Fort Frederick 18th ce Market Fair 2013

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duelist1954

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The Fort Frederick 18th Century Market Fair is one of the biggest reenacting/living history events of its kind in the eastern U.S.. Last week I was camping at the 2013 version of the event and I'd like to share some of the goings on in a short series of videos. In this episode I'll give you the general tenor of the event by showing you the campgrounds and the vendors at the Market Fair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggEvtyMp9Zg
 
I stumbled across the fort while out for a Sunday drive back in 1981. That fort and block house are so impressive. I have also been to Ft Erie and Ft Frederick is a bit more impressive as structures go. Few Americans know much about either fort.

Last time I was there, a candle light colonial wedding was held in the fort. If ya gotta be shackled, that is the way.
 
Been going there for years. (I once participated in 18th century reenactments there.) I was there again last weekend.

Among the vendors, there were lots well-made flintlock long rifles available in the $1,200 - $1,500 range. Also the components with which to assemble them. There were few military muskets, or flintlock handguns. The highlight, to me, was a double-barrelled flint shotgun, with full inlays and engraving. (Newly made.) Asking price was $11,500. A little too rich for my blood.

The Market Fair is a really good place to find handcrafted pottery, weaving, woodworking, blacksmithing, etc., made in the 18th century style. Most prices were reasonable.

Something that has always bothered me about Ft. Frederick is that, as it was restored in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps, it's impossible to be "fought." That is, there are no parapets or firing steps on the inside. The Fort is a square with bastions at each of the corners, and a single gate, with two wooden barracks flanking the parade ground inside. But the outer walls are sheer stone walls about 20-25 feet high. No place for troops to stand to fire over them. (There should at least be a wooden catwalk for this purpose; ideally the bastions should be filled in to provide platforms for artillery.) (It's true that when the Fort was used as a prison camp for Confederate prisoners during the Civil War, the firing platforms would have been on the outside.)
 
Very nice!

Being a Civil War reenactor myself, I appreciate your enthusiasm for the event and your appreciation of history and thank you for sharing it with us! We have a great 1812 event that happens every year here in Indiana at the Mississinewa river, outside Marion, next to the actual battleground. It's well attended too and always popular. It's neat to see something different from the Civil War period, especially for me, and I always try to attend. Also, for 18th Century like what you are showing, there is an event in Lafayette every year called "The Feast of the Hunter's Moon". It's next to the old French Fort Ouiatenon on the Wabash River. They portray the fall trading events that would happen between the native Americans and the French Traders every year. Good stuff!! In the same way as yours there are craftsmen, sutlers, traders, soldiers, civillians, etc. etc. etc. It's quite a large event too, as big or even bigger than your event.

I look forward to your next installment!
 
I haven't been to Ft Frederick in about 15 years. It was a much, much larger event as I recall. But like all things interests shift, time gets more precious, fuel prices rise, and as of late, money gets tight.

Having flocks, herds and packs of critters cuts down on travel capacity.
 
I have my deck festooned with wet canvas right now

Yeah, I have to put up all my canvas later today to dry.

there are no parapets or firing steps on the inside. The Fort is a square with bastions at each of the corners, and a single gate, with two wooden barracks flanking the parade ground inside. But the outer walls are sheer stone walls about 20-25 feet high. No place for troops to stand to fire over them.

Actually, they now have a small platform and stairs to allow folks to see what the view of a soldier on the wall would've been. The bastions would normally have been filled with dirt to allow guns to be run up and emplaced, but the park service thought that even if the inner openings were closed off to the public (can't have little Johnny falling off the wall to his doom) the pressure of the earth, especially when it rained hard, would place to much unnecessary wear on the walls.

I have also been told that the fort would have had a wooden wall set away from the stone walls about 10 yards, as an additional barrier to attack. I'm not sure how true that is.

One of the two barracks has been converted over to a museum and the other left as a barracks so the visitors can get a much better idea of how the fort was used.

LD
 
I've got a book somewhere about colonial forts during that period. Some were very impressive, with multiple layers of defenses to provide for sweeping cannon, wall gun and musket fire. This one looks to have been a little bit less built up, apparently intended to repel small groups rather than stop a full European force. Even so, it would have been a very important piece of territory. The forts defined territorial occupation back then even more than settlements, and were the focus of warfare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Frederick_State_Park
 
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