Skirmish honors Freedom Trail

It's 1775, and Boston is under siege.

British soldiers have staked camps along the Common. On the other side of a hill, Colonists are scheming. The plan - to bait the British into battle - starts with two boys in tricorner hats.

"Are they really going to be able to harass these guys?" scoffs Edward Roche, leader of the rebels.

"Oh, they're the best," John Graham vouches, giving Daniel Brennan, 12, a thump on the back. Roche nods.

"Tease them, harass them, stick your tongue out at them," he orders Daniel and his 6-year-old brother Nate. "But don't touch them."

Daniel grins. Nate is less sure.

"It's all make-believe, Nate," Graham says. "So don't worry about throwing grass on them."

The Charlestown Militia, along with members of several other reenactment companies, staged a skirmish against His Majesty's 10th Regiment of Foot yesterday in the center of Boston Common.

The standoff, which rocked the Common with cannon blasts and smoking muskets, was in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Trail, said Tom Coots, 44, captain of the Charlestown Militia Company.

While British soldiers had camped in the same spot as the people who participated in the reenactment, yesterday's showdown did not replicate a particular battle, but rather a "typical skirmish," Coots said.

Before the battle, Coots readied his men.

"No firing at will," he reminded the 25 or so militiamen, who were dressed in cotton and linen waistcoasts and breeches, with stockings pulled to their knees. "Which means firing if you want to."

The men marched through the Common and its small hill, from which they observed the British soldiers, in regal redcoats, filed in neat ranks in front of their encampments.

"British reenacters are really, really into reenacting," observed Clare Hurley, 42, who was dressed in a long plaid skirt and wearing a straw sun hat. The British soldiers camped on the Common overnight, she said.

And they didn't waste time once the battle began.

"They don't want any dialogue," bemoaned one of the Colonists, as he scrambled up the hill and reached for his musket. "They just want to shoot us."