By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
Boy Scouts attending this week's 2010 National Scout Jamboree have a chance to step back in time to the origin of the Scouts long ago on a remote English island. At the recreated "Brownsea Island Camp" in shady woods at Fort A.P. Hill, the Scouts could discover what founder Lord Baden-Powell had in mind when he first created the Boy Scouts in 1907.
The Englishman, who died in 1941, was a famous lieutenant general in the British Army fighting in the Boer War of 1899 to 1902. During that long and difficult war, he had found that British soldiers were ill-prepared for rugged backwoods campaigning. Returning to England, he determined to promote the woodsmanship, character and leadership of England's young men. He had already written military books for reconnaissance and scout training which were also read by boys. Based on these books, he would later write Scouting for Boys, published in 1908, which is considered the first Scout manual. To test out his theories for teaching scouting skills to boys of diverse social backgrounds, he set up an eight-day camp at Brownsea Island off England's southern coast as an experiment to see what could be accomplished with 22 young men experiencing the woods and learning skills that would serve them well surviving in the rough. The success of that camp resulted in his founding the Boy Scouts in 1907. Subsequently, the Boy Scouts of America was founded three years later in 1910.
At the Fort A.P. Hill "Brownsea Island Camp" Scouts dressed in early 20th century clothing like knickers, ties and caps, showed Jamboree Scouts some of the first scouting activities, like throwing ropes to save a drowning swimmer and teaching chivalry, map reading, camping skills and patriotism.