By Steve Bradley
The 241st anniversary of the Battle at Walloomsac was held Thursday, August 16 at the Bennington Battlefield Park. The pleasant evening ceremony’s highlight was Hoosick Falls Central School students reading descriptions of the battle written by soldiers who took part in the battle. Several Revolutionary War re-enactors were on hand to fire a canon and various associations placed wreaths in remembrance. The event was held on the site where a major part of the actual battle took place.
Approximately 100 people were in attendance.
The students spent the preceding week visiting area historic sites, including the Saratoga Battlefield. The highlight of the week came with they set up camp to live the life of a Revolutionary War soldier for 24 hours on the top of the hill.
According to Katie Brownell, an HFCS fourth grade teacher and commanding officer for the week, the students learned military 18th century camp functions including how to set up camp, march and drill and how to set up a canon for firing. They also learned the camp skills of preparing and cooking food over an open fire. Learning and singing some Revolutionary War era songs was also enjoyed by the students.
“They won’t remember what I read to them, but they’ll remember this,” Brownell said.
Their camp was featured in several segments of the WTEN morning news hours.