War of 1812 Drill and Training Event Kicks Off Fort Ontario Reenactment Campaign

April 29, 2022

OSWEGO – The 2022 reenactment campaign at For Ontario State Historic Site will kick off next month when American soldiers descend on the shores of Lake Ontario to protect the fort from British attackers in a War of 1812 drill and training event. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 7 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 8. Attendees will be charged regular admission to enter Fort Ontario.

“Being the first event of the season, the Fort Ontario living history event is focused on training new recruits and allowing older soldiers to sharpen their skills for a summer of campaigning after a winter in barracks,” said Fort Ontario State Historic Site Manager Paul Lear, who added “weather permitting, gunboats are set to tack back and forth across the harbor while newly enlisted landsmen learn the ropes from experienced tars.”

Reenactors participating in the living history event will represent the U.S. Marines, Navy sailors, artillery, New York State Militia, and civilians in the War of 1812. Specific times for marching and demonstrations have not been scheduled due to the nature of the event as a training session, but spectators are welcome to attend.

Lear said visitors are invited to ask questions of reenactors as they observe the military activities, living history demonstrations, and displays of original and reproduced uniforms, clothing, weapons, tools, and equipment from the 19th century war.

Musical group Liaison’s Plaisantes will delight visitors with their acclaimed music from the late 18th and early 19th century early American republic. Games and toys such as stilts, bat and trap, cat and mouse, and hoops will be offered for children. Paul Supley, interpreting a physician-surgeon, will display and talk about health care and medical procedures of the time.

Guests are encouraged to bring an old-fashioned picnic lunch to enjoy on the ramparts or barracks porch while observing the activities below. The museum shop will be open, offering souvenirs, books, t-shirts, postcards, and other items, in addition to bottled water, to benefit Friends of Fort Ontario and programming at the fort.

For more information on Fort Ontario, or the reenactment event, contact Paul Lear at 315-343-4711. Fort Ontario State Historic Site is located at the north end of East Fourth Street in the city of Oswego.

Historical Background:

The War of 1812 officially started June 18, 1812 – less than three decades after the end of the American Revolution – when the United States declared war on Great Britain. The U.S. cited impressment of American merchant sailors, British attempts to restrict trade and westward expansion as grievances against the British.

Lake Ontario was a major strategic enclave during the War of 1812, with Oswego and nearby Sackets Harbor playing key roles in the conflict. Both sides competed in a shipbuilding race with neither naval commander willing to risk a climactic all-or-nothing battle such as those which occurred on Lakes Erie and Champlain.

During the war, Oswego served as a vital trans-shipment point for naval supplies and stores destined for ship construction at Sackets Harbor. Supplies and men for the Navy – and for Army campaigns on the Niagara Frontier and St. Lawrence River – moved along the Hudson-Mohawk-Oneida-Oswego rivers water route from New York City to Oswego. 

The War of 1812 ended with the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, with neither side gaining an advantage. Despite narrowly escaping defeat, many Americans celebrated the War of 1812 as a “second war of independence,” and the war marked the beginning of an era of partisan agreement and national pride.