150th brought in big bucks for Virginia

The 150th anniversary commemoration of the Civil War funneled $290 million and 3.7 million people to Virginia, the panel that hosted the observance said. The Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission said programs generated more than $8.4 million in state tax revenue and almost $5 million in local tax revenue. • Article

Kennesaw Mountain Trail Club honored for heavy lifting before, during 150th events

Volunteers at 24-Gun Battery Trail construction (Photos: KMTC)

A club that maintains 22 miles of trail within Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park near Atlanta will receive a National Park Service award for its extensive volunteer efforts leading up to and during last year’s sesquicentennial events.

The NPS, in conjunction with the National Park Foundation, will bestow the 2014 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service at a June program in Washington, D.C.

The Kennesaw Mountain Trail Club will receive the volunteer group award. It is being recognized for:

-- Taking a large role in the park’s commemoration last year of the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain by recruiting, training and directing 500 volunteers who contributed 3,000 hours to make the visitor experience more enjoyable; and by raising more than $100,000 -- making it possible for prominent historians, authors, and performers to participate in commemorative events. The club also maintained a website intended to build interest and volunteer and sponsorship opportunities.

-- Working closely with the park staff, spending two years planning and constructing the reroute of the Assault Trail (above), to follow the approximate path that Union soldiers took to engage Confederate troops at Cheatham Hill and past the McCook monument, which sat alone on the ridge for years;

-- Building the 1.5-mile long 24-Gun Battery Trail, along the spot where Federal artillerymen opened up on Confederate positions in the heights above at the June 1864 clash;

-- Creating school programs to bring children into the park for interpretive sessions about the history of the battle and the Civilian Conservation Corps camp.

-- Creating the “Hunt for History” scavenger hunt and holding a movie premiere to generate public excitement about the sesquicentennial.

Work along the 24-Gun Battery Trail (Photos: KMTC)

Members of the trail club, which was formed in 2002, have given about 28,000 hours of service. It has between 50 and 100 active members, with hundreds of other volunteers helping from time to time on work days.

Kennesaw Mountain’s trails draw a range of visitors, from out-of-state war buffs to locals who enter the park from subdivisions to get some exercise. There are runners, walkers, horseback riders and hikers preparing for strenuous endeavors around the world.

The awards are named for former National Park Service Director George B. Hartzog, Jr. and his wife Nancy. In 1970, the Volunteers-In-Parks (VIP) was launched.

Sultana disaster: New museum, events, documentary to mark 150th anniversary

Overloaded Sultana awaits its destiny (Library of Congress)

The campaign to keep alive the story of the largest maritime disaster in U.S. history has come to fruition, with the upcoming opening of a Sultana museum, a 150^th anniversary weekend in an Arkansas river city and the private screening of a documentary backed by actor Sean Astin, best known for the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy.

“The Sultana is beginning to receive her acknowledgement as the great tragedy to end the Civil War,” said Louis Intres, an adjunct history instructor at Arkansas State University.

The steamboat, traveling on the Mississippi River, exploded and caught fire early on the morning of April 27, 1865, at war’s end. It claimed about 1,800 lives. Most of the victims were freed Union prisoners headed north, believing they were going home.

The incident received little publicity because Americans were weary of the Civil War and still mourning President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated only two weeks before.

Intres and others expect that anniversary events in Marion, Ark., and nearby Memphis, Tenn., planned for late April will bring folks from around the region and country to check out the museum, hear lectures, attend a wreath-laying ceremony and take a bus tour and a “riverboat cruise into history.”

Gene Salecker with Sultana model (Courtesy of Mark Randall)

On Saturday, April 25, passengers will board a vessel in Memphis, and travel on the Mississippi River to the site of the disaster and the wreckage, which lies beneath a cultivated field on the Arkansas side near Marion. The site is on private property, and the field may be underwater because of flooding this time of year.

“The captain has agreed to take the boat upstream, farther than ordinary, in order to get into the area where the (ship) remains are,” Rosalind O’Neal of the Sultana Historic Preservation Society told the Picket.

