Cantigny to host Revolutionary War encampment

More than 400 actors will provide a living history lesson about the Revolutionary War this weekend at Cantigny Park in Wheaton.

The free and historically accurate spectacle, produced by the North West Territory Alliance, is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, at Cantigny, 1S151 Winfield Road.

More than 400 Revolutionary War living-history actors will be on-site, many of whom will pitch tents and camp on the grounds. Visitors are invited to stroll through the encampment and witness how civilians and soldiers lived in the late 1700s.

Redcoats and American patriots will converge on the Cantigny Parade Field twice each day, engaging in mock battles complete with cannon and musket fire. The skirmishes are narrated from the sidelines to help spectators understand the action.

North West Territory Alliance, which produces the event, is a nonprofit educational organization that studies and recreates the culture, lifestyle and arts of the time of the American Revolution, 1775-1783.

It strives to duplicate the uniforms, weapons, battlefield tactics and camp life of the era as accurately as possible. For more information, visit nwta.com.

Re-enactment activities Sept. 12-13 are free with paid parking of $5 per vehicle. A timeline of events for each day is posted online at www.cantigny.org.