People who were in Carmel in Putnam County on April 28 may have thought they were in the middle of a flashback to sometime between 1775 and 1783 when the Revolutionary War was underway. There really were people in Revolutionary War soldiers’ uniforms walking around town, but they were students and teachers from Carmel’s George Fischer Middle School taking part in the school’s 5th Annual Walking Tour of Carmel.
The field trip took place after students had studied about Revolutionary War events that occurred in Carmel. In particular, they learned about Sybil Ludington, the 16-year-old daughter of Col. Henry Ludington. Col. Ludington was an aide to George Washington and worked with him to establish the forerunner of the U.S. Secret Service. Sybil rallied the militia to march to Danbury, Connecticut, and fight the British. The Fischer Middle School students also studied about Enoch Crosby, the first American spy who is also known as one of the country”™s first intelligence agents. Crosby lived in Carmel and had been a cobbler in Kent.
Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne and Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville joined the students on their field trip and reviewed the “troops.” Two Carmel teachers, Keith Reilly and Rob Buccheri, also in uniform, fired muskets that were loaded with blank charges.
The students walked to the Sybil Ludington statue on Route 52, and visited the Drew Methodist Church and Carmel Court House as part of the walking tour.
