Middlesex Middle School 8th grade students and teachers recently participated in Colonial Day, a day- long event designed to provide hands-on experience of life in colonial times. Members from the 5th Connecticut Regiment were on hand to interact with the Middlesex students, who were dressed in colonial costumes, and to teach them about different aspects of life in Colonial America.
The Middlesex students rotated through ten stations depicting various aspects of colonial life, ranging from the lives of soldiers and spies of the Revolution, traditional colonial dress, and a white smith. A member of the 5th Connecticut Regiment lead a demonstration at each station including a “leg amputation” and a “brain operation” at the colonial medical station.
The finale for this hands-on learning experience was a demonstration of a colonial drill and weaponry where the 5th Connecticut Regiment soldiers marched in formation, charged with bayonets, and shot of rounds with their muskets. The Regiment then led the students through some marching drills.
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The original 5th Connecticut Regiment was formed in 1777 during the spring of war’s 3rd year. The soldiers who served in the Regiment came primarily from Fairfield County.
The modern 5th was formed in 1974 in preparation for the bicentennial. The current members are living historians from Connecticut and nearby areas, who have vigorously studied the period of the American Revolution. All the equipment and clothing has been painstakingly researched and are exact replicas in terms of design, materials, function, and, in many cases, method of production.