The Association of Sultana Descendants and Friends (ASDF) will be holding its annual reunion in Marion from April 23-27. Members who go on the cruise may drop roses into the water as a tribute to relatives who died or survived.

In 2012, the Picket wrote extensively about the Sultana, quoting several people as saying they hoped a temporary exhibit that year in Marion would be a precursor to a lasting memorial.

The first step in a permanent Sultana museum will occur April 9, said O’Neal, one of the organizers of the April 23-25 commemoration in Marion.

Sultana artifacts, memorabilia belonging to Gene Salecker

That’s when members of the Arkansas Historical Association will tour the interim Sultana Disaster Museum, leased at 104 Washington St. near the courthouse.

Among items on display will be memorabilia, a large riverboat model and Sultana artifacts belonging to Gene Salecker, who has written and lectured extensively about the vessel. A wall in the building has a list of known passengers.

“It’s almost like a memorial wall for the people on the Sultana,” said O’Neal.

The historical society, the city and the Marion Chamber of Commerce are planning a second, permanent location for the museum. The city, hoping for the benefits of heritage tourism, last year voted to spend $400,000 for such a facility.

(Interesting, an ancestor of Mayor Frank Fogleman was among residents who came to the aid of badly injured or burned Sultana passengers).

“We are in the beginning stages of planning for a permanent museum, and are close to retaining a firm for architectural and exhibit design services,” Michael Demster, president of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, told the Picket. “We have received some nice seed money, but will need to raise more to get the museum worthy of the Sultana.”

Salecker defies sabotage theories (Mark Randall)

O’Neal said there’s a desire for a small theater and interactive exhibits in the future permanent location.

For now, the community’s focus is on the anniversary weekend. Officials encourage people to register now for key events, because many spots are filled.

They hope about 200 people will sign up for the lectures, museum tour, reception, bus tour of Civil War related sites in Arkansas and Tennessee and the $50 riverboat cruise, which includes a barbecue dinner and lecture by Salecker, entitled “It Was Not Sabotage!”

PBS’ “History Detectives” examined whether the ship’s destruction was the act of Confederate sabotage, faulty machinery or “dangerous conditions.”

The overcrowded steamboat sank near Marion. In the end, no one was formally held accountable for putting too many men on the Sultana and sailing despite documented concerns about the safety of one of the boat's boilers.

Salecker and Jerry Potter have written about a kickback scheme between the vessel's financially-strapped captain, J. Cass Mason, the steamer's captain and master, and an Army quartermaster, Lt. Col. Reuben B. Hatch. According to Potter, the transport fee was $5 for an enlisted man, $10 for an officer. Mason agreed to take the enlisted men for $3; Hatch kept the $2.

Salecker collection includes passenger's comb

The Sultana, with nearly 2,300 people on board, was way above passenger capacity at the time of the explosion. Hundreds of Union soldiers died only a day and a half from a prisoner exchange and freedom.

Local residents, including freed slaves, helped the passengers, who found themselves swimming for shore, or thrashing about in the chilly Mississippi River.

“There were some amazing stories of heroism," said Intres. About 700 people were saved, with 200 dying for their wounds. Bodies were recovered over the next several months.

The South, focused on its own devastation, wasn't particularly sympathetic about enemy soldiers perishing, said Potter, a Memphis lawyer who has written extensively about the topic.

“I was giving a talk one time, and a man made a comment that they were just Yankees, too bad more of them didn’t die," Potter told the Picket in 2012. "I just lost it. A few people felt that way, but few people knew about the Sultana.”

Jimmy Ogle, a tour guide and community engagement manager for the Riverfront Development Corp. in Memphis, that same year said it was up to societies and local communities to build a Sultana museum. “It was just perceived as a small steamboat disaster in the South.” 

That’s appears to be changing. More Americans are learning about the disaster, and Intres believes the 150^th anniversary and the new documentary on the disaster will do even more.

Sean Astin and Mark Marshall have created the “Remember the Sultana” through a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Monument in Hillsdale, Mich. (Stephenie Kyser)

A private screening is planned for Monday evening, April 27 (the actual sinking anniversary), at the Paradiso in Memphis.

