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A Post Such As Portsmouth-1781
April 13 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
FreeA Post Such as Portsmouth is an immersive, interactive, educational, child-friendly, annual spring event commemorating the 1781 British occupation of Portsmouth by the turncoat Benedict Arnold himself. On Saturday, April 13th, Olde Towne Portsmouth will be brimming with reenactors, interpreters, and the like, as Youth Virginia Regiment hosts this one-of-kind event. Even residents and shop owners dress up (and act up!) for the occasion.
Market girls, foragers, redcoats, Hessians, members of the Ethiopian Regiment, musicians, rebels, camp followers, and spies mingle in their daily duties before the Battle of Scott’s Creek (after which you might even spot the Marquis de Lafayette!) Renew your pledge of loyalty to the King with General Benedict Arnold (or join James Fayette in a scheme to kidnap the traitor!). Learn a new dance, and gossip about the politics and events of the day. You may even choose to join a side… but which one?
10 a.m.-4 p.m. – Reenactment Area Open to Public
4 p.m. – “Evacuation”
5:30 p.m. – Reenactor Reception, Dinner
► In 1781, preceding the arrival of General Cornwallis into Portsmouth Virginia, the Infamous Traitor, now British General, Benedict Arnold, leads a British force into Hampton Roads. Occupying Portsmouth as their base, along with Colonel Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers and Captain Ewald’s Jaegers, the British conducted raids in Hampton Roads, and skirmished with Virginia’s forces including Capt (“Major”) Amos Weeks at Kempe’s Landing and Great Bridge.
As spring approaches, the British await Lord Cornwallis as he and his army campaign in North Carolina.