"Daniel Boone," Season 3 hits its high point with last week's "The Symbol" and now the two-part "The Williamsburg Cannon."
TV-movie quality makes this an action epic approprIate to a network series.
Daniel and Mingo are summoned to Wiiliamsburg, Virginia for a Revolutionary War mission, en route, a roadside misunderstanding places them at odds with Capt. Robert George, a Continental Army artilleryman unbeknownst to them who is also reporting to Governor Patrick Henry. The mission is to move a cannon from Williamsburg to assist George Rogers Clark's expedition against the British fort at Vincennes, Indiana.
Hour one is largely devoted to setup as Boone assembles his force - George (Warren Stevens, longtime TV series journeyman and Rohan in "Star Trek: TOS;" a leftover 1745 Jacobite (tough-guy character actor Jack Lambert), a farmer embittered by the British-caused deaths of his family at the hands of Indians (Keith Andes, another STTOS guest star) and a young impoverished trapper looking for a dowry for his Shawnee bride to be (Michael Blodgett, another youth-interest placement who went on to a career behind the camera). Patrick Henry is played by Booth Colman (another ST connection, this time through "Voyager"). He doesn't really capture Henry's hawklike visage, but does channel the Virginian's reported belligerent attitude.
Again, the episode is largely a setup, but we do see artillery action, two saloon brawls, a near-wagon wreck, and a large British column on the move - almost as much fun as a DIY tabletop adventure with a 1966 Marx Revolutionary War playset.
For a network Western episode, surprisingly some research was put into the production. The episode has to be dated summer 1778, when Clark was approaching Vincennes (Fort Sackville) and Henry was the Va. Governor at the time; and the now-eroded Corn Island, Ohio, which hosted Clark's staging area, is worked into the story. There are many near misses - reference is made to Clark's force of "Navy men" (he had Va. State troops), and Clark had no artillery with him during the 1778-79 Illinois campaign - he had to cross several flooded areas, which was strictly a job for light infantry. George notes he had to leave Washington's army on Long Island, which was entirely British-occupied in 1778. We have to accept that coastal-plain Williamsburg has wooded hills nearby, and that in 1778 the Ohio River was paralleled by an improved road that could easily handle heavy trucks.
Weaponry features prominently in the story - the featured cannon is referred to as an 8-pounder but looks more like a 6-pdr., but in any case was likely too small to knock down fortifications. A new one for me was seeing straw used as wadding - not sure on authenticity of that. The Scotsman's claymore looks more like a medieval Anglo-Saxon broadsword.
Redcoat report - looks like an understrength company's worth, about 25-30, and they are wearing the location-incorrect uniform of the Royal American Regiment.
Continental soldier count - a patrol of about six, including Capt. George, and they are all wearing the buff and blue of the New York-New Jersey regiments; for an artilleryman, blue coat with red facings more appropriate.
Well-written with high production values; the trek down the Ohio is on tap for next week.
Daniel and Mingo are summoned to Wiiliamsburg, Virginia for a Revolutionary War mission, en route, a roadside misunderstanding places them at odds with Capt. Robert George, a Continental Army artilleryman unbeknownst to them who is also reporting to Governor Patrick Henry. The mission is to move a cannon from Williamsburg to assist George Rogers Clark's expedition against the British fort at Vincennes, Indiana.
Hour one is largely devoted to setup as Boone assembles his force - George (Warren Stevens, longtime TV series journeyman and Rohan in "Star Trek: TOS;" a leftover 1745 Jacobite (tough-guy character actor Jack Lambert), a farmer embittered by the British-caused deaths of his family at the hands of Indians (Keith Andes, another STTOS guest star) and a young impoverished trapper looking for a dowry for his Shawnee bride to be (Michael Blodgett, another youth-interest placement who went on to a career behind the camera). Patrick Henry is played by Booth Colman (another ST connection, this time through "Voyager"). He doesn't really capture Henry's hawklike visage, but does channel the Virginian's reported belligerent attitude.
Again, the episode is largely a setup, but we do see artillery action, two saloon brawls, a near-wagon wreck, and a large British column on the move - almost as much fun as a DIY tabletop adventure with a 1966 Marx Revolutionary War playset.
For a network Western episode, surprisingly some research was put into the production. The episode has to be dated summer 1778, when Clark was approaching Vincennes (Fort Sackville) and Henry was the Va. Governor at the time; and the now-eroded Corn Island, Ohio, which hosted Clark's staging area, is worked into the story. There are many near misses - reference is made to Clark's force of "Navy men" (he had Va. State troops), and Clark had no artillery with him during the 1778-79 Illinois campaign - he had to cross several flooded areas, which was strictly a job for light infantry. George notes he had to leave Washington's army on Long Island, which was entirely British-occupied in 1778. We have to accept that coastal-plain Williamsburg has wooded hills nearby, and that in 1778 the Ohio River was paralleled by an improved road that could easily handle heavy trucks.
Weaponry features prominently in the story - the featured cannon is referred to as an 8-pounder but looks more like a 6-pdr., but in any case was likely too small to knock down fortifications. A new one for me was seeing straw used as wadding - not sure on authenticity of that. The Scotsman's claymore looks more like a medieval Anglo-Saxon broadsword.
Redcoat report - looks like an understrength company's worth, about 25-30, and they are wearing the location-incorrect uniform of the Royal American Regiment.
Continental soldier count - a patrol of about six, including Capt. George, and they are all wearing the buff and blue of the New York-New Jersey regiments; for an artilleryman, blue coat with red facings more appropriate.
Well-written with high production values; the trek down the Ohio is on tap for next week.