O’Neal said a Civil War encampment in Marion on April 25 will feature re-enactors, a Civil War medicine wagon and an exhibit on the role of African-Americans during the war. Organizers are bringing in students taking Advanced Placement history.

“If they can feel it, see it, touch it, it makes an impression,” she said.

Norman Shaw, of Knoxville, Tenn., a member of the Association of Sultana Descendants and Friends, said he expects about 100 members to attend their reunion and related events in Marion.

About half may remain for the documentary screening Monday, an event independent of Marion's plans. Shaw is planning a visit to the presumed wreckage site for that Sunday, weather permitting.

The cruise the evening before will be an emotional experience, he predicted, especially with the tossing of roses into the Mississippi River.

“I think it will be very moving. It is very meaningful to our people,” Shaw told the Picket. “One person emailed me this is the closure to the story” of an ancestor who was among the victims.

Click here for more on the Sultana weekend in Marion, Ark.

The Sultana Disaster Museum will be open Thursdays-Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Contact the Chamber of Commerce at 870-739-6041 to arrange a group tour. Admission is free for April. Beginning May 1, the cost is $8 for adults, $5 for children under 12. 

See what Richmond has planned for April

Richmond’s experience through and beyond the end of the Civil War will be commemorated at the beginning of April with enough activities to fill a 16-page brochure. The grand finale of the 150th anniversary commemoration will center on Capitol Square and Shockoe Bottom. Participating groups range from black re-enactors to historical museums. • Details

Fort Fisher 150th this weekend: Battle scenarios, tours, a meeting of descendants

(Fort Fisher State Historic Site)

Between 10,000 and 15,000 spectators are expected to witness two battle scenarios this weekend and take in music, tours and more at the site of Fort Fisher, on the peninsula between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, south of Wilmington, N.C. Famed Civil War historian Ed Bearss and various authors and experts will be on hand for Saturday’s and Sunday’s programs. The Jan. 15, 1865, fall of the “Gibraltar of the South” to a land and amphibious assault cut off blockade runners and the last supply line through Wilmington to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. U.S. Colored Troops were among those taking part in the attack. The Picket spoke with John Moseley, assistant site manager at Fort Fisher State Historic Site, and Paul Laird, executive director of the Friends of Fort Fisher, about the battle and this weekend’s activities.

Disaster helped create battle’s turning point

The program for the 150^th anniversary of the battle, which was the second effort to grasp control of the fort, will include the present-day U.S. Marine Corps Historical Company. Interpreters will explain to visitors the Jan. 15 Marine Corps and Navy assault on Fort Fisher’s northeast bastion. (The Army attacked from the western, river side. Heavy naval bombardment of the fort took place on Jan. 14, 1865.)

“There was confusion when the actual attack would take place,” said Moseley. “When the whistle was given (mid-afternoon), the Navy immediately jumped off. Some 2,000 to 2,200 Navy and Marine personnel ran down the beach. The Army was still getting its stuff together.”

U.S. Marine Corps Historical Company

Confederate reinforcements rushed to that bastion, inflicting about 300 casualties with rifle fire, grapeshot and canister. “They got on top of the ramparts and were shooting down on the Marines.” But the valor of the Union attackers was notable, with six Marines receiving the Medal of Honor for helping press the assault.

“That was the key. By the time they were retreating, the Army had a foothold on Shepherd’s Battery,” said Moseley. The Army with about 3,000 men was facing only about 350 Confederates, because most had rushed to the northeast bastion. They were able to pile through.

“The one disaster takes the attention away from the main attack, unexpectedly.”

(Library of Congress)

Finally, well into the evening, the Union assault carried the day, bringing about the post’s surrender. It came with a price – about 2,000 estimated casualties for both sides. The Confederates were dogged in their defense.

Comparing real soldiers and 2015 re-enactors

Normally, about 300 to 400 re-enactors attend significant anniversary events at Fort Fisher, officials, said. This year, the number of invitation-only registrations is about double that. Units expected to be on hand include the Fort Fisher garrison, Adams artillery, another artillery unit and the 11^th and 18^th North Carolina.

