Going further back in time . . . Fort Morris Historic Site

In Colonial America, there was a town in Coastal Georgia known as Sunbury.  It was a bustling shipping port, as large and prosperous as Savannah and Charleston, at the mouth of the Medway River.

When the Continental Congress convened in 1776, the delegates recognized the importance of a fort to protect their growing seaport from the British. Soon afterwards, a low bluff on the Medway River at Sunbury was fortified and garrisoned by 200 patriots. When the British demanded the fort’s surrender on November 25, 1778, the defiant Col. John McIntosh replied, “Come and take it!” The British refused and withdrew back to Florida. Forty-five days later, they returned with a superior force, and on January 9, 1779, Fort Morris fell after a short but heavy bombardment.

Every November, the "Come and Take it!" reenactment is a major event at Fort Morris Historic Site. Even though Tom and I had decided to stay at Fort McAllister for the duration of our volunteering assignment, we went over to Fort Morris to help with the event.

I was in the Museum/Visitor Center for pretty much the whole day, but I was able to step outside to get some pictures a few times.

The day started with colors and a wreath-laying ceremony by the "Sons of the American Revolution" group.

 There was a large Boy Scout Troop participating in the ceremony, and between their families and the "Sons of the American Revolution" group, we had a pretty big crowd.









The rest of the day consisted of colonial demonstrations --

cooking,

medicine,

surveying,

and music.

Tom sampled some of the stew that was cooking in one of these pumpkins, and he said it was pretty good.

He was looking forward to sampling some of the apple raisin cobbler that was cooing in the other one, but unfortunately when they took it off the fire, it got dropped and the contents all spilled on the ground.  I guess that's a hazard when cooking in a pumpkin!  We did get to try some cinnamon bread that they cooked over the fire, and it was delicious!

In addition to the demonstrations, George and Martha Washington were on hand to talk to the visitors.

There was supposed to be a reenactment of the battle between the British and the Colonists, but there weren't enough soldiers for a real battle.  We had to be satisfied with several cannon firings by the Colonists and artillery demonstrations by the British.

Arthur covered the Visitor Center/Museum for me so I could go out to watch one of the demonstrations.

First the Colonists stood for inspection,

then they prepared the cannon,

ready the weapon (cover your ears),

and Fire!

Then it was time for the British to show their stuff.

They talked about their uniforms and their weapons,

and then it was time for a firing demonstration.

Ready, Aim,

Fire!

So, that was another fun day learning some more history about coastal Georgia!