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MULTIMEDIA: Photo/audio slideshow of Fort DelawareAug 3, 2007 — Already sweating in July's heat, Esau Freeman, a freed slave and apprentice blacksmith, pounds away at red-hot steel from his charcoal furnace.
Mary Byrne kneads ingredients for the oatmeal cake she'll offer to the officers.
Sgt. Edmund Bryan shouts orders to his men and a hundred oddly dressed tourists.
Clara Hall scrubs an off-white cotton shirt on a washboard and hangs it to dry.
At Fort Delaware State Park, life drags on as it did in 1864, a year after the Battle of Gettysburg. Most of its Confederate prisoners of war have been dropped at the fort on 75-acre Pea Patch Island in the middle of the Delaware River.
A fort here in Delaware became a necessity after the British threatened Baltimore, Wilmington and Philadelphia during the War of 1812. The first fort burned down in 1831; the second was heavily damaged by floods in 1846.
The current structure was built to defend those cities as well but instead became primarily a Civil War prisoner-of-war camp.
More than 33,000 prisoners marched through the island during the war, with a peak of
The line between today and Fort Delaware's yesterday is purposely blurred in this gem of living history. Cooks, laundresses, blacksmiths, doctors, prisoners and just a few soldiers re-create Fort Delaware as it was 143 years ago. Fort Delaware today isn't a Gettysburg or Antietam Battlefield cannonball-style history class but rather a sketch of ordinary people of the time. More than 1,000 civilians worked at the fort in 1864.
"We're just trying to get through the war," says Daniel Citron in present tense. The lead historical interpreter, Citron has been at the fort for 10 years. "There is a real sense of community here. We have soldiers, prisoners of war and civilians on this tiny island. It's by no means a fun situation."
Citron and the other 18 seasonal and full-time employees and volunteers talk mostly with "hat on," which is tourist code for speaking in 1864-vintage language. If visitors want a present-day question answered - for example, could the fort's guns sink the huge freighter or tanker that is floating past? - they must preface the question with "hats off." Otherwise, the well-trained staffer will answer in 1864 language - "What tanker? I see no boat out there now, but if an enemy ship advanced, we could certainly sink her."
There were plenty of "galvanized Yankees" here, or former Confederate soldiers, who took an oath of allegiance to the Union. At the fort on this day in 1864, "galvanized" Yankee Stephen Mays stabbed Union Army Pvt. Dennis Kinsella. Mays, a Virginian, claimed he killed Kinsella in self-defense. (He was eventually found innocent.) But today, Mays is paraded around the fort's grounds by guards. In shorts, sandals and other apparel that is considered immodest by the soldiers (they might even mention it), modern visitors watch as Mays drags past in leg irons and a large steel ball and chain.
Records and diaries from 1864 play a big part in the day's living history events. That Mays and Kinsella fought July 2 came directly from the fort records. All the re-enactors' names were gleaned from records. Diaries told of escapes, such as the one on July 3 where Confederate officers lashed empty canteens to themselves in an effort to float downriver. One prisoner was discovered alive and still floating 16 miles downstream.
Officially, 52 escapes were attempted, but the actual number is probably much higher, Citron says. And in Delaware City, sympathies ran stronger for the South than the North, prompting escapes.
Present-day civilians travel the half-mile to the fort's docks by ferry from Delaware City and then take a short tram ride to the fort. There is no charge for admission, and visitors can spend all day there or rush through in an hour. Take the ferry to the New Jersey side of the river and visit Fort Mott and the cemetery at Finn's Point, where most of the POWs who died at the fort were buried.
To escape the Civil War, visitors can wander the island's north end in a large nature area, boasting the largest heron rookery in the northern U.S. with 12,000 pairs of herons and glossy ibis. Or walk the island, checking the large tankers and sailboats.
But the stories are inside, such as civilian Esau Freeman creating utensils in his blacksmith shop. Willis Phelps, a 69-year-old former Marine, now plays the part.
Ask Esau for a nail. He might make one while you wait.
DIRECTIONS
From York, it's about a two-hour drive to Delaware City, no matter which route is taken. One of the easiest ways is to take Route 74 south toward Delta to Maryland Route 136 to Route 155 to Interstate 95 (toll). Take Exit 4A and drive seven miles south on state Route 1. Turn left on Wrangle Hill Road and follow the signs to Fort Delaware State Park.
While in the area, take advantage of the Three Fort Ferry ticket to visit Fort Mott in New Jersey, which was built in anticipation of the Spanish American War. Also nearby is Fort Dupont, just a mile south of Delaware City, which housed hundreds of German prisoners of war during World War II.
ON THE WEB
For more details, visit these Web sites:
· http://www.visitthefort.com/index.html
· http://www.destateparks.com/fdsp/index.asp
