Reenactment of 18th century battle returns to Bushy Run this weekend

After a year’s hiatus because of pandemic conditions, reenactors will gather this weekend at Bushy Run Battlefield in Penn Township to restage the clash between British and Native American forces that took place on the site in August 1763.

The British victory at Bushy Run helped lift a Native American siege of nearby Fort Pitt during Pontiac’s War.

The public will have an opportunity to see that historic episode replayed Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re very happy to be having the event again,” said Shawn MacIntyre, museum facilitator at the battlefield.

The reenactment initially was going to be canceled for a second year, until state officials ultimately approved the event. “We didn’t get permission until July 1,” MacIntyre said.

In addition to battle reenactments, which will take place at 1 p.m. each day, the event will include British and Native American encampments, children’s activities and vendors of 18th century crafts.

The battlefield grounds will open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. each of the two days.

Saturday’s schedule of activities also includes:

• 10 a.m.: Native American delivery of grievances against the British

• 10:30 a.m.: Weapons check at both encampments

• 11:15 a.m.: Native war council

• 11:45 a.m.: British military drill and Mad Minute drill, with participants vying to fire the most musket rounds in a minute

Sunday’s schedule:

• 9 a.m.: 18th century church service in the park pavilion

• 10:30 a.m.: Weapons safety check

• 11 a.m.: British military drill and Mad Minute drill

• 2:30 p.m.: Return of British captives

There is no admission fee for the event, but donations will be accepted.

Reenactment units taking part in the weekend include the 42nd and 77th Highlanders and a group of local reenactors, the 60th Royal Americans, who consider Bushy Run their home turf, according to MacIntyre.

Joining in will be a group from Historic Hanna’s Town portraying 18th century rangers. “A lot of them are volunteers here and at Hanna’s Town,” MacIntyre said.

Another group of reenactors is slated to arrive at Bushy Run on Saturday afternoon, after completing a two-day march from Fort Ligonier. They’re planning to retrace as closely as possible the route British soldiers took in 1763, along the original Forbes Road.

The public is invited to learn about their period outfits during an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at their overnight campsite outside the Lochry Blockhouse. Dating from 1780, the log building has been restored on the grounds of the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve, next to the Saint Vincent College campus in Unity.

For the safety of visitors to the Bushy Run reenactment, no dogs will be allowed on the battlefield side of the park grounds from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. Sunday. Service dogs with proper markings are excluded from the restriction.

The nonprofit Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society operates the battlefield and its associated museum in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

The battlefield is along Bushy Run Road (Route 993), east of Harrison City. Visit bushyrunbattlefield.com for more information about the historic site.