What is Mischianza?
The '''Mischianza''' or '''Mischianza extravaganza''' was a party. It happened in [[Philadelphia]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. [[John Andre]] threw the party on May 18, 1778 for [[General William Howe]].<ref name=USH>{{cite web|url=https://www.ushistory.org/march/bio/Andre.htm|publisher=USHistory.org|access-date=December 27, 2020|work=Virtual Marching Tour of the American Revolutionary War|title=Major John Andre|pages=1-2}}</ref> About 400 people came to the party<ref name=Vern>{{cite web|publisher=Mount Vernon|accessdate=July 18, 2021|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/meschianza/|title=Meschianza|author=Mary Kate Robett}}</ref> ==Motivation== The party was for General [[William Howe]] and Admiral [[Richard Howe]]. They were leaders in the British military. William Howe was being sent back to England because the government blamed him for the loss of the [[Battle of Saratoga]]. But the men in the army thought he was a very good general and decided to throw him a large party.<ref name=Vern /> ==Event== To start the party, the Howe brothers and other leaders floated down the [[Delaware river]] on decorated boats. People in the buildings on the sides of the river waved to them. Military musicians played music. The ''HMS Roebuck'' fired a seventeen-gun salute.<ref name=Vern /> Most of the party was at [[Walnut Grove]]. Walnut grove had belonged to a man named [[Joseph Wharton]], but he supported the American Revolution, so the British had taken it. Major [[John Andre]] was the [[master of ceremonies]], meaning he organized the party and told everyone what would happen next.<ref name=Vern /> Andre planned a medieval-style [[jousting|joust]], where men on horseback would practice-fight with [[lance]]s. He named the two teams the Knights of the Blended Rose and the Knights of the Burning Mountain and designed costumes, flags, and slogans for them. Each knight had a lady, like in the tradition of [[courtly love]] from the [[middle ages]]. A