From Columbia Daily Tribune: Revolutionary War fort takes visitors back to nation’s turbulent early years
Visitors to Fort Mackinac on Michigan’s Mackinac Island will find themselves in a stonewalled fort that has been restored to what it looked like during its final years of occupation by the U.S. Army.
The British took over Mackinac Island from the French after winning the Seven Years War in 1761. The British built Fort Mackinac during the American Revolution because they feared they could not defend Fort Michilimackinac on the mainland. The United States gained control of Fort Mackinac after the war, lost it again during the War of 1812 and then in the peace negotiation got it back. An important Great Lakes border post, it helped protect the fur trade and promote friendly alliances with the American Indians. The military actively maintained the fort until 1895.
We first saw a re-enactment of a court martial in which one officer served as both the prosecuting and defending official, just as he would have in 1880. Because his wife had needed firewood, the soldier disobeyed an order to stay indoors to recuperate from a medical problem. Before the verdict was announced, the audience was asked for its verdict, which turned out to be more forgiving than the actual one.
Next, we watched a re-enactment of the marching practice that took place at 4 p.m. every day. The audience of 60 men, women and children was put on the field and given basic instruction to right face, left face, forward march, etc. Although we all earnestly tried our best, we were somewhat miserable-looking.
This was followed by a demonstration of battle attack methods using what was then the new breech-loading Springfield 45-70 trapdoor rifle using real metallic cartridges. The final demonstration was cannon-firing.
Next came a tour of the fort, which highlighted the lifestyle of the soldiers stationed there. It was a dull life, with many arrests because of troops going AWOL, fighting and other minor infractions growing out of men not having much to do.
A woman took a group of families on a tour of what family life was like in the military at that time. The officers could have their wives and children with them.
For enlisted men, conditions were crowded and stark. In the years after the Civil War, officers were paid between $1,400 and $2,500 a year, compared to the enlisted men’s pay of $156 to $408 a year.
The small hospital had an interesting display of four mannequins, dressed as patients, in bed with a 3-D projection of a physician dressed in the uniform of the time commenting on each of them and how they were to be treated. After each of his discussions, a modern physician appeared and explained how the disorder would have been treated today.
Displays on the second floor of the enlisted men’s building were devoted to a history of the island, starting with relations with the American Indians, military operations, fur trade operations and today’s tourism business.
