Progressing our Hobby
Fort Delaware Living History - ARGH! Will it happen at all?
Hello All:
At the January 24 Battalion Meeting, we discussed attending an overnight living history at Fort Delaware over the weekend of June 13 and 14, 2009. I will post more details as they are worked out with the park, but here is what I have so far.
The Park is opened for overnight interpretation on the second weekend of each summer month for groups of 15 or more, with the clause that participants stay for the Sunday interpretation as well. We have chosen the second weekend in June, as the bugs and mosquitos are less severe earlier in the season.
We are welcome to stay in the reconstructed prisoner barracks on Saturday night. Camp fires are permitted for cooking, etc. In the alternative, we are also permitted to use the restored Union mess kitchen inside the Fort, but only after park hours.
There is a Group Application form and a Group Agreement that need to be completed prior to the event. I will be happy to be the contact between the Fort and the Battalion. Thus, we can submit on set of group forms for the Battalion. I have, however, attached hereto a copy of the Group Application and Agreement forms for your perusal.
I will contact the Fort today and apprise them of our interest to attend in June. I will work with them on the possibility of developing and early war scenario, as was discussed at the meeting and will continue to update this thread with details.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Fort Delaware, it is situated on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, 1.8 miles from Delaware City, DE and 1 mile from the Jersey Shore. Over the course of approximately three years during the Civil War, this 75 acre island housed over 30,000 Confederate Prisoners. Further, the island was like a city in and of itself, being home to more that 16,000 other inhabitants.
The military/defensive significance of the island was first realized in 1794 while Maj. Pierre Charles L'Enfant, chief engineer of the US Army, was surveying the ports along the Delaware River. It would not be until May 27, 1813 that the State of Delaware seized Pea Patch for construction of a fortification. Work on the fortifications were stalled due to funding disputes, etc. and work was not begun until December 25, 1814.
Ok, more to come...
Please feel free to direct to me any comments, questions or concerns.
--Jim
At the January 24 Battalion Meeting, we discussed attending an overnight living history at Fort Delaware over the weekend of June 13 and 14, 2009. I will post more details as they are worked out with the park, but here is what I have so far.
The Park is opened for overnight interpretation on the second weekend of each summer month for groups of 15 or more, with the clause that participants stay for the Sunday interpretation as well. We have chosen the second weekend in June, as the bugs and mosquitos are less severe earlier in the season.
We are welcome to stay in the reconstructed prisoner barracks on Saturday night. Camp fires are permitted for cooking, etc. In the alternative, we are also permitted to use the restored Union mess kitchen inside the Fort, but only after park hours.
There is a Group Application form and a Group Agreement that need to be completed prior to the event. I will be happy to be the contact between the Fort and the Battalion. Thus, we can submit on set of group forms for the Battalion. I have, however, attached hereto a copy of the Group Application and Agreement forms for your perusal.
I will contact the Fort today and apprise them of our interest to attend in June. I will work with them on the possibility of developing and early war scenario, as was discussed at the meeting and will continue to update this thread with details.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Fort Delaware, it is situated on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, 1.8 miles from Delaware City, DE and 1 mile from the Jersey Shore. Over the course of approximately three years during the Civil War, this 75 acre island housed over 30,000 Confederate Prisoners. Further, the island was like a city in and of itself, being home to more that 16,000 other inhabitants.
The military/defensive significance of the island was first realized in 1794 while Maj. Pierre Charles L'Enfant, chief engineer of the US Army, was surveying the ports along the Delaware River. It would not be until May 27, 1813 that the State of Delaware seized Pea Patch for construction of a fortification. Work on the fortifications were stalled due to funding disputes, etc. and work was not begun until December 25, 1814.
Ok, more to come...
Please feel free to direct to me any comments, questions or concerns.
--Jim
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Heidi Myers on -
Jim,
Kevin and I are in. Excited to actually go back to the Fort. Haven't been there in like three years.
Heidi
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Permalink Reply by Twisty Pants on -
All:
Ok, well... I just heard back from the Fort. Apparently the weekend in June "has filled up but [they] still need participants for July 11/12 and August 8/9." "Standalone events" on other weekend days are still available and we are all welcome any time.
Thus, I guess I'll need to know what the collective thought is on doing one of these other overnight dates. Or, perhaps we want to look into doing a "standalone event" some time in, say, early June?
Thoughts, please...