“We have never had this kind of response,” said Moseley.

He and Laird said Fort Fisher and a few remaining sesquicentennial events in Virginia and North Carolina and elsewhere in 2015 will be the last hurrah for some re-enactors.

“A lot of people have been doing this for 20 to 25 years. They are just as tired as the actual soldiers would have been in 1865,” said Moseley. “They are starting to look very authentic, with the dirt and debris over all their uniforms.”

Some may get out of the hobby or take a year’s break. “They want to get reintroduced to their families.”

(Fort Fisher State Historic Site)

A bit of history near beautiful beaches

Fort Fisher gets about 600,000 visitors a year, the most of North Carolina’s historic sites, largely because of its location near several of the state’s beaches. The big crush comes during the summer months, with visitors from all over the country and Europe. They come for the surf and serenity, or to bird watch.

Laird and Moseley said they expect many people attending this weekend will be pretty well-versed on the battle’s significance. And a good weather forecast is a bonus.

“The folks are going to be your dyed in the wool history enthusiasts who are not going to be the casual day tripper,” said Laird.

The Wilmington campaign plays a major role in the first 45 minutes of the 2012 film “Lincoln.”

“We’ve even had a couple actors come down because they did not know what the whole thing was about. What the heck is Fort Fisher?” said Moseley.

Views of the fort after it fell (Library of Congress)

Why is Fort Fisher so important?

Said Moseley: “Once the fort fell, there was nowhere for the Confederacy to go. It was a done deal. There was no way to get any supplies from overseas to help the army or civilians.”

Galveston, Texas, was just too far away for a resupply of eastern armies. He asks: Could the war ended sooner if Fisher had been taken earlier?

Laird said he hopes for a bigger takeaway.

“Ultimately, we want them to understand (that with) the sacrifices that were made 150 years ago, we would have a reunited country once again.”

North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial

What’s on tap for this weekend?

Activities begin at about 9 a.m. Saturday and end at about 4 p.m. Sunday. Because of limited parking, a free trolley service will run from the Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Base to the fort.

The Friends of Fort Fisher have raised about $72,000 to help with the event.

Admission is free, though there is a $10 lantern tour Saturday night and $10 “Above the Scenes” tours of the earthen fortifications both days. In the former, visitors will “encounter historical personages who will relay the battle and their role in the battle,” said Laird.

Bearss and Gov. Pat McCrory will attend the 11 a.m. opening ceremony Saturday. Battle scenarios are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.

Speakers include authors Rod Gragg, “Confederate Goliath,” and Chris Fonvielle, “Faces of Fort Fisher.” Children’s activities, artillery and musket demonstrations and music also are in the lineup.

(Fort Fisher State Historic Site)

Something special for descendants

The Friends of Fort Fisher on Thursday and Friday is hosting on Carolina Beach a private reunion for about 200 people who have Union of Confederate ancestors who took part in the Fort Fisher campaigns.

“They know their own ancestors’ role and affiliation and we will give them a chance to write down their stories,” said Laird, adding historians will be on hand. The descendants will receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the fortifications on Friday.

“It’s interesting how important the veterans themselves were after the war in bringing about reconciliation. This reunion is a continuation of what they started.”

• Full schedule of weekend events

• National Park Service battle summary

• Civil War Trust page on Fort Fisher

Fort McAllister's 150th was a 'great way' to end the year's events

Members of Confederate gun section  (Courtesy Armory Guards)

Last weekend’s winter muster and battle re-enactment at Fort McAllister State Park in Georgia had an unexpected bonus.

“The most amazing aspect was that there was a meteor shower Saturday night, and we all stood on the parade ground in the fort and watched,” said Herb Coats, a member of the Armory Guards living historian group based in metro Atlanta.

An estimated 1,200 visitors witnessed sesquicentennial events at the site, timed to the day a Union force on the March to the Sea captured the earthen fortifications and opened a vital sea supply line for the army as it lay siege to Savannah.

