06/10/2026
This last weekend I found myself at The Museum of the Waxhaws . I spent my off time with the 2nd South Carolina with members from as far as TX making the trip. Two very different battles gave me some great opportunities to catch the troops.
The battles are big, loud, smell of black powder, and leave the air with a charge of adrenaline. The troops love this hobby and it shows. What the public doesn't see is the reunion of friends or new friendships blooming, gallons of water over a fire in preparation for cleaning muskets, pop cans cleverly hidden, modern bedding under a blanket of wool, the hard work of set up and tear down, all the trailers and cars headed to the gas station after, and piles of laundry.
We work hard to hide our modern conveniences to give the public( and ourselves) that immersive feeling. This includes our children. It's always a delight to watch the kids run and play with each other , stick/sword in hand and squeals of happiness when they "capture" a British officer headed to the port-a-let or fall down laughing from chasing each other for hours. My own children grew up in this hobby. My girls can climb a tree in petticoats, because being left behind wasn't an option in their mind. My son can do anything in a full great kilt that he can in cowboy boots and jeans.
The first picture in this set is of a girl watching her father or maybe a brother muster and practice before the Saturday battle. As she walked past I captured a moment as old as time. How exciting and difficult is must of been for the children to watch the family men headed off to battle.
Now the second picture, that's a great story too. How many times has an NCO told you to go do what? Gunny that picture is for you.
Picture 3 is of what they call a "flash in the pan." What these guys do on the field isn't a joke and they take safety very seriously. It's very real black powder and the explosion is hard on the hearing.
I admire everyone in this community and could't think of a finer group of people to spend my weekends with. I hope you enjoy seeing the battles from a canon's (camera) view.