--Jim
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Permalink Reply by Twisty Pants on
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UPDATE:
Potential new dates for a living history at Fort Delaware are June 6 and 7 or June 20 and 21. These dates would be a "stand alone" event for the battalion. While we would not be able to stay out on Pea Patch Island, we are welcome to stay at nearby Fort DuPont. The only facilities at Fort DuPont are Port-a-sh*tters, but the park offices on the mainland could be opened for us early in the morning to accommodate anyone needing running water. There are also several hotels in and around Delaware City. We'd be shuttled out on the last ferry of the day and shuttled back in the next morning on the first work ferry in the morning.
Civilians, prisoners and Federals are all welcome. The administration seems really excited about doing some cooking and laundry demonstrations and such. So if anyone has any ideas, bring 'em to the table. I'm sure they'll be welcomed! Keep in mind, too, that civilian "prisoners of the Sate" were housed in the casemates as well. So male, civilian prisoners would be very cool to have as well.
Unfortunately the second floor barracks over the sally port (where the first (14?) confederate prisoners from Kernstown were housed) is not accessible to the public. The restoration of that area is a top priority, but it hasn't happened yet. Thus, we will not be able to stay completely true to an early war scenario. But we are welcome to bring to the Fort our early war impressions. I was told that they normally have groups portray 1864 prisoners, so us bringing a '62 impression/state of mind would be a welcomed change.
All in all, I think this could be a really fun and laid-back event. We have a place to stay for the weekend, so we wouldn't have to worry about traveling for hours just to sit on an island for one afternoon. Additionally, since this is a "stand alone" event, we'd have many liberties as far as presentations/demonstrations/scenarios, etc. And most of all, Fort Delaware is a damn cool place to spend some time!
Please let me know what you think.
--Jim
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Permalink Reply by Greg Bullock on -
I know for myself, I would rather see it on the 3rd weekend of June as I have family things on the first 2. I am going to present it at our unit meeting and see where their interest lies.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Myers on -
Jim,
Thanks for looking into this, great news about being able to stay at Ft Dupont. I know that the weekend of the 6th and 7th would work better for a group of us as the Kids Camp at Crosskeys is on the third weekend of June this year. The kids camp is a very important element that the battalion needs to support as it has opened many doors to us in the Valley.
Thanks,
Kevin
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Permalink Reply by Twisty Pants on
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Ah, yes. Good point. I just noticed that as I was reviewing the list from the meeting. Thanks for the reminder! Say, how's that calendar comin' anyway?
--Jim
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Permalink Reply by Greg Bullock on
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At our unit meeting today, we agreed that the first weekend would work the best for our membership also.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Ambrose on -
I presented it to my company yesterday and we think the 3rd weekend would be great and would have 5 or so guys who say they will come. The first weekend is out as we have CS Memorial Day and a living history at Jackson HQ in Winchester, VA. I hope we can make this work out, I've always wanted to go to Ft. Delaware and do something like this.
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Permalink Reply by Twisty Pants on
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Thanks Greg and Robert, for your replies. In the immediate future I am going to get in touch with Dave to discuss this, since there appears to be interest in both weekends, one of which has a conflict with the Cross Keys Kids' Camp. With his assistance we'll pin down a solid date and get this thing put together.
Thanks again!
--Jim
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Permalink Reply by Twisty Pants on
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So, I was cleaning out a basket of paperwork last night and ran across a flyer for the Don Hubbard Field Music School, which is scheduled to be held June 6 & 7, 2009. So I thought to myself, "Gee, I wonder if we will actually be able to do a living history that weekend because of the field music school." So, I immediately emailed the Fort's administration.
Unfortunately, the response was not favorable. With apologies, I was told, in sum, that the field music school takes precedent during the first weekend of June and the grounds cannot be made available to us.
I will continue to try to iron out a good time. But, given the Kids’ Camp in June, Allegheny in July and the pterodactyl sized mosquitoes in August, perhaps this just isn’t going to work out for us this season.
Thoughts?
--Jim
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Permalink Reply by Bob Denton on -
Jim,
I want to be there, but I have to be up in Trenton NJ on the 14th to give a lecture at the NJ State Museum. There is a possibility of my going on Saturday though, seeing as I'm driving all the way up there anyways. I'd definitely have to leave Saturday evening though.
Bob D.
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Permalink Reply by Twisty Pants on
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Bob,
Unfortunately the whole thing is a no go for this year. The overnight got booked up, and the first weekend of the month is the Field Music School. The following weekend is the Cross Keys Kid's Camp. So it just ain't happenin' this year. I'm going to keep in touch with the fort people, though, in hopes of getting in early for next June's overnight.
I think some of us may try to throw something together for some weekend this summer... just an impromptu day on the Isle. We'll keep you in the loop if anything materializes on that front, just in case you may be in the area.
--Jim
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