South Aiken High School students were able to catch a glimpse of life during the Revolutionary War, this week, right in their own backyard.
The South Carolina State Society Sons of the American Revolution (SCSSAR) held its second American Revolutionary War Living History Day at South Aiken’s campus, Wednesday.
Camped behind the school building were educators, historians and reenactors presenting a host of exhibits and interactive displays where attendees could learn about the first U.S. patriots and life in the late 18th century.
Reenactors from the Brier Creek chapter of SAR, based in Sylvania, fired muskets and cannons and a series of demonstrations.
Franklin Rausch, professor of history at Lander University, spoke to attendees about the Battle of Yorktown, the last major land battle in the War of Independence.
Dressed like an early U.S. patriot, Rausch displayed at his table model dioramas of battles, including a miniature replica depicting of the storming of Redoubt 10 during the Battle of Yorktown.
“It shows how we’re thinking of ourselves as a unified country,” said Rausch. “What’s also interesting, this was a very heavily integrated unit. So you had people of African descent, European descent and Native American descent… lots of different people were in this unit, and they’re all working together.”
Edward Anderson, chaplain of the Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution (GASSAR), told students about Black patriots in the American Revolution, such as Peter Salem, who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill; James Armistead Lafayette, who spied on Benedict Arnold on behalf of the Continental Army; and Crispus Attucks, the first American killed in the Revolution.
“I tried to make sure the young people who came through today understand that the start of the American Revolution was the fifth of March, 1770,” said Anderson, citing the date Attucks was shot down by the British. “Many of them did not know that Crispus Attucks was a man of color, and that he was the first person to die for the freedom of this country.”
Students received “passports,” encouraged by teachers to collect stamps from the various stations. When they returned to class, their teachers could test their newly gained knowledge by asking about the history associated with each stamp, explained retired Marine Corps Col. Claude Davis.
“We wanted to have an event where youngsters could come in and kind of see, feel, touch and hear history,” said Davis, who’s also the senior naval instructor in South Aiken’s NJROTC program. “The thought pattern was we could bring a group of folks, kind of put them in one place for students to walk around, they see a musket, they could hear it when it fires, even pick it up. We thought, ‘how cool would that be?’”
This was the second living history event by the SCSSAR commemorating the American Revolution, the first being at Aiken High School in 2022. Both were organized by SCSSAR president Ted Walker, a retired 26-year Air Force veteran and SCSSAR president with a passion for history.
“We have the best country in the world,” said Walker. “Our history tells us where we came from, and it also tells us where we’re going. And it’s important for us to share that message so it’s never forgotten.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
