Sagtikos District of Suffolk County Council BSA & Troop 179 present TUR ING POINT: VALLEY FORGE & THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION WI TER C@MPOREE 2021 “Change is the only constant in life.“ “Andnowforsomethingcompletelydifferent…” - Benjamin Franklin - Monty Python
Join your fellow Scouts @Sagtikos Winter Camporee with a weeks- worth of Scouting, honoring America’s struggle for independence and celebrating Long Island’s unique contributions to Revolutionary War history! Who: Scouts, Webelos & Cub Scouts of Sagtikos District What: Revolutionary War-themed program for unit-directed in-person & virtual activities providing flexibility for units and our Scouts and Scouting families to adapt to their needs and COVID19-related restrictions. Program features history of Long Island in the Revolutionary War, Culper Spy Ring, historical resources with contests & demonstrations that Scouts can work on individually. Units have flexibility! When: Kicks off with a Zoom event on Friday, January 29 @ 7:30pm with program running through Scout Sunday on February 7. Where: In-person (Unit-discretion and Unit-directed) & Online –Flexible! Price: $10 per Scout / Units register here. All Scouts must be registered. Includes custom event patch.
Contact Paul Charbonneau, Scoutmaster – Troop 179 with any questions: [email protected] 646/341-0783 DISTRICT 2021 WINTER C@MPOREE TURNING POINT: VALLEY FORGE @ SAGTIKOS Long Island & the American Revolution
Who Scouts of Sagtikos District What THEME IS LI’S HISTORY IN REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Series of program events including: a. “Live” Zoom calls covering kickoff, History of the Revolution on LI, Skills demonstrations, etc b. Program activities featuring historical skills and challenges provided to the Troops ahead of the kickoff. Troops will decide based on their own circumstances whether to hold in-person Troop or Patrol events to do the activities or have their Scouts work on them remotely. c. Hiking and outdoor activity resources for units or Scouts and their families Where 1- Online 2- “Live” activities for Units (at their discretion) 3- challenges for Scouts to work on individually When Virtual Kickoff Friday, January 29 with Zoom Programming concluding Fri, Feb 5. Troops may complete activities during the entire month of February and apply these activities towards points for the Sagtikos Scout Spirit Award. Why Engage Scouts in skills & programming in absence of in-person Camporee Satisfy the need for programming and ideas for Troops/Units Explore history of LI and the Revolutionary war; using methods of Scouting Foster Scout Spirit: Scout Spirit Award will be in play again! Cost: $10 per Scout Sample Program Friday: Live Zoom Call convening the event with historical presentation Schedule Saturday: Troop programming using event packet (hike, in-person patrol activity, engineering, etc found in Program Modules) Alternately Scouts can work in patrols or individually or with families Sunday: Troop programming using event packet (hike, in-person patrol activity, engineering, etc found in Program Modules) Alternately Scouts can work in patrols or individually or with families Monday 7:30pm: Troop discretion, Online programming Tuesday 7:30: Troop discretion, Online programming Wednesday: Troop discretion, Online programming Thursday: Troop discretion, Online programming Friday: Troop discretion, Online programming Saturday, Feb 4: Scout Sabbath In-person activities at unit discretion Sunday, Feb 5: Scout-Sunday In-person activities at unit discretion
Boston Tea Party (primitive fire making) “No one circumstance could possibly have taken place more effectively to unite the colonies than this maneuver of the tea.” – John Hancock, letter to his London agent, December 21, 1773
The Townsend Act and the Tea Act imposed taxes on all tea imported from Britain, while granting a tea monopoly to the British East India Company. In defiance, a patriot group known as the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Indians, boarded British merchant vessels in Boston Harbor and cast the cargo of tea into the water.
While we all can’t share a meal or a communal pot of coffee in these trying days of COVID19 we can partake of our own beverages and meals we prepare by ourselves but in the company of our fellow Scouts and Scouters. With that in mind, Scouts can work individually in building a small cook fire by traditional flint and steel with char cloth. Scouts can either make their own char during this activity or troops can provide it ahead of time. Scouts may prepare a beverage or a light lunch in a camp cup which closely parallels the only type of cooking utensils that our soldiers had in the field during the Revolutionary War.
