Memorial Day Events

There are two upcoming events on Memorial Day weekend that I wanted to get out there, since it is coming up quickly.  One is in Kansas City, and one in St. Louis.  I know, I know, there is a lot more to the state than just those two cities, and I promise, I will be including other areas--I have just been very negligent about blogging this year!

First, at Fort Osage, near Kansas City, there will be a War of 1812 bicentennial event.  But, you may say, 1812 was 20*1* years ago, not 200!  Well, the War of 1812 happened in 1813, 1814, and a wee bit of 1815 also (you know the song!), and this event will be focusing on the 1st Infantry evacuating Fort Osage in 1813. It runs both Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th.  There will be infantry and artillery demonstrations, a ladies tea and fashion show, a display on army swords in 1812, and a wreath laying in the Sibley cemetery (adjoining the fort) where soldiers from both Fort Osage and Fort Atkinson are buried.  

There are going to be two different presenters during the weekend:  

Richard Barbuto, deputy director of the Department of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, will be presenting "1812: Madison's Disastrous War" at 11:00 am on Saturday the 25th. If you are interested in reading more of Mr. Barbuto's work, he is the author of Niagara 1814: America Invades Canada (click on the title for link). 

Don Hickey, Ph.D. (professor at Wayne State College) will be speaking at 2:00 pm on Saturday on "Ten Things You Should Know About the War of 1812 in the West."  He is the author of Don't Give Up The Ship!  Myths of the War of 1812.  

You can find more information about the event at the Fort Osage Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/fortosage.

Also on Saturday the 25th of May, there will be an event commemorating the 1780 British Invasion of St. Louis.  On May 26th, 1780, during the only Revolutionary War battle to happen in Missouri, Indian allies of the British attack the small town of St. Louis, killing French residents and one American visitor.  This event will be at the Arch grounds, which is the site of the original village of St. Louis.  There will be cannon and musket firing demonstrations on the hour.  You can learn more about the attack (and its relation to strawberries!) from an old post on my blog about food history here.  

The official page for the Arch and Old Courthouse is here.  For some reason this event is not listed on the main events page, but I assure you, it will be taking place.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!!