Fort Fredrick Tour

It was a crisp fall morning in the Fort Fredrick campground. I was awakened to an early morning train coming through the valley. The sun was already lighting up the fall trees. I was cozy in my sleeping bag and laid there breathing in the cool air listening to the doppler effect of the train. Fifteen minutes pasted and I heard some children laughing and running a few sites away. It was time to get my day started.

It took me an hour and a half to make oatmeal, breakdown everything, and repack the car for my next trip. I pondered taking a bike ride or a hike up the C&O trail that runs through the part, but first I would take some photographs of the pond and the fort.

The pond was absolutely still, and cast reflections like a mirror. I took a lot of photos but didn’t capture anything that I hadn’t seen in dozens of other ponds like this one. It was nice to watch the reflections of birds, trees, and the sky in this placid body of water. The sun, where I sat beside a tree, warmed my bones. It was pleasant sitting there. I closed my eyes and absorbed the moment.

Fort Fredrick was a short distance away within the park and I stopped to take a wide angle photo. I had missed the early morning sun hitting the side of the fort with orange, pink and red colors.

Fort Fredrick

There were only a few people to be seen. One car was parked in the parking lot near the park store and visitor’s center. As I finished taking a few shots, I saw a woman get out of the passenger’s side of the car and then proceed to setoff the car alarm. A few minutes later, her husband came running out of the fort to silence the alarm. She was upset and said, “I’m tired of sitting in this car, I want to go.” He went back towards the fort and their son was coming out. The father told him they needed to go. The boy was clearly disappointed.

I went to the shop, which had so many books related to Fort Fredrick. There was an end of season sale going on and I bought tent stakes for less than 50% of what I’ve seen in outdoors shops. The cashier woman was wearing halloween themed clothing and had bright red lipstick on. I inquired about the books and she said the real experts were inside the fort. I later learned from them that they had read almost all the books. She also told me there was no charge for parking if I had my campsite pass displayed. I purchased a book on the French and Indian War.

Entrance to the fort was free. Two employees were standing outside the gate complaining about something on the job. I stopped to take a photo of the entrance and continued inside. To my left were two guys preparing a meal. I listened to them discuss between themselves some history of the food that the men would have taken into the battlefield. They both were sharing what they had recently read about food in that period. One was cutting cured pork meat. I asked if I could try a bite, which was very stringy, fatty, and salty. The other guy was seated on the bricks near the fire cooking this bacon like meat. Once the meat was cooked, they added it to the flour in a large ceramic bowl with water to make a dough. The dough was then cooked in the grease.

Fort Frederick

There is a lengthy history associated with this fort that spans centuries. The fort is the centerpiece of Fort Frederick State Park. It served as Maryland’s main frontier defense during the French and Indian War. I realized that I had very little knowledge of this period in North American history.

The fort was originally built by the English to support their positions in North America. During the French and Indian war, there were no battles fought at the fort. The fort was used mainly as a staging point further east. As one person at the fort explained, every thing face that direction (East) was known and very little was known of that direction (West), the wilderness).

During the revolutionary war, the fort became a prison for captured British soldiers. I learned that the prisoner worked at the fort just like everyone else. As long as they didn’t cause problems, they were treated fairly, provided food and bedding. Everyone had to pitch in to make it through each day. I’ve also read that thousands of British soldiers were imprisoned here. I’m not sure how to reconcile the two stories.

During the civil war, Union soldier occupied the fort and at one point supposedly knocked a hole in the south wall to fire cannon shot again the confederates on the other side of the Potomac river.

There were three buildings inside the fort. The East and West barracks buildings were two stories each which was unusual for most forts and the Governor’s House. The Governor’s House was the site of Cherokee Indian’s agreement to support the Maryland colony in their fight against the French and their Indian allies.

I toured the barracks and took far too many photos. There were very few visitors and I took advantage to walk into the closed displays.

The fort had been reconstructed for its 250 year anniversary.

Williams Family

I was fascinated by the fact that the fort was owned from 1860 through 1911 by a free African-American family (The Nathan Williams family). Nathan’s father purchased his freedom in 1826 and around 1847 Nathan purchased his wife Ammy’s freedom. They created a successful farm on the site. Nathan served as a trustee of the “Fort Frederick Colored School” and two of his children taught there. Nathan traded with the confederates during the civil war and when he returned to the north, he would provide information to the union soldiers (a spy).

Daily Reenactment

After touring all the buildings, I returned to the area where the food was being cooked. They had just finished making the biscuits and they offered me one to taste. It was oily on the outside but perfectly cooked. It was very savory tasting with no after taste. I commented on the amount of fat in the biscuit and wondered out loud if they had heart issues during this time period. A discussion ensued amongst the five staff that where there. They said that people didn’t generally live as long in that period and that people worked all day burning off the fat they ate. People did die of heart attacks but the awareness of it wasn’t like it is today.

Patrick McGuire

One of the participants seemed to be extremely well informed about everything history. I had been talking to him off and on for a couple of hours. I learned that he has a very successful podcast called “The History of Things”. Patrick is a heavy metal musician as well. His step father was the bassist for Three Dog Night (one of my favorites in the 70’s). He’s also is a nail driver if he needs to be.

What I liked about talking to Patrick was that when you look at him, the last thing you think is historian and he is extremely well informed and can bring a topic to life. He told me he loves this job, that of role playing a fictitious character from some historical period. He has the Irish gift of gab.

I’m now hooked on the podcast. It’s a great way to get informed about history while I drive. The guests on the show are equally well informed and speak passionately about their topics.

Hood College in Fredrick

I stopped at Starbuck’s in Fredrick for a coffee and to use the Internet. I spent an hour there and wondered if there was a library open later in the area. I discovered Hood College had a library that was open until midnight.

I found parking on the street a block from the library. I walked in past the front desk as if I belonged. No one commented, I’m sure I look like a professor, and I headed to the back where there was open study space and charging stations.

I spent hours here doing various things online. It was a Sunday and very quiet. It was raining and all the lights on campus were reflecting off the streets creating a relaxing mood.

Walmart Fredrick

I left Hood College and headed for the local Walmart which was already closed. This Walmart was in a quiet part of town and when I arrived, there were many other people in trucks, campers and cars. I removed the cooler and water from the back of the car and moved a box of food items to the front seat.

I rolled out my Hest Sleep System and put privacy screens in most of the windows to block the light and settled into a comfortable sleep. It was warmer tonight and the streets were absolutely quiet.