place to get answers to questions
about the unit
and the demonstrations. The unit had photos up inside the tent and recruiting
flyers were being handed out to anyone interested. The unit also lists
videos for sale and is very proud of its appearences in numerous T.V.
shows and history videos.
The original 68th has an interesting unit history before during and after the Napoleonic wars. Some sites with with good information can be found here, here, here and here. The unit was expected to fight in main battle lines of the day, but was also expected to be able to fight in front of the main battle lines as skirmishers as well. Skirmishers worked by going ahead of the main battle lines and trying to disrupt the enemy by shooting at their officers, muscians or artillery crews. Normally they were opposed by the enemies skirmishers and a mini battle within the larger battle would take place as one sides skirmishers attempted to chase the other sides skirmishers away so that they could attack the enemies main battle line directly. This was hard work and light troops were regarded as a cut above the troops in other units who could only fight in the main battle line.
So how was
the event? Pretty good overall. Hot as the blazes by U.K. standards, but
a nice breeze as around so it wasn't all bad on the weather front. I
had two five year old boys with me so we only stayed for one demonstration,
but the drill was good, the crowd seemed to enjoy it and the boys with
me loved the mass volleys. The safety rules in the U.K. are often far
laxer than in the US, that meant I was able to get some good photos,
but I was close enough that the woman next to me got hit by back blast
from the pans of the flintlocks as they shot. That is probably too
close for the average tourist. I did enjoy the light infantry drill,
as most of my reenacting has been in the main battle line. The unit's
uniforms looked good, but if you look closely at the picutres you will
see a few details that would get a soldier a good telling off by a sharp
eyed sargeant. For a small event at a local venue I would say the reenactors
of the 68th did a great job. I wouldn't hesitate to reccomend the unit
to some looking to join a unit or looking for a sharp unit to attend
an event.