From: We Reenact : Journal
Date: April 19,2009
This weekend was the Military Through the Ages weekend at the Marietta House Museum in Glenn Dale, Maryland. The event showcased all the different types of reenacting to teach visitors about the hobby and learn more about the era that the group portrayed. It was an over welming experience because you never know where to begin and we noticied that most people focused on the eras that they were most interested in. At one point of the event all of the groups began to sing; we were unable to decide which group to listen to. You can learn more about the event in our Traveler’s Journal.
Here is some of the things we learned about there.
Roman era from 1st Century AD
Their tent was made out of leather from either goat or another type of livestock that they found in the area. They had to oil the tent in order to keep it in good condition and was easy to maintain.
Just like soldiers during the American Revolution and Civil War they used hardtack which also consist of flour or wheat and water. Most of the time they were unable to drink the water due to the contamination, so daily they drank wine of some kind.
Depending on the ruler you could become a citizen of Rome. Some rulers hand out citizenship easier then others. But if you were a slave, free slave or a person who wanted to gain citizenship you needed to do something important for either Rome’s society or the military. If you gain citizenship you did not just gain protection from Rome you also had a lot more responsibilities to do for Rome like paying taxes.
Legio XX and Legion XXIV were two of the groups that were camped at the event.
11th to 17th Century
This was the beginning of the spreading of religion throughout Europe. The 17th Century ended with the Renaissance. Going through the group you could not really tell from one to the other. Had many similarities of clothing and tent. Just remember that this was the time during the Medieval and Renaissance Age of Knights.
Talking to a group that I believes was placed during the 14th Century Dutch talked with us about camp life. One interesting subjects that they talked about was that during that time period, camp followers were relevant at that time. Just like the later camp followers they consists of families of the soldiers. During compaigns the soldiers marched in front while the camp follower and wagons were in the back. If there was a battle the women and children who help setup tent and prepare the soldiers meals.
Some of the groups that participated were Knights Hospitaller, La Belle Compagnie, Lord Grey’s Retinue, and Das TeufelsAlpdrücken Fähnlein.
They had other societies from 18th Century to 20th Century but we had little time talk with the rest of the societies. But we did have time to walk and take a tour of the house.
Marietta House
The house was built in 1813 by Judge Gabriel Duvall who is an important man in Maryland History. Through his career as a participant in the house of representatives, treasurer and judge; he meant many important men of the day. Some included Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He worked all his life up to the rip old age of 81. He retired to his country home where he became a farmer and raised many of his grandchildren. His son Edmund Brice Duval and wife died very young and left the children to Judge Gabriel Duvall and his wife. After raising the children for only a year Judge Gabriel’s wife died. He raised many of his grandchildren throughout their childhood and died at the age of 91.
During the tour we learned that they had a special container in which women put the hair that they collected from after combing their hair. So that later they could use it as a hair piece or be given to family members when they died. People during the 18th and 19th century were lucky to get a bath once a month. Only until the late 19th and early 20th century when daily bathing practices occurred. This was due to the discovery of germs and the invention of indoor pluming.
When the house was first constructed the closet space only allowed cloths to be neatly folded onto a shelf and not hanged. Even though they had shelves in the bedroom most of the time the rooms shelves were filled with other things around the house like silver. This house also include an indoor kitchen that was located in the basement. In the early years of the house their was a private back staircase used by the children so guess would not be interrupted by children noises. A door was later constructed so people could get into the back bedrooms from the front staircase instead of having to enter from the back stair case.
At the end we learned a lot about many different eras. The tour of the house was equally interesting as the event itself. Each room was displayed from a different era of time. In the future they hope to preserve and furnish the house during the time Gabriel Duvall lived in it.
