Historic Fort Wayne - Civil War Days July 11-12

**SUBVET** · July-02-09, 04:46 PM

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition is hosting their annual "Civil War Days" event at Historic Fort Wayne on July 11-12.

This is a really great event that helps showcase the Fort and allows visitors to see what it might have looked like during it's time as a garrison fort.

Admission is FREE and parking is only $5 per car. Guided tours are available for, I believe $3 per adult [[lasts about an 1 1/2 hour). Donations are welcome though!

So, if you want a local event to go to and experience a place that many MANY MANY people have forgotten or don't even know about - COME ON DOWN!

For more information visit our website with the link below:
http://www.historicfortwaynecoalition.com/cwdays.html

or you can catch the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition on Facebook - just search "Historic Fort Wayne Coalition"

See YOU at the Fort!

Thomas Steele
Executive Secretary
Historic Fort Wayne Coalition, 501[[c)3
www.historicfortwaynecoalition.com

**SUBVET** · July-03-09, 06:45 AM

bump...bump

**SUBVET** · July-06-09, 11:41 AM

Not to be a pest - so please pardon me if I shamelessly plug this event yet again...

-Subvet

**MCP-001** · July-06-09, 03:03 PM

Bump [[It's for a good cause).

**CountrySquire** · July-06-09, 03:23 PM

Tom, will the Detroit Paranormal people be there this year?

**Blueidone** · July-06-09, 04:49 PM

I hope to get there this weekend. I love touring the place. PlymouthRes, if you read this...I hope to see you there!

**SUBVET** · July-07-09, 05:37 PM

Squire,

The paranormal groups may come by, but they are not hosting any type of hunt this weekend.

I'm sure there will be some of the folks there as many are members of the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition.

Blueidone - PlymouthRes should be there. I have been working with he and his wife rebuilding the porch decking of the Spanish American war Guardhouse. <nice looking - if I may say so myself>

-subvet

**Baselinepunk** · July-07-09, 05:56 PM

I took the family down there last year and had a great time. The re-enactment was cool and walking around the place brought back a lot of memories that I was able to share with the family.

We're not able to get down there this time around; however, a donation check is in the mail. I suggest everyone who has a free second donate some dough and go -- they need all of the support, not matter how small, they can get.

Go Fort Wayne!

**SUBVET** · July-07-09, 07:46 PM

Thanks for the donation Baseline! If anyone has any questions about where or what address to send to - please let me know.

The address is on the membership application via our website. Hey, a $20 individual or $35 family - even a $10 student [[with id) membership would be a great donation if you don't have much to give. Pretty reasonable cost to help such a great site with great volunteers.

Even if you can't donate - come on down anyway IT'S FREE!! [[except $5 for the City for parking)

A Paypal link is soon to arrive on the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition website to get us into the 21st century!

-Subvet

**SUBVET** · July-09-09, 10:46 AM

Just another friendly reminder from your local sponsor - Historic Fort Wayne Coalition [[laugh)

-Subvet

**rajdet** · July-09-09, 10:51 AM

OK Subvet, you got me, I will be there Nikon in hand.

**elganned** · July-09-09, 11:17 AM

I'll be there on Sunday. Got another commitment on Saturday. [[Darn kids...)

**Detroit_uke** · July-09-09, 11:39 AM

We'll be there on Saturday!!!

**PlymouthRes** · July-09-09, 12:41 PM

We have accomplished much at the Fort in recent days and the Coalition is very excited to share this event and the Fort with the public. I am looking forward to meeting many of you this weekend.

The Free Press has a great article about this event today on page 9, so check it out.

Please try to come out to the event as it is one of the best in SE Michigan!

Blue-

Looking forward to seeing you and MrBlue this weekend!

**kryptonite** · July-09-09, 01:46 PM

I went to their Christmas in Ft. Wayne in December with friends and everyone was very impressed with the place and had a blast.

We will all be going Saturday it looks like the same group is very excited about Civil War Days.

Stop at Gonella's on Oakwood for some incredible sub sandwiches first. Yum!

**cloud_wall** · July-11-09, 10:32 AM

Bump .

