The Forage War | The Raid at Drake's Farm, 1777

1 February, 1777. Brigadier-General Sir William Erskine, sends a party of foragers to Drake's Farm near Metuchen in the colony of New Jersey--a known enemy area of operation. When the foraging party is attacked, Erskine commits his main force and a fierce engagement ensues. This video focuses on the opening moments of the engagement from the perspective of the British foraging party as they engage the larger rebel force and are forced to withdraw. Drake's Farm was part of a larger series of engagements known as the Forage War, where British and Colonial foraging parties ambushed and engaged each other while they were in winter quarters in New Jersey between the months of January and March of 1777.
This video was filmed at a private tactical event that allowed members of the 10th to gain tactical proficencies in a variety of tactics and maneuvers that may not be possible at a typical reenactment. In an innovative three days, representatives from all three of our musket-bearing companies broke new ground in the authenticity of North American reenacting. Our experimentation involved tactics and interpretations of the daily life of British soldiers during the Forage War of 1777.
During this event we:
‣Introduced the use of ramrods to the tactical environment while reloading. (These are not used in standard reenactments due to safety concerns--and were only used at this event when there were no opposing forces)
‣Fought with the bayonet affixed for the duration of the engagement as would have been typical during the time period
‣Debuted our watch coats while on sentry duty as well as our woolen leggings
‣Constructed a period camp, using documented techniques and equipment, including a musket rack and fire
‣We delved into several lesser-seen/practiced tactics and scenarios, such as:
•Advancing independently as a file with a file partner
•Ambush situations
•Engaging at night
•Covering a retreat
•Rapidly forming in a field at extreme intervals to swiftly engage hostile forces
•Transitioning from a laid-back camp setting to quickly engaging an enemy force that may have attacked us.
If you live in the North East and are interested in joining us, visit redcoat.org
His Majesty's Tenth Regiment of Foot in America is a historically re-created infantry unit formed to portray the service of the British Army during the American War for Independence.
Composed of three types of soldier, Grenadiers-typically larger men who are used as shock troops, a company of Light infantry, generally smaller, more agile men--capable of maneuvering in the dense wilderness to skirmish or flank the enemy, and a battalion company--a company of regular soldiers, capable of mass volleys and were the heart of the army and are trained in both Grenadier and Light Infantry tactics. We also have a company of Music, who provide music and commands to the army. Last but certainly not least, a Corps of Civilian Volunteers--who provide food to the regiment during encampments and accurately portray civilian and camp life of the 18th century. Each is open for recruitment. The members of the Tenth are accurately uniformed, equipped, and trained in 18th-century military drill and life so that we appear in public as members of the British Army would have in 1775. Contact us to join.
Social Media Links:
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10th Instagram: / hm10thregt
10th KZbin: / @hm10thfoot
10th Grenadiers Facebook: / 10thgrenadiers
10th Battalion Facebook: / 10thfootbattlioncoy
10th Light Infantry Facebook: / hm10thlights

[@HM10thFoot]

This video and most others on our channel are available in 4k. Click on the gear icon to ensure you are viewing in the optimal quality! Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out other videos on the channel. Please like and subscribe as it helps bring our historical content to a wider audience! And as always, let us know your thoughts in the comment section!

[@Wewantourcountryback-g5b]

@HM10thFoot

[@Wewantourcountryback-g5b]

I want to know what country this is happening in so I can do a re-enactment

[@HM10thFoot]

@@Wewantourcountryback-g5b Hi there! This is in the United States near Boston! Where are you from?

[@Wewantourcountryback-g5b]

@@HM10thFoot the UK

[@Zack123Xx]

Theres gotta be a movie of this channel one day. its just so good! You can do endless hours of learning or research on this type of stuff and see this and learn something new 😅. I didnt know the sappers had hood hats

[@HM10thFoot]

Zack, your comment made our day! Those hats are called forage caps an were worn when a soldier was on a forage detail or off duty. Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching!

[@Spirited_Phoenix]

Hear, hear! I'd watch that film!

[@Spirited_Phoenix]

Beautiful video and execution, and love the facts in the description as well. Thank you, 10th Regiment! HUZZAH!

[@HM10thFoot]

We truly appreciate your kind words! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching! God Save The King!

[@richardtucker6300]

Absolutely amazing! Hoping that I can make it to the next one as 47th. You guys looked great and executed your movements wonderfully. Huzzah 10th!