Armory Guards U.S. contingent before attack along river wall

The Armory Guards portrayed both Confederate and Union soldiers. While Jordan Roberts commanded the former’s Clinch Rifles section, Coats and others re-enacted as members of Company A, 70^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

“We started the skirmish portion of the fort at the exact time it happened in 1864 -- 11 am,” Coats told the Picket. “Also, we made the advance along the river trench line, which hasn't been done since 1864.”

A post on the Armory Guard’s Facebook page said, “It was a successful event for the park, and for the participants. All in all, a great way to end the 2014 season of events.”

Clinch Rifles under fire inside fort (Courtesy Armory Guards)

Park manager Jason Carter said there were nearly 300 re-enactors at the event.

“I just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone that attended the event. It went off almost perfectly, other than the Union pulling off the victory again!” he said in a statement. “I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and maybe got a small glimpse into the past and the history you have right here in your backyard.”

310,000 photos -- and counting: NPS team captures 150th for social media, posterity

The cornfield at Antietam (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

Jason Martz, a visual information specialist with the National Park Service, has led the team that has photographed and made videos at NPS sites throughout the Civil War sesquicentennial. Those images have graced park Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr pages. Martz will talk about the group’s work on Jan. 11, 2015, during the winter lecture series at Gettysburg National Military Park, where he is based. The Picket recently spoke with Martz, 40, about the effort to promote events through social media and to document them for future online and print use. Responses have been edited for brevity and organization by topic.

Jason Martz

Q. How did you become involved in the effort?

A. I came onboard and started focusing on the Civil War 150th in 2010. At the time, the NPS had not jumped into social media pool just yet. That occurred in 2011 after First Manassas (Bull Run).

Q. How does the team work?           

                

A. We are basically serving as the live news media on behalf of that park and are following the park’s schedule and framework and putting the content on social media live as it happens. Our objective is to chronicle the events by taking pictures and video of everything and turning that around and telling a story, interpreting it as it is happening or within a couple of hours. (For Facebook or Twitter) the night before we put a final picture that says tomorrow the park will do this, beginning at this time. We are using social media as a platform to advertise what is coming. We want readers to know this is happening live.

A moment at Fredericksburg (Photos courtesy of NPS)

And at Vicksburg 

Even if you are not here right now, you feel you are part of it. Gettysburg was the most intense of the 150th Civil War events. It had the largest crowds, the most programs, a very well-oiled machine. Everything went off by most accounts without a hitch. I had a large team to shoot and then edit. We were turning around content by the first day or so in two hours, which was unheard of. It used to be four to six hours. At a place like Gettysburg, to turn around content and push it out in two hours -- I still marvel at that.

Q. What are some of the sites at which the team has covered events?

A. They include first and second Manassas; Richmond – the 1862 and 1864 sites; Petersburg, with a focus on the Crater; the four Fredericksburg-based sites, Cedar Creek, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Kennesaw Mountain, Antietam, Harpers Ferry twice, Fort Stevens, Monocacy and Gettysburg. We are going to Appomattox in 2015, and possibly Sailor’s Creek and Petersburg and Richmond again.

Capturing the action at Gettysburg (Photo courtesy of NPS)

Q. How many staff members have been involved?

A. We’ve probably have had about 30, including six volunteers. Some of these were temporary/seasonal NPS photographers.

Q. How many images have you collected?

A. Up to this point, with the Cedar Creek numbers not added, we have taken 310,000 photos. We’ve had about 90 videos, ranging from 30 seconds to five to six minutes.

Q. What were some of the most memorable moments?

Marchers at Gettysburg (Photo courtesy of NPS)

A. At Gettysburg, recalling the march of the Iron Brigade, July 1, 2013. The crowd was as large or slightly larger than the actual number of Iron Brigade soldiers that marched that day -- about 1,500. If you saw it and you were there … it was basically following in their footsteps. It was if people on tour that day -- the people 150 years later -- were the Iron Brigade. It was the same for Pickett’s Charge. The wave of people coming across the field was undeniably the most spectacular thing in the National Park Service. I am covering the great stuff a park is doing.