Stosh · July-11-09, 03:00 PM

Just rolled in from there. The reenactors were great [[some actually died!) Cannons were loud, the baseball game was interesting to say the least, Y& - Indeed... Anyone know what the E R signified on the other baseball team?

The various camps with the non-soldier reenactor families were interesting as well. Being a Civil War reenactor looks to be insufferable in this heat, and it wasn't really that hot. Nice breeze off the river though.

I witnessed first hand some of the superb restoration work on the windows, a great job by the HFWC. Keep us up to date on the next workday, I'd be interested in lending a hand with a few things down there.

**PlymouthRes** · July-12-09, 10:55 AM

Stosh-

Thanks for the kind words in regard to the event. A lot of good people have worked very hard to bring this event to the public. We also appreciate the comments about the Barracks windows and the restoration effort going on there. Did you get a chance to see the Span-Am Era Guard House? As you didn't mention it, I wondered if you had seen the exceptional restoration effort going on there? Perhaps noticed the five new Casemate Covers that were built? There is good going on at all locals of the Fort, and it is nice to see so much forward progress!

The E R stands for "Early Risers", which is the name of the Fort Wayne team!

I found the overall majority of the people that I spoke to to be positive and supportive of the Coalitions effort. I was able to give a tour yesterday to approximately 15 people, and many of them commented how they were excited to see the transformation of the Fort. I was very encouraged by what I both saw and heard throughout the day. It is nice to know that people are paying attention to all of the hard work going into the place.

After all, it is a significant part of all of our regions history.

Ifyou can, please come outand support the event today.We will be there until 4:00pm!

See you at the Fort!

Stosh · July-12-09, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by PlymouthRes

Stosh-

Thanks for the kind words in regard to the event. A lot of good people have worked very hard to bring this event to the public. We also appreciate the comments about the Barracks windows and the restoration effort going on there. Did you get a chance to see the Span-Am Era Guard House? As you didn't mention it, I wondered if you had seen the exceptional restoration effort going on there? Perhaps noticed the five new Casemate Covers that were built? There is good going on at all locals of the Fort, and it is nice to see so much forward progress!

I'm assuming that the guard house was the one with all the cells within it. Sorry for the omission. I was in that building for quite a while. The insignia beds were nice, the rooms were furnished nicely, and the washroom looked period and clean. Overall, that building was done nicely. I've not been to the Fort in a while, so I really can't compare with what it looked like before restoration.

We rested on the porch of the building on the benches. I'm assuming by casemates that you mean the cells?

The E R stands for "Early Risers", which is the name of the Fort Wayne team!

I liked the game. No gloves makes it a little more challenging doesn't it?

I found the overall majority of the people that I spoke to to be positive and supportive of the Coalitions effort. I was able to give a tour yesterday to approximately 15 people, and many of them commented how they were excited to see the transformation of the Fort. I was very encouraged by what I both saw and heard throughout the day. It is nice to know that people are paying attention to all of the hard work going into the place.

It's a shame that the tours were only given on the hour. We didn't want to wait for the next one to come. I'm sure that others did the same thing. Probably needed more volunteers, I'll bet.

**Guideboat** · July-12-09, 05:18 PM

Stosh, the casemates are the "underground" guns emplacements. Two are accessible at ground level while the others through doors on the upper level of the fort.

My question for Subvet et al is are all the casemates in decent shape or is there collapse like the one on the out perimeter of the fort?

Also, was the commandants quarters open this weekend. It didn't look like it was.

**CornBot** · July-12-09, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Stosh

Just rolled in from there. The reenactors were great [[some actually died!) .....
The various camps with the non-soldier reenactor families were interesting as well. Being a Civil War reenactor looks to be insufferable in this heat, and it wasn't really that hot. Nice breeze off the river though.

My younger brother and his whole family are CW re-enactors... 2 of his sons are Union infantry and I wonder if they were among the soldiers today. Couple years ago, one of them had the opportunity to be in Gettysburg with friends, called his dad all excited, "Dad! I just fought in Pickett's Charge!" LOL

My bro, his wife, and their 2 younger kids all wear authentic period civilian clothes to these events. He swears re-enactors are cooler in their hats, waistcoats, floor-length dresses, and bonnets than is a visitor wearing a tank top and shorts whose skin is being directly baked by the sun. OK, so I agree with keep the sun off one's bare skin... but, thinking about this, my bro is a man, and men's clothing has not changed all that much since the 1860s: cotton shirt, trousers, jacket. He is as comfortable as any man in either era. I wonder if his wife, wearing petticoats and bloomers under her long-sleeved day dress, might have something different to say about the heat. I'm going to have to ask her one of these days.

