So he and other reenactors who helped oversee the event waited until its scheduled start time to decide whether the battle would go on. When they saw a crowd of a few hundred, they couldn't turn them away, he said.

"We (had) expected, frankly, to cancel," he said.

Herkalo, who is also City of Plattsburgh clerk, estimated there were around 700 or 800 spectators Saturday, but the smaller crowd on Sunday didn't dampen the enthusiasm of reenactors.

Only a handful of soldiers and camp followers left early, he said.

"The boys did a great job today -- it was wonderful," Herkalo said to another enthusiast. "It looked superb from the top of the hill."

The trouble for many of the reenactors, Avery said, was that their tents were all wet and their guns "rusted up." He said it would take him a while to get his gun clean and a few days to dry out his tent.

Gerry Caird said the extra-wide brim on his hat helped keep him dry. What he had trouble with was traction in leather shoes.

"It's really skiddy on the grass," he said.

But Herkalo, as did everyone else, brushed off the rain as just part of putting on a reenactment.

"Sometimes you get wet, sometimes you don't," he said. "Everybody still has a good time."