Justin Costantino, a Revolutionary War re-enactor, declared that his reproduction musket is “the joy of my life” as he prepared to join hundreds of fellow history enthusiasts for the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn.
Costantino, a PhD candidate in history at SUNY Stony Brook and adjutant of the Long Island Companies of the Third New York regiment of 1775, will be among roughly 400 soldiers assembling on Long Meadow in Prospect Park for the first large-scale reenactment of the battle since 2001. The event kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday and continues until around noon, when the British forces will claim victory in the skirmish — though not the war.
Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House and an organizer of the event, explained that the action will proceed down Third Street through Park Slope to the historic site just off Fourth Avenue, where the real conflict culminated on Aug. 27, 1776. The re-enactors are not professionals but rather doctors, accountants, and other working people “who happen to have an ardent love of history,” she said.
Ben Theis, a 25-year re-enactment veteran who will fight for the Crown, leads the Grenadier Company of the Brigade of Guards 1776-83, a New Jersey-based British unit he founded. “We can never truly recreate a hundred percent of what it was then,” Theis, a security industry marketing professional who helped plan Saturday’s event, told The Post. “There were thousands of men on the field that day.”
Costantino described the historical significance of the engagement in vivid terms. “This is literally the Empire strikes back,” he told The Post. “They send the entire British army to invade and conquer the city of New York, capture and kill George Washington and put this silly little notion of the United States of America at last to rest.”
He added, “It’s also the closest the country ever came to not existing.”
For Costantino, re-enacting has become what he calls a “full-on part-time job,” with 20 to 25 events per year. The New Hyde Park resident joked about the sacrifices required. “It’s like, ‘Hey, you want to go watch the Knicks game?'” he said. “It’s like, ‘Nah, I got a brigade meeting. Are you getting paid for this?’ It’s like, ‘No.'”
His devotion to his reproduction firearm borders on obsession. “When I describe my Charleville 66 to people, I tell them I have neither pets nor children … my musket is the joy of my life,” he declared.
Authenticity comes at a steep price — complete regalia and a genuine 1700s-style musket runs between $2,000 and $4,000 online. “You can finance a Mercedes or become a Revolutionary War re-enactor,” Costantino quipped, adding that his regiment helps recruits by lending “hand-me-down” uniforms and equipment.
Theis has taken cost-cutting even further, becoming proficient in leather-working and relying on his wife to sew many of the uniforms, including his own. He even fashioned traditional bearskin caps for British Grenadiers using pelts from “ethically harvested bears” — a detail that would otherwise cost participants $2,000.
Quality control remains essential when participants hail from volunteer units across the country, each supplying their own gear. Umbrella organizations like the British Brigade and the Brigade Of The American Revolution establish authenticity standards, with BAR holding annual schools featuring 18th-century experts. Costantino drew a sharp line against casual participants. “When you go to Party City and you get the Jack Sparrow costume and you decide to hang out with us with a plastic musket or something like that, we’re going to be like ‘you can’t sit with us,'” he laughed.
He also politely but firmly corrected a reporter who referred to his attire as a “costume” — it is, he insisted, a “uniform.”
Looking the part is only half the battle. Re-enactors must master 18th-century drills, movements, and weapons-handling while wielding reproduction firearms loaded with real gunpowder, minus the projectile. Aspiring rebels can hone skills at BAR events ranging from period-appropriate social gatherings to firelock shooting competitions.
Theis, an army veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm, emphasized understanding the history behind the maneuvers. “We wanted to break the Hollywoodisms and show how things really work to the best of our abilities,” he said. He particularly wants to dispel the myth that Crown troops simply “marched in straight lines and fired in unison while the Americans hid behind rocks and trees and so forth.”
“Yes, that’s true. But it’s also true that the Americans fought in straight lines and in the style of a European army,” Theis clarified. “And it’s also true that the British did fight behind trees and would go to ground and lay on their arms and not present themselves as a target.”
Despite meticulous preparation, mishaps occur. Theis recalled a re-enactment of the Battle of Guilford where a miscommunication led to “98% of the British line going down” after a Continental volley, leaving about three men standing. “Everybody had a good laugh,” he said. “Three quarters of us stood back up again to go finish the engagement.”
“None of this is choreographed beyond maybe moving markers on a map,” Theis explained. “We’re all volunteers at the end of the day.”
In the viral moment that sparked this anniversary spectacle, the Battle of Brooklyn stands as the largest skirmish by troop deployment during the Revolutionary War and the first military conflict after the Declaration of Independence. On Aug. 27, 1776, 20,000 British troops and Hessian mercenaries routed roughly 10,000 Continental soldiers led by George Washington, who ultimately led his army across the East River to avoid total destruction. The Americans’ desperate stand allowed Washington’s forces to escape, preserving the fledgling nation’s military capacity despite the tactical defeat.
Costantino noted that typical commemorations draw only about half a dozen re-enactors, but America’s 250th birthday has transformed this into a “once in a lifetime” tribute. “We wouldn’t be able to get the guys from Illinois and Virginia to come in if it was, ‘Oh, come celebrate the 248th,'” he said.
For Theis, success is measured in historical curiosity rather than battlefield theatrics. “[I want to] encourage them to find out more, pick up a book and read about it. If that is what a few people do, then I consider [the event] highly successful,” he said.
The Maryland 400 commemoration will follow at noon at the Old Stone House, with additional Battle of Brooklyn celebrations scheduled Sunday at Green-Wood Cemetery.