May 3, 2007
Stepping into history:
Saxe revisits the American Revolution
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Click here to watch a video of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment at Saxe Middle School.
Instead of listening to lectures and reading books, Saxe fifth graders recently learned their history lessons by loading cannons and donning petticoats.
With help from reenactors in the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, the students stepped back in time Friday, April 20, to the summer of 1776.
“The primary purpose of the day is to reinforce what we teach in our social studies curriculum as well as our reading curriculum,” fifth grader teacher Christian White told the
Advertiser.
His students study everything from exploration to the American Revolution, Mr. White explained, and the event is a way to bring 18th century America to life, “instead of just seeing it in black and white in a text book.”
More than 300 Saxe Middle School students spent the day outside bouncing between 12 stations, at which they learned about music, food and clothing of the era; notable names and events of the time; the motivations behind both colonial and crown soldiers; what is was like to have an ailment before 21st century medicine; the importance of the tavern as a political meeting place; and how to load and fire a cannon.
During a lunch break, the reenactors staged a tavern-based patriot vs. loyalist vignette before taking to the battlefield for a final demonstration.
“I think the most important reason you do this is to take history to another dimension,” said Tom Castrovinci, a New Canaan resident, reenactor and father of Saxe seventh grade student, Peter.
“They can actually step right into the museum display,” he added. “They can actually see it, touch it, feel it, know what it was like.”
The original Fifth Connecticut Regiment was formed in 1775 in response to the hostilities at Lexington and Concord, according to www.5cr.org, and reformed in 1777 for Continental duty. It was made up primarily of soldiers from Fairfield County.
The modern regiment was formed in 1974 in preparation for the nation’s bicentennial celebration. Current members are volunteers who live in the area. All their equipment and clothing has been “painstakingly researched,” according to a letter to Saxe from Mr. Castrovinci, “and are exact replicas in terms of design, materials, function and, in many cases, method of production.”
The regiment is intended to be a family group, made up of men as well as women and children, in order to teach about aspects of colonial life beyond the military.
So although the afternoon ended with a cloud of gunpowder, a bayonet charge and a shrill of battlefield drums, the children spent the majority of their time hearing about what everyday life was like during the struggle for American Independence.
It was a war fought during a smallpox pandemic, at a time when treating a bullet wound often meant amputating a limb with a hacksaw. It was a time when young boys had to either fight the enemy in one direction or be shot in the back for desertion in the other. It was a time of little communication and long periods of starvation.
And as Mr. Castrovinci showed in his station — “the crown soldier” — it was a time of division as well as unity.
Nearly half the people in New Canaan at the early part of the war were crown loyalists, he said. “So it’s important for the kids to get perspective of what those loyal to the crown felt, what British soldiers went through. And in my personal station it comes to a nice ending because once they understand the other side, it gives them even a greater appreciation of what the patriots did, and the sacrifices they made.”
The ultimate goal for members of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, according to Tom Angels of Bristol, is to spark interest in history.
“History is important,” he said. “It’s important for Connecticut. It’s important for the nation. And we like to take our personal time and devote it to the kids to give them an opportunity to see that history isn’t just boring. It isn’t old dates and numbers. It’s actually a lot of fun.”
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