Primitive Fire Making Type: Field Activity (can be done in unit or as individuals for Webelos with parental supervision) Skills: Fire building, starting using flint & steel and extinction. Fire safety. Cooking Survival Geology/Rock ID Description: Scouts & Scouter alike can prepare their own warming beverage (tea, cocoa, coffee) or a personal lunch for themselves (soup, ramen, freeze-dried meal, etc -be sure to mind C19 restrictions on sharing food) Applicable to: Scouts BSA, Webelos, Venturers Could be performed as demonstration for Cub Scouts History: For soldiers in the Continental Army there were no ferrocerium rods or butane lighters. Soldiers relied predominantly on fire making by flint & steel using charcloth Equipment Required: WATER! (for safety and extinguishing…and cooking/beverages) Striking steels: Flints or rocks of sufficient hardness (they are out there and Scouts can search for them or on a troop or family hike Char-cloth materials (natural cotton strips cut to squares or flannel patches Suitable metal container for making char cloth Fire building materials Disposal barrels Open fire suitable camp cups/cooking vessel Alternatives Rock search – merit badge tie-ins Add-on activity to hike/ Survival hike Speed contest (boil water/burn string) Cub Scout Demonstrations Individual Scouts with parental supervision
One If by Land (Signaling and Field Code) “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,— One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and to arm.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The famous phrase was coined by the American poet, Henry W. Longfellow in his poem, Paul Revere’s Ride. It was a reference to the secret signal orchestrated by Revere during his historic ride from Boston to Concord on the verge of American Revolutionary War. The signal was meant to alert patriots about the route the British troops chose to advance to Concord. In fact, it was really a backup plan.
We are all familiar (and weary as a Valley Forge soldier) with the social distancing aspect of COVID19. As Scouts we carry on always though! We eagerly anticipate the time when we can all get back to the kind of Scouting we all love. But in the meantime, what better way to practice “social distancing” than by emulating the citizen heroes of the Revolution Culper Ring who used Signs, Signals and Codes (merit badge worth taking! Contact us if you are interested) to convey information that was critical for General Washington and helped America win the War for Independence.
Signaling Type: Field Activity (can be done in unit or as individuals working in teams) Skills: Code familiarity Historical significance Description: Scouting activity in the field using signal flags and morse code or codes of their own design during the day and/or flashlights and lanterns at night). Units can also set up standing signals like Revere’s tower lights or laundry line codes such as as those employed by Anna Strong in the Culper Ring. Be creative! Applicable to: Scouts BSA, Webelos, Cubs Could be tailored to any level History: Codes were integral to the success of the Americans during the revolution and they took a number of different forms, including ciphers (Culper – Codes: more to come!) and static codes using landmarks (One if by land…) as well as simple items the members had on hand such as Anna Strong’s laundry line code using her petticoats and white handkerchiefs to facilitate “dead drops” during the Revolution. Equipment Required: Signal items can include flashlights, homemade flags, uniform neckerchiefs, natural objects…A Scout is Thrifty! Alternatives Night signaling using mirrors, deaddrop codes on unit hikes, British Patrol vs America Patrol contests to see if codes can be deciphered
Camp Cooking in the Continental Army “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what they are going to have for lunch. Liberty is a well- armed lamb contesting the vote.” Benjamin Franklin (ascribed)
Ben Franklin’s comment notwithstanding, your menu needn’t consist of lambchops. As Napoleon pointed out, an army marches on its stomach and that was as true in the 18th century American Revolution as it was when Napoleon led his armies in the 19th century.
Scouts can find a trove of information on what food staples were available to the Continental Army and what rations were parsed out to each man and unit. Scouts can gain more insight into cooking and food in the Revolution through one of the Zoom presentations we’ll be offering during the weeknights from January 29 to February 5.
