In its latest initiative to enhance the visitor experience, the Friends of the Bennington Battlefield have added an audio dimension to the ten signage panels placed on the Battlefield two years ago.
Each signage panel now bears one or more audio-connected QR codes. Point your smartphone camera at the code, tap the link that appears on your screen, and an audio file will play. You will hear a short musical prelude under a concise spoken introduction, then an actor’s voice speaking words from history, including accounts from inside the Battle, keyed to panels located at the scene of the action described. The narrations are between 30 seconds and two minutes long.
Kevin McGuire, who grew up in Hoosick Falls, supplied the voices of George Washington and General John Burgoyne, the former all but predicting the Battle of Bennington in a letter to General Philip Schuyler, the latter giving ill-fated orders to Lt. Colonel Baum, who led the raid on Bennington. Twelve other voice actors from the area, many known to local audiences from stage appearances and historical re-enactments, bring to life other first-person accounts.
The project was directed by writer and Friends of Bennington Battlefield Board member Phil Holland of Pownal, Vermont, who also voiced the introductions.