Nate Corwin of Riverhead stands guard at the Revolutionary War reenactment at Southold Historical Society last year. File photo: Katharine Schroeder
History was brought to life Saturday afternoon at the Southold Historical Society, where reenactors from the Third New York Regiment set up camp at the society’s museum complex.
Participants portrayed members of a militia stationed on Long Island to protect livestock from the British.
The reenactment, which displays 18th-century camp life, included demonstrations of firearms, drills, and daily activities.
Nathan Corwin of Riverhead, one of the participants, has been doing the reenactments for 23 years.
“A friend of mine encouraged me to get into it because of my family name,” he said. The descendants of settlers in 1640, Corwin is a 13th generation North Fork native.
“My great-grandparents seven and eight generations back were actually in this unit that we portray and both of them had my name, Nathan Corwin. So I’m like the legacy now,” he said.
The Revolutionary War began in 1775, when tensions between the colonies and Great Britain over taxation and representation boiled over, sparking the battles of Lexington and Concord.
The colonies signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The war would continue until 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed and Britain recognized the United State’s sovereignty.
In the early stages of the war, before the Declaration of Independence was signed, there was one company in Southold, according to historical records published online.
The encampment will be open to visitors 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