Historical Cooking Type: Field Activity (can be done in unit or as individuals for Webelos with parental supervision) Can also be done independently by Scouts. Skills: Cook fire building, field cooking, menu preparation, nutrition, historical research. Description: Scouts can prepare a menu and plan a historically accurate meal based on what ingredients would be available to the soldiers in the field. While food cannot be shared among the Scouts, Scouts can explore cooking a soldier meal or 18th century Colonial cooking in general with their respective families. Take photos and share menus! Be sure to mind C19 restrictions on sharing food. Applicable to: Scouts BSA, Webelos, Venturers Could be performed as demonstration for Cub Scouts or in family setting History: “…1 lb. beef, or 3/4 lb. pork, or 1 lb. salt fish, per day; 1 lb. bread or flour, per day; 3 pints of peas or beans per week, or vegetable equivalent; 1 half pint of rice, one pint of Indian meal, per man, per week; 1 quart of spruce beer or cider per man per day, or nine gallons of molasses, per company of 100 men per week and cider vinegar” Obviously keep to the food staples but utilize the internet and library to research what soldiers and colonials ate during the period and use that information to plan and cook a dish or meal in the field or at home. Equipment Required: Cookfire, mess cup, basic troop/home utensils as needed. Remember most soldiers only had a cup and knife to work with. Alternatives Add-on activity to field days Recorded Demonstrations Individual Scouts with parental supervision
Knox’s Mission: Achieving the Impossible “We shall cut no small figure through the country with our cannon.” – Henry Knox
On January 24, 1776, Colonel Henry Knox reached the headquarters of the Continental Army in Cambridge. The young Boston bookseller had pulled off a daring plan. He had led a small group of men on a 300-mile journey from Boston to Fort Ticonderoga in New York State. Once there, the party disassembled cannon taken when the British surrendered the fort and retreated to Canada in May 1775. In less than two months time, Knox and his men moved 60 tons of artillery across lakes and rivers, through ice and snow to Boston. On March 7th, 2,000 Continental soldiers maneuvered the guns to a hill overlooking the city. The British had no choice but to evacuate Boston.
Scouts and units can’t move cannons but they can apply some of the same engineering principals, skills and dedication to some simple field examples. Use knots, lashings and pioneering skills to move objects over a distance in the field, simulating those cannons that were dragged through every possible type of terrain and weather in the northeast.
Historical Engineering Challenge: Transporting “Artillery” Type: Field Activity (can be done in unit or as individuals for Webelos with parental supervision) Skills: Knots, lashings, safety skills, pioneering, team effort and team building, Patrol method Description: Scouts will undertake challenges to move objects such as logs or other difficult to carry items across a prescribed course set by the units. Take photos and share ideas! Leave No Trace and Safety first! Applicable to: Scouts BSA, Webelos, Venturers History: Research what Knox and his men accomplished and its importance in the early days of the Revolution. Good material for Scoutmaster’s Minute! Equipment Required: Dependent on the task determined by the troop. Typical natural fiber rope and pioneering materials (staves, bamboo, etc); objects to be moved. Alternatives Add-on activity to field days Recorded Demonstrations Individual Scouts researching how it would be done Socially distanced Tug-of-War!
Valley Forge Army Encampment “Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.” – George Washington
Although never a battlefield, hundreds of American Revolutionary soldiers died during the 1777-1778 encampment at Valley Forge, with the camp having a higher death toll than the battles at Brandywine and Germantown combined. As described by author Jane Chai, Valley Forge was a place where “thousands of soldiers endured hunger, disease, and bitter cold; against all odds they struggled through adversity to fight for the nation’s freedom and independence. This is a place where General Washington’s soldiers prevailed over hardships, and because of their commitment, it became a turning point in the Revolutionary War.”
While Valley Forge’s natural defenses provided protection for the Continental Army encampment, those same benefits proved problematic for logistics, making supplying the encampment a difficult process despite the relative proximity of supplies. Scouts don’t need to suffer the hardships of a deep winter encampment but they can practice their Scouting skills setting up a campsite and constructing helpful camp devices using basic knots, lashing and pioneering skills.
Encampment Devices & Pioneering Skills Type: Field Activity (can be done in unit or as individuals for Webelos with parental supervision) Skills: Knots, lashings, pioneering; basic camp skills including tent care, site selection and organization. Patrol method Description: Practical forum for site selection and setup, basic pioneering, EDGE Applicable to: Scouts BSA, Webelos, Venturers History: Research the History of Valley Forge and discuss importance of logistics and health and safety and preparation for weather using Valley Forge as an example. Equipment Required: Dependent on extent of camp setup. Alternatives Add-on activity to field days First-aid Instruction Recorded Demonstrations Individual Scouts researching how it would be done Primitive tent setups Practical forum for Pioneering MB
An Army on the Move “If we do not deceive our own men, we will never deceive the enemy" - General Washington on why he did not tell his men they were marching to Yorktown.