Stosh · July-12-09, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by CornBot

My younger brother and his whole family are CW re-enactors... 2 of his sons are Union infantry and I wonder if they were among the soldiers today. Couple years ago, one of them had the opportunity to be in Gettysburg with friends, called his dad all excited, "Dad! I just fought in Pickett's Charge!" LOL

My bro, his wife, and their 2 younger kids all wear authentic period civilian clothes to these events. He swears re-enactors are cooler in their hats, waistcoats, floor-length dresses, and bonnets than is a visitor wearing a tank top and shorts whose skin is being directly baked by the sun. OK, so I agree with keep the sun off one's bare skin... but, thinking about this, my bro is a man, and men's clothing has not changed all that much since the 1860s: cotton shirt, trousers, jacket. He is as comfortable as any man in either era. I wonder if his wife, wearing petticoats and bloomers under her long-sleeved day dress, might have something different to say about the heat. I'm going to have to ask her one of these days.

While at the event, I ran across a gent wearing the standard Union issue clothing in one of the tents, he was sweating profusely. You can see that he wanted to take off that heavy wool jacket in the worst way. But doing that would violate the reenactor's code or something. I'd be willing to bet that the troops took off their jackets, when not fighting, or maybe even during. Covering up does help though. Probably kept their long sleeved shirts on.

The wife was commenting on the dresses the women were wearing. Besides noticing that they mostly didn't fit right, which stemmed from learned behavior from her mother who was an accomplished seamstress, she commented that the hooped skirts kept the women cooler due to the material being away from the body, allowing air in. Besides, the material used was light, thin cotton

Stosh · July-12-09, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by Guideboat

Stosh, the casemates are the "underground" guns emplacements. Two are accessible at ground level while the others through doors on the upper level of the fort.

My question for Subvet et al is are all the casemates in decent shape or is there collapse like the one on the out perimeter of the fort?

Also, was the commandants quarters open this weekend. It didn't look like it was.

I did go in the one casement [[ I think). I was in an area just inside the sally port that had places for what looked like cannons. On the floor there were ridges to possibly stop them for recoiling. Also areas for what looked like snipers to fire from. Right place?

**Designerguy24** · July-12-09, 07:42 PM

Went to Civil War Days today and it was amazing! It was my first time there ever and I was blown away. Great to see so many people there, Everyone did an amazing job! I def would like to learn how to help out with preserving the Fort! Im a 27 year old college student willing to help out in any way possible! I also wanted to share my favorite picture from today of the 13th Governor of Michigan Mr. Austin Blair. They look so awesome!

**SUBVET** · July-13-09, 11:02 AM

Thanks so much for everyone who came out to enjoy the event and support Historic Fort Wayne. It really means so much to myself and others that you had a good time and got to experience the Fort!

Stosh - The casemate are indeed the areas similar to the one in the sally port tunnel that you saw. All of the casemates are fully intact, with some areas in a few that have washout underneath the limestone floor. However, the outer perimeter structure, called a demi-lune is intact as well. It is boarded off for spectator safety as the wooden floor has since rotted away and it unsafe for general public visitation.

The typical casemates are the white arched structures that are located on each point of the Fort [[for the most part, since some no longer have a casemate in areas like the 1939 vehicle gate entrance). These structures have all been rehabilitated to a representative style of the photos and documentation found in research and Detroit Historical Society archives.

Unfortunately the Commandant's House was not open for the event. There are some issues going on the prohibited it from being opened for display. However, count on use doing out best to restore the front and back porches of the Commandant's house and have it opened for our 2nd annual "Christmas at the Fort" event being held on Dec 12, 2009.

Thanks again for coming out! Look forward to December 12, 2009 for "Christmas at the Fort"...more information to follow!

Regards,

Tom Steele
Executive Secretary
Historic Fort Wayne Coalition, 501[[c)3
www.historicfortwaynecoalition.com