(Photo courtesy of NPS)

At Chickamauga (above), there were five stations in their timeline program (A Walk Through Time: 1860-1864). The visitor was taken on a trip through time, including the election of 1860, a Confederate recruiter, the civilian story, the lasting effects of the 13^th-15^th amendments, the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT). I thought it was incredible. I am also looking at this from a logistics process, for the park to pull it off, to get all the people bused in.

At Cold Harbor-Richmond, they did a candlelight program. As it got darker there would be interpretive stations, and people would walk from point A to point B. A Confederate or Union soldier would be talking about what was going on at that moment: what those people were doing, thinking and planning. There were two camps and candles. The atmosphere was unlike any other program I have seen. That was one of those spine-chilling things. Shiloh had great programs – the tour of the Hornet’s Nest was also spectacular. 

Q. Tell us a little about online readership and page views during events.

A. It was phenomenal. Take Facebook, for example. Whatever it was in the weeks leading up to the event, on average, during the anniversary, when we were throwing up a ton of content, the average increase was tenfold.

Q. What was it like to cover this many events?

A. In some cases there would an event once a week, but not another for three months. That’s what happened in 1862 -- gaps in campaigns. For the overland campaign, Fredericksburg, Richmond and Petersburg, there was virtually no time off in between. That was the case for a large part of 2014.  Plus you had Kennesaw, Fort Stevens, Monocacy. Though there were no monster battles, it was overwhelming by the sheer number of them going back-to back or on top of each other.

Q. Were there ever any limitations or resource issues?

A. In a couple instances, I wish I had a couple more people. We could have done things to strengthen coverage -- maybe six videos instead of three. Sometimes there are budgetary constrictions and dealing with sequesters. And it was easier to get folks around D.C. and Gettysburg, where travel was not such an issue.

Fort Stevens, Shiloh, Chancellorsville (Photos courtesy of NPS)

Q. Any other singular moments?

A. One came without crowds, when there was an off day at Chickamauga. We went to Chattanooga and got permission to go to the summit of Lookout Mountain when the park was closed. We wanted to get these pictures for advertising purposes for the Battle of Chattanooga in a couple of months. We had multiple cameras and were shooting at various locations. That was one of those days I will never forget. Four of us were up there and we were in awe of the day. There was a spectacular sunrise and footage and camaraderie. Without saying it, we were all saying: “How lucky are we to be here right now?”

Q. What has the sesquicentennial experience been like?

 A. Unprecedented. Everything came to together just at the right time. Once we had covered Manassas in July 2011, the park chiefs and superintendents began to quickly talk about programs for their sites. What always came up was … the work the team was doing for social media and web and video. It was not only great for the moment, but has a lasting legacy that would not have been recorded if the team had not been there. 

Gathering around campfire at Wilderness (Courtesy of NPS)

At Fort McAllister 150th anniv. muster and battle, it's all about the authenticity

Saturday’s re-enactment of the Union’s capture of Fort McAllister near Savannah, Ga., is focused on being true to history – with a little luck and a whole lot of preparation going into the effort.

Because of the way the calendar falls this year, re-enactors will be in action at 5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 13, the exact time, day and date as 150 years ago, when about 3,000 Federals overwhelmed 230 defenders in about 15 minutes.

The victory opened up vital sea supply lines for Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, who then laid siege to nearby Savannah.

Between 280 and 300 registered re-enactors, about 70 portraying Confederates, are coming from all over the country – with nine traveling from Germany – to drill, muster, camp and re-enact at and near of the earthen fortifications, which were restored in the 1930s.

They are so-called hard-core, campaigner and progressive living historians, meaning the projected 1,000-2,000 visitors from Thursday through Sunday will see soldiers dressed very much like the men they will portray.

“This is the biggest event this park has ever had,” said Shirley Rowe, a park ranger at Fort McAllister State Park. “We are very excited about it. We have gone all out to make this as historically authentic as possible.”

“At 6 p.m. Friday, we are turning off all the lights and we are going to be in 1864,” said Clint Stanley, who will portray Confederate garrison commander Maj. George W. Anderson.

