This year America celebrates its 250th birthday, so it's a great time to remember and talk about our revolutionary past.

Let's take a trip to Waxhaw where a passionate school teacher and other lovers of history are teaching about The Battle of the Waxhaws.

[rhythmic drumming] - I don't know if you're aware, you're probably aware if you've done a lot of stuff in the Charlotte area, why the Charlotte Police Department has a hornet's nest on their police cars.

It's because it was considered a hornet's nest of revolutionaries, or hornet's nest of patriots.

And Waxhaw, part of its charm is recognizing that patriotism, recognizing that history and cultivating and maintaining it as best they can.

And we have a great festival coming on this weekend at the Museum of the Waxhaws that will be honoring that history with some reenactments and some costume players.

And just a great chance to get a look back at history in a very four dimensional, vibrant living kind of way.

- For the first time ever, we are bringing the Battle of the Waxhaws to life.

So we are having a reenactment and living history weekend with over 100 reenactors from all over our region and different, even, states coming in to truly bring alive the Battle of the Waxhaws which happened on May 29th, 1780.

And it's such a huge, significant event because that was also a turning point in the American Revolution.

- After the surrender of Charlestown, or Charleston today, to the British in 1780, this group under a Colonel Buford, was American colonial soldiers.

They hadn't made it to Charleston in time for the battle.

And they were on their way back up to North Carolina.

General Cornwallis heard that there was this continental group in the vicinity and he sent a Lieutenant Colonel Tarleton after him.

So this is where Tarleton caught up with Buford.

Tarleton was coming up the Old River Road and Buford was in front of him by a few miles and Buford knew that Tarleton was coming up and he set up a defensive line across this field.

But his men were in a single column, one column of soldiers.

He had about 350 men in his command and Tarleton coming up with about about 120 horsemen.

And they quickly overran Buford's men held their fire till they were only 10 yards away, the British.

And that wasn't gonna stop a cavalry charge.

They were on them within seconds and it was a very closely fought battle.

Cutlasses, bayonets, very brutal, very bloody, all over in 15 minutes.

This area, as I mentioned before, was settled by the Scotch Irish.

Many of them were sitting on the fence.

They wanted to remain neutral during this whole war.

But the cruelty that was exhibited against the continental forces by the British drove them off that fence and they joined the local militias.

The the rallying cry was "Give them Tarleton's quarter."

This was truly the Alamo moment of the Revolutionary War.

It turned the tide against the British.

- Around one, two lines, there you go!

Two lines!

Alright.

- People are not taught this, I actually I'm a teacher.

So, and we try to bring the history alive, but there's just not enough time.

So it's great to have families of all ages come out and truly live the history.

[upbeat music] - So to actually participate as a reenactor, we're walking in our ancestor's shoes.

My ancestors are in these battles as loyalists and patriots.

So when we get to do this, it's hard to explain how amazing it is when you think, wow, my ancestor walked right here and I'm doing exactly what they did almost 250 years later.

- Yeah and then the flip side is if you like camping, we camp.

If you like food cooked over an open fire, we cook food over and open fire.

If you like to shoot cannons or if you would like to shoot cannons, we shoot cannons and muskets and you get a sense and a feel for a time period where you can put the cell phone away and really disappear and clear your mind and take a vacation to a time period that has otherwise been lost except to books, and maybe film.

[upbeat music] - [Deborah] The Battle of the Waxhaws Reenactment weekend is June 6th through the 8th at the Museum of the Waxhaws.

That address is 8215 Waxhaw Highway in Waxhaw.

The museum is open on Wednesdays and Fridays and some Saturdays.

For more information, give them a call at 704-843-1832 or go to museumofthewaxhaws.org.