Civil War Weekend - Fort Ward

This Summer we're taking advantage of our current location,

by doing a Civil War unit with our children.

Our first field trip was to a park only a few miles from our home-

Ft. Ward park has a museum and preserved trenches from

the Civil War, when it was manned as a defense of the Nation's Capital.

While no battle was fought there, they do yearly "reenactment days"

where local groups come together to share their knowledge.

This man explained Civil War artillery.

The kids got to hold & examine all kinds of period ball & shot.

Ft Ward was flat, so they had to design & build their own defenses.

These include artillery storage built right into the hillsides.

We met the Field surgeon-

He was a wealth of knowledge, and had a very interactive set up.

He explained the false idea of "biting the bullet",

the real reason there were so many amputations,

and how medicinal knowledge of the time (or lack thereof)

played a huge role in the massive loss of live during the Civil War.

Here is his authentic Civil War era prosthetic leg - 

or as he termed it, his "Pride and Joy".

He explained the medications given out for pain, 

and other ailments, and how, again because of the lack

of knowledge, they caused alcoholism, madness,

and even death over a long period of use.

There were only Union Soldiers practicing, 

since the confederacy never attempted a fight at Fort Ward. 

There was a group representing the Black members of the Union Army.

They spoke the most patriotic words, 

and even got misty eyed when they spoke of the chance these men had

to fight for a cause the they believed so much in.

I was happy that they answered questions that our children had 

about why the Confederacy did not allow blacks to fight in their army.

They also touched on the idea of slavery, 

and had many good ideas for books and movies we could watch to learn more.

I was happy that there were many women represented as well-

They showed off their period clothing,

talked about what women would have been doing during the war,

and showed examples of the types of skills that women 

typically developed during the Civil War era.

(knitting, quilting, weaving. etc...)

Here we saw the typical tent and gear used by Union Soldiers

Caleb got to try it all on!

What a cutie ^_^

We ended our tour with another exciting display.

They had a real Civil War Era Telegraph machine.

This gentleman is 93 years old, nearly 94.  

He was a telegrapher for the railroad from the time he was 17.

He and his partner explained the importance of the telegraph to the war.

They showed how the machine worked, 

and explained how they would have used different cans 

to differentiate the sound of the machines if more than one was at a location.

The amount of skill required to send & receive information is astounding.

I am so thankful for the people who are involved in maintaining 

our country's history through reenactment groups.

There is really no better way for our children to learn, 

than by hands on, visual display, 

and insightful words from such knowledgable folks.  

We are so looking forward to learning even more 

as we study and visit other sites this Summer.