[@HM10thFoot]

We truly appreciate your comment and definitely would love if you made it out next time!! Thanks for watching!

[@Nullthehistorian]

Nice video guys keep up the good work!

[@HM10thFoot]

Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching!

[@user-il4lf7qx8z]

Outstanding!

[@HM10thFoot]

Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching!

[@daviddavies2072]

Brilliant bit of film , great to see 👍🇬🇧❤️🇺🇲

[@HM10thFoot]

So glad you enjoyed David and thanks for watching!

[@leoscheibelhut940]

Excellent depiction of Revolutionary War era British light infantry! I wish you had been able to include the actual gathering of supplies in some way and interactions with civilians, both those eager to sell and aid the Crown and those hating them.

[@HM10thFoot]

Leo, we truly appreciate the comment, and you definitely gave us some ideas for future videos! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching!

[@oshlampart2895]

Thanks!

[@HM10thFoot]

thank you! we will certainly do more livestreams in the future!!

[@ChristheRedcoat]

Some pretty smooth camerawork in here, especially that one shot at 6:34! What kind of camera setup did you use for this?

[@HM10thFoot]

Hi Chris, big fans here! For the daytime action shots we were using a Lumix S5II with a Sigma 24-70 f2.8 mounted on DJI RS3 Mini Gimbal. The camp shots were the same camera, but handheld. For the dusk/night shots we were using a Canon R8 with a Canon 85mm f2 prime lens as the S5II with the Sigma unfortunately did not handle low-light too well, and we did not have time to re-calibrate the gimbal to the R8 so those shots are handheld as well. We were also super impressed with the smoothness of the RS3! Hope that helps and thanks for watching!

[@oshlampart2895]

Great video! More livestreams please!!

[@HM10thFoot]

Definitely will be more coming soon! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching!

[@Ratte42]

Nice video

[@HM10thFoot]

Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching!

[@lukeberneking]

For the KING

[@HM10thFoot]

Huzza! Thanks for watching!

[@user-ht9yl7ko2k]

I’ve always been confused on one thing, do battalions get their numbers based off regiment?

[@user-ht9yl7ko2k]

And what is that line infantry position where there’s two soldiers and one is behind another taking cover?

[@HM10thFoot]

Hi there! Both very good questions! Battalion numerical designations were unrelated to the Regimental numerical designations. The position we think you are referring to is called "Independent Fire By Files," in this command, one soldier in a file always remains loaded, covering for the other while he reloads. Hope this helps and that you enjoyed the video!

[@Zack123Xx]

is there going to be anymore ask us questions streams? dying to know so!

[@HM10thFoot]

Hi Zack, we most certainly will. Stay posted for a poll on when our next stream should be!

[@TaltosVT]

What was the reasoning behind having fixed bayonets while maneuvering and skirmishing in the woods?

[@japhfo]

They don''t like it up 'em, sir! They don''t like it up 'em!

[@HM10thFoot]

Hi there! Light Infantry traditionally always fought with bayonets fixed as they were skirmishing forces, often forward deployed on the battlefield, making them prone to engage in hand combat, especially with cavalry.

[@japhfo]

Seriously, I wonder whether troops would be permitted to wear forage caps with flaps down on duty other than perhaps when on sentry duty.

[@HM10thFoot]

The opening scenes were portraying soldiers off duty and getting attacked, hence the use of forage caps as they didn’t have time to put on their duty wear. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for watching!

[@japhfo]

@@HM10thFoot Aye, but wi' the flaps doon ye cannae hear aucht.

[@grahamtravers4522]

Shame about the gum chewing. Good video though.

[@HM10thFoot]

Hi Graham, do you mind sending us where the gum chewing is in the video? We’re almost certain what you probably saw was a 10th Soldier chewing on a piece of his cartridge.

[@grahamtravers4522]

@@HM10thFoot It's about 1.50 in, the central guy kneeling. You may be right about the cartridge. Seems a queer thing to do, though. Is he going to use it as a wad ?

[@HM10thFoot]

Hi Graham, yes that was part of the cartridge. The cartridge can get stuck on our soldiers lips if it is dry so some chew it prior to spitting it out. Hope that helps!

[@grahamtravers4522]

@@HM10thFoot Thank you for the explanation, and my apologies for misinterpreting it as an anachronism. Purely my ignorance, I'm afraid.