Members of the Brier Creek Artillery, Sons of the American Revolution traveled to Hilton Head Island, SC to present their travelin trunk program to 1,600 students at Schools of Hilton Head on Wednesday and Thursday, March 3 and 4, beginning at 9:00 each day and finishing at 1:00. The Traveling Trunk Group is made up of members of the Brier Creek Chapter, Wiregrass Chapter, Little River Chapter, of Georgia and Henry Laurens Chapter of South Carolina. They are Ted Walker, Steve Burke, Lee Herron, Alton McCloud and Dess Smith III. Each one of these Compatriots have been members for several years and regularly attend events all over the State of Georgia and South Carolina. The traveling trunk consists of items that have been fashioned after items that would have been used during the 1700's and the American Revolution. The hats, pants, shirts and belts are made from roadkill animals. We had the Continental uniforms & British uniforms and militia uniforms that the kids loved putting on and taking pictures. We also had swords and canteens and the Brown Bess, Kentucky Rifle & the Charleville Musket with Bayonet. Each one of these members is proficient in a 50 Cal. flintlock rifle and a 75 Cal Brown Bess smooth bore musket and they each have been trained and certified by the National Civil War Artillery Association with our 6-pounder cannons. Each school rotated through several booths set up and at the end of each hour the Brier Creek Artillery fired their four 6-pounder canons two times each. There were 12 stations in all presenting topics like, Encampment furniture, cooking artifacts, Children's involvement everyday life and toys, survivalist, display of uniforms, weapons, muskets, DAR, spinning wheel, quilting clothing, music used in battle, canon firing, Colonial times reenactors, women in arms, reasons for joining British or Continental, Gullah Kinfolk, Blacksmith and Haitian Impression. The total fired for the two day, 250th Living History event was 48 canon shots. The schools involved were H.E. McCracken Middle School, Hilton Head Middle School, Robert Smalls Leadership Academy, Beaufort Middle School, Bluffton Middle School, Lady's Island Middle School, Whale Branch Middle School, and the River Ridge Academy. The Living History Day event was held at the Coastal Discovery Museum on Hilton Head.
