The good old days??

As I sat under the old maple tree in front of the Warren County Courthouse last Saturday morning listening to the speakers celebrating the 230th anniversary of Warrenton I wondered if those times years ago were as exciting as they sounded to me.  I could imagine sitting under a similar tree and listening to speakers in a tone of celebration and being thankful that they won the battle of independence from Bute County. 

After several tries during the late 1770’s the county of Bute was divided into two counties. The counties were Franklin named after Benjamin Franklin and Warren named after Dr. Joseph Warren a fairly unknown man who was killed in one of the early battles of Revolutionary War at Bunker Hill.  This was in the early part of 1779.

I love history and I love to be involved with historical happenings.  I also love the things I have in life today and because of that I often wonder how I would have survived in the days of the revolution.  I know I would have been a soldier in the Revolutionary War,  but I’m not sure how I would like it.  Let’s face it I could not stand those 25 or 50 mile marches in combat training in 1961.  Back during the Revolutionary War they walked for hundreds of miles and then went into battle. 

According to information in the book The County of Warren North Carolina from 1586 to 1917 by Manly Wade Wellman published by the UNC Press many of the revolutionary soldiers did not even have weapons.  They were poorly trained and poorly fed.  That would be a deal breaker for me. My motto throughout life has been - no dessert no fighting. 

They also did a lot of sleeping under the stars during the war.  I don’t mean modern day sleeping under the stars with a tent in a camp ground.  They actually were under the stars, rain, heat and snow.  Once again no tent no fighting.  I can take the rain, heat and snow it is that no tent thing that kills me.  I need something between me and the flying insects and those creepy crawlers on the ground. 

Next, I’m not too sure about the clothes they wore back then.  For one thing when I was younger and a lot slimmer I dressed for all the ladies to notice me.  I was one of those people who made sure they looked better than good whenever I went out in public. I’m not sure those rags and thrown together uniforms of the revolution would pass the muster for me. I am sure an old burlap sack turned into a poncho would not draw much attention from the ladies. 

I would also have a problem with what to do during the down time.  Many of pictures I have from my Vietnam days show me listening to tapes on a desk I made from old shipping boxes, with books lining the shelves.  If I was in the revolutionary army I doubt I would be allowed to carry any of those things.  Maybe a book or two, but I don’t see me carrying my desk and music every place I went.

They had their music while on the move, there would always be the mouth harp or harmonica playing to bring out the dancing shoes, but really without rock and roll or country music why dance. 

One of the biggest problems I would have is what to do with my weekends.  I have spent most of my life running away on weekends. When I was in the service I would travel from Beaufort, SC to Washington DC for a four day weekend.  That would have been out of the question.  It was not uncommon for me to travel 100 to 300 miles to go dancing someplace on the east coast.   At the rate of the horse and buggy (8-10 miles per hour) even a trip from Littleton to Richmond would take eight to ten hours.  I’d get there in time to come home.

The one thing I know I would have enjoyed from those days is writing.  I have read many letters from the 1770’s to 1870’s and they seemed to be so poetic.  They had a wonderful way of saying the simplest of things.  I always wanted to write that way.   

All in all I know that I am a man who does what is needed to survive, but I think I prefer today versus the 1770’s.  Given the chance I would like to have a short visit back then.  I’ll bet the enthusiasm and comradery of the times would overshadow any of the inconveniences I may miss.