The above quote is not to say that Washington was not an honest man but rather that he was keenly aware of the how easy it was for intelligence to end up in the wrong hands and in several instances during the war he utilized misdirection, counterintelligence and surprise to the American advantage. Yorktown is the final example of how he applied what he learned from trial and error during the War for American Independence.
In the Autumn of 1781, with his back to the York River, British General Charles Lord Cornwallis intended to refit and resupply his army. Upon word that the French Fleet in the Caribbean was sailing north from and would be available for a siege, George Washington and his French ally, the Comte de Rochambeau, moved their force of almost 8,000 men south to Virginia, planning to join and lead about 12,000 other militia, French troops, and Continental troops in a siege of Yorktown. On the evening of October 14, after a heavy artillery bombardment, the Americans and French forces launched their assaults. The Americans attacked and after vicious hand-to-hand fighting, the British were overwhelmed. It was a stunning victory in which the Americans relatively few casualties. Surrounded on three sides by enemy artillery, Cornwallis’s position had become untenable. Following a failed counterattack, Cornwallis began negotiations to surrender his army, and on October 19, 1781, roughly 8,000 British soldiers laid down their arms. Tradition has it that the song the British Army fifers and drummers played on the march from their defeat was “The World Turned Upside Down.”
It certainly seems that the world has indeed turned upside-down in our current state of affairs but like Washington, Scouts are BRAVE and LOYAL and we don’t give up. Hiking is the perfect socially- distanced activity and what better way to celebrate the S@gtikos C@mporee and Long Island’s unique contributions to the birth of our nation than to take a hike! (and unlike the Continental Army, our Scouts will know where they are going.)
Hiking the Revolution Type: Field Activity – versatile, socially-distanced hiking events that can be done at the unit or patrol level as well as by Scouts and their families Skills: Hike planning & research, gear selection, packing, map & compass, geocaching Description: Select any one (or more than one) of the historic hiking trails/or trails near Revolutionary War landmarks on LI, from Brooklyn to Eastern LI. Visit a home or gravesite of a patriot. Provides Scouts with an opportunity to get outdoors with their units or their families. Applicable to: Scouts BSA, Webelos, Venturers, Cub Scouts History: Research the History of various areas on LI and how they played a part in the Revolutionary War. Equipment Required: Dependent on hike distance and type. Maps, hiking plan, personal hiking gear. Alternatives Add-on activity to field days Packing Instruction Orienteering & Hiking MB Geocaching: great opportunity for building a Geocache for your unit and sharing it with the other units to see if they can find it! (consult Geocaching regs in local area and BSA info for best practices)
A Reverent Nation "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?” - Thomas Jefferson
The patriots that helped establish our great nation held reverence as cornerstone of justice, liberty and the American cause.
A Scout is Reverent: Scouts Own; Scout Sabbath/Sunday/Jumah; Service Project Type: Field Activity, Family Activity, Pre, post or during hike, Unit meeting, anytime! Skills: Duty to God and Duty to Country. Chaplain-Aid skills, public speaking. Description: Scoutmaster Minutes. Hold a Scouts Own including some historical references. Attend a Scout Sunday service as a unit or as an individual with his/her family. Perform a service project for your religious org, community, family. Applicable to: Scouts BSA, Webelos, Venturers, Cub Scouts History: Scouts can research how the Founding Fathers viewed their cause in light of a higher power. Equipment Required: Reverence Alternatives Virtual services Scouts Own at Unit Meeting Zoom Working with your Religious Org.
MORE PROGRAM GUIDES TO COME! Escape Room Culper Ring Codes & Cipher Program Historic Field games
Scouts & units will also receive packets of information on locations of interest in the Revolutionary War, resources, places to visit and hike, among other interesting tools to enhance the experience.
VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING Fri, Jan 29 7:30 PM Kickoff/Historical Presentation Monday, Feb 1 7:30 PM The Revolution on LI Wednesday, Feb 3 7:30 PM The Culper Ring
“A Soldier’s Rations: Food in the American Revolution and 18th Century Cooking” “The Battle of Long Island” “Primitive Fire Making” Will also be included that week on 7:30 Zoom Presentations.
All Zoom participants must be registered and have their Zoom name keyed to “UNIT # - LAST NAME – FIRST INITIAL