I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season, with a chance to relax and rest up for the year ahead. I took time off from blogging, which is why this post is a little late. It would have made more sense to have let you know about these two yearly reenactments before they occurred, but better late than never. There’s always next year.

The first reenactment is of General George Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River on the early morning of December 26, 1776. Historically, the crossing actually started the evening before, but due to ice build-up on the Delaware, it was severely delayed. What was supposed to be completed by midnight ended up not finishing until 3:00 the next morning. The yearly reenactment doesn’t take place using the same timetable, so there’s no excuse for not trying to be there. Check out the news report on this year’s crossing.

There are lots of inaccuracies in the common history regarding the crossing. Several of those inaccuracies are to be found in Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s well known 1851 painting of Washington crossing the Delaware (now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Do you know what the inaccuracies are? Let me know in the comments!

The second reenactment takes place at Princeton Battlefield, where, on the morning of January 3, 1777, American troops encountered two regiments of British regulars under the command of Charles Mawhood, sometime between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m. While I wasn’t able to find a YouTube video of this year’s reenactment, here’s a link to the real-time event that took place in January 2017.

This year, a battlefield tour took place that included an on-site lecture by historian William P. Tatum III, PhD, as well as reenactors from several colonial regiments to demonstrate the when, how, and why of that pivotal battle. The cost was a very reasonable donation of $10 for adults and $5 for children over 5.

Next year, when you’re considering adding some new and different activity apart from your regular routine, check out these fascinating and informative events. Maybe I’ll see you there! Happy New Year!