For the invitation-only re-enactors, this will be what is termed a semi-immersive event, one in which they will be in character and come as close as possible – short of firing live fire, obviously – to reliving the real thing.

While many events, including skirmishes and the main attack are open to the public, other activities will occur in hours when the state park in Bryan County is closed.

Union soldiers remove ammunition (Library of Congress)

“The fort is one of the rare locations where there are not a lot of modern intrusions, so it is easy to get 'into the moment,’” Herb Coats of the Georgia-based Armory Guards told the Picket. “The park staff and park's friend's group has always been very friendly and gracious with re-enactor volunteers assisting with the (annual) December program.”

The Armory Guard will have personnel portraying each side.

During 1862 and 1863, Fort McAllister, situated on the Ogechee River, repelled seven Union naval attacks by elements of the blockading forces offshore and in nearby Ossabaw Sound, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

But an attack by land would be its undoing. Sherman’s March to the Sea spelled doom for Fort McAllister and, soon after, Savannah.

Brig. Gen. William B. Hazen of the 15^th Corps commanded the attacking Federals, who closed in on three sides. The attack was delayed to nearly dusk because one brigade got lost and mired in the marsh.

Defending the post were elements of the Emmett Rifles, the Clinch Mounted Rifles and other small units.

“The two infantry companies were home guard and militia -- the young men and the old boys who hadn’t been drafted or got out of,” said Stanley. “It was basically overwhelming numbers. Anderson did not think they would attack. He thought it would probably be the next day.”

There were about 200 total casualties for both sides. Attackers had to make their way through obstacles, including torpedoes, or crude land mines.

Following Anderson’s surrender, Sherman landed at the fort by boat and made contact with naval forces in Ossabaw Sound.

Re-enactors often have to portray a Union soldier at one event, or a Confederate at another -- whatever the scenario demands. In the Deep South, it is tough to get a huge number to portray Yankees. But this week’s event is coming closer than most. Federals will outnumber Confederates about 3-1.

The Rebels will camp and drill at the fort, along the earthworks and many spending night in re-created bombproofs. No digging is allowed and re-enactors will take care in protecting the site.

“We will have fires in only certain places, said Stanley, who lives in Ludowici, Ga., and is part of a group called the Widow Makers Mess. “There are fire pits in the battery. Everyone is very conscious of where we are at. There is no climbing on the walls.”

The fort after it fell (Library of Congress)

The Federal contingent will camp outside the fort.

Among the re-enacting units taking part are the 48^th New York based in Florida, the 30^th Ohio, SCAR, Liberty Guards, the 39^th Georgia and 47^th Georgia.

Joe Blunt, of Orlando, Fla., will portray Hazen.

“A lot of fellows are getting psyched up,” he said, given it’s the last major 150^th event in Georgia and marks the end of Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea.

The next big event for many is at Bentonville, in North Carolina, in March 2015.

The three-day commemoration begins Thursday, December 11, as Union re-enactors set up camp at the Richmond Hill Museum a few miles away and answer visitors’ questions about the upcoming battle.

On Friday, about two dozen Federal soldiers will march from the intersection of Highway 144 and Fort McAllister Road to the park, setting up camp when they arrive. The 4-mile march begins about 11 a.m.

“They are going to have their gear and everything. It will be authentic-looking,” said park ranger Rowe.

The site will be available to the public at 9 a.m. Saturday. Throughout the day, visitors can watch skirmishes between Union and Confederate troop as they fire muskets and cannons. Guests can also walk among the earthworks and tour a Civil War museum.

The park will be emptied at 4 p.m. for an hour as staff prepares for the assault re-enactment and breaching of the fort at 5 p.m.

You’d better be there on time. The battle was over in 15 minutes.

Coats said unlike a large-scale event, the site is away from parking, vendors and is in a wooded area. That’s a plus for re-enactors such as he.

“You get close to the time period at the park.”

Admission for the Fort McAllister Winter Muster is $6 per person, with those under 6 free. Visitors also can tour the site’s museum. Call the park at 912-727-2339 for more information. See also this link.