Annual Civil War Reenactment Weekend 2024 at Fort Tribute

MADRID – The fourth annual Civil War Weekend at Fort Tribute will be held Saturday, July 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and continues through Sunday, July 28, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fort Tribute on the grounds of the St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum, 1755 State Highway 345.

Highlights of the event include visits to Union and Confederate camps, historical demonstrations such as period cooking (common soldier’s food) and women’s fashions from the 1860s. New this year is a historical play performed by Derek Maxfield as General US Grant and Tracy Ford as General WT Sherman.

There will also be music and book readings, as well as artillery fire demonstrations and a children’s muster, which will demonstrate how members of a military unit formally assemble, especially for an inspection.

Live battle reenactments take place on Saturdays at 4pm and Sundays at 1pm. The culture and lessons of reenactments help us understand the sights, smells and sounds of history.

Balladeer Linda Russell will entertain the “civilians” and soldiers with “The New York Volunteer: Songs and Stories of the Civil War.” Russell accompanies herself on dulcimers, guitar and tin whistle.

Other attractions at SLPEM include a one-room schoolhouse and 19th-century log cabin, carriage barn, historic textile building, shingle factory, blacksmith shop, farmhouse and more.

Built in 2019, Fort Tribute is a Civil War-era historical interpretive center on the grounds of the St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum in Madrid. It also houses the only Civil War memorial honoring Congressional Medal of Honor recipients from St. Lawrence County who fought in the war of 1861-1865.

For more information about the fort, visit the forttribute Facebook page or visit the website www.forttribute.org or slpowermuseum.com.