SW0137 New Blood in Seasoned Packages as Retired Navy Couple Enters the Living History Ranks

There is fresh blood in the living history community for the Seminole Wars. Two reenactors, Stephen and Paulette Dennis, entered the hobby in November at Florida Heritage Day at Dade Battlefield Historic State Park in Bushnell, Florida.

When we say “fresh blood”, we are somewhat facetious. Stephen retired from the U.S. Navy after a quarter century and Paulette kept the home fires burning at the Dennis house. What they don’t have in youth, they make up for with experience, knowledge, and a Florida heritage.

Stephen dresses as an Army private of the 1830s, along with his wife, Paulette who takes on the appearance of an 1830s Pioneer matriarch. The Dennis’ display the rations that Soldiers would have eaten on the march. They assiduously followed the recipe compiled by our own Jerry Morris, who penned a short booklet, An Army Moves on Its Stomach, for the Seminole Wars Foundation some years back.

Stephen and Paulette have tailored their interpretation based on their own ancestors who fought in the Seminole Wars.

Stephen joins us today to share what he knows about all this.

 

Above, Stephen and Paulette Dennis in 1830s period attire kneaded and baked regulation-specific hard bread of the type that soldiers carried on the march. Below, Matt Milne and Stephen Dennis presented at 1830s Soldiers for Florida Heritage Day at the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park in November, 2022. Here, they convince two wary visitors, Molly and Iris Eldridge, into trying a sample. Moments before, the two Bushnell sisters had received red ochre Seminole facial war paint from Gunpowder Warrior (Steve Creamer). The presentation table of ingredients is based on Jerry Morris' booklet, An Army Moves on Its Stomach, a Seminole Wars Foundation publication. 

 

 

 

Stephen did not warn them about potentially losing any teeth. Oops. 

 

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Fla. 

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