A Fall Muster at Fort Osage.
The Twenty-Eighth annual Fall Muster at Fort Osage will take place October 25th and 26th. This event is executed with historical accuracy and relives events surrounding the prelude to the War of 1812, as Fort Osage hears for the first time war has been declared with Britain.
Event Background: One Company of the 1st U. States Infantry garrisoned the post since September 1808, under the command of Captain Clemson, First Lieutenant Brownson and Ensign Bissell. With the news of the declaration of War arriving in late July of 1812 and the recent news of embarrassing defeats for the U.S. Army, the officers and men are clamoring to get into the fight. Long before the declaration of war against Great Britain, the Missouri Territory was already at war. Indian depredations seem to occur daily.
When the settlers at the Boonslick settlements were ordered to leave by Governor Howard, the Captain of the Militia, Sarshall Cooper replied:
“We have maid our hoams here. All we have is here. It wud ruen us to leave now. We be all good americans, not a tory or one of his pups among us. We have 2 hundred men and boys that will fight to the las and we have 100 wimen & girls…Makes a good force. So we can defend this settlement with God’s help we will do so. If we had a few barls of powder and 2 hundred lead is all we ask.”
Throughout the summer and early fall of 1812, Ranger companies were forming and the Militia were called out to drill, build fortifications and serve on keelboats as guard escorts.
Fort Osage is the Western most out-post in the United States. Men are enlisting in the regulars or enrolled into the militia. There is gnawing concern over the defense of the frontier. In the wide open space of the western territories, militia and rangers were serving side by side with the regulars. Captain Clemson again finds himself tasked with inspecting and training Militia and Rangers at Fort Osage. Clemson would also serve as General Howard’s Inspector general during the Peoria Indian Campaign of 1813. Fort Clemson was built by Missouri Rangers and mounted militia in late 1813 and named for the regular Army officer who gained admiration for the pluck of the rangers and the militia during the campaign against the Pottawatomie’s at Peoria.
EVENT SCHEDULE:
Saturday October 25
09:00 Troop Parade Guard Mount
10:00 Medicine on the Frontier – Blockhouse 1
11:00 Infantry Drill
12:00 Roll Call
13:00 Artillery Drill
14:00 Ladies Tea – Sibley’s Dining Room
15:00 Blockhouse Defense
16:00 Retreat Parade & Evening gun
Sunday October 26
09:00 Troop Parade Guard Mount
10:00 Church Call
11:00 Inspection & Mail Call
12:00 Roll Call
13:00 Artillery Drill
14:00 Infantry Drill
15:00 Retreat Parade & Evening gun
For more information on this event, please visit the website of the recreated Clemson’s Company of the 1st U. States Infantry at www.1stusinfantry.com or by contacting Fort Osage.