For the Locals: Muster on the Trace

Here is a cool free event to take the kids on Saturday or Sunday! It is a reenactment of a call to arms just before the War of 1812 and is sponsored by the National Park Services. The event takes place 12 miles west of Columbia, TN at the Gordon House Historical Site. Here is a short clip on the event and the information:

Muster on the Trace: Prelude to the War of 1812

Saturday, May 26, 9:00 am-5:00 pm and Sunday, May 27, 9:00 am-1:30 pm

Gordon House Historic Site (milepost 407.7)

This event, the first in a multi-year series of programs to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, will be a reenactment of a muster day--a day when both regular and militia troops came together to train. It will be held at the Gordon House Historic Site (milepost 407.7 on the Natchez Trace Parkway), approximately 12 miles west of Columbia, Tennessee.

Over 150 reenactors will be on hand to recreate the atmosphere, with military drills, historical weapons demonstrations, historical political debates, military and civilian living history camps, and sutlers. While there, you may "enlist" in either the militia or regular army, visit a Chickasaw camp, and enjoy the music of the time. Then visit a representation of tavern of the era, where men would typically gather to get news and discuss politics, or purchase period goods from a sutler. Watch an 1800s sawyer, blacksmith, and engineer as they plan to improve the Natchez Trace, and hear how Gordon's ferry was operated. Children may be surprised to see people their age with the army--there will be two units of fife & drum corps, who could be children as young as ten.

In addition to the ongoing activities, there will be special events each day.

Saturday, May 26 program schedule:

9:00 Site and parking open
10:00 Opening Ceremony
11:30 Special Lecture: Jim Parker. "Borderland Background: An Overview of Emotions and Conditions Along the Gulf Borderlands."
12:00 1812 Music Concert, Lewis and Clark Fife & Drum Corps, 7th USI Field Music
12:30 Special Lecture: Clay Williams and Mike Bunn. "The Smoldering Tinderbox: Prelude to the Creek War and the War of 1812"
1:00 Period Comical Play: "The Blue Devils"
1:30 Special Lecture: Dr. Tom Kanon. "Indian/Settler Tensions on the Tennessee Frontier: The Martha Crawley Incident of 1812"
3:00 Historical Political Debates
4:00 Mustering of the Troops

Sunday, May 27 program schedule:

9:00 Site and parking open
10:30 Camp Meeting (period church service)
11:15 Lunch on the Lawn
1:00 Closing Ceremony

To print an event schedule, click here.

The event is free to the public, and is sponsored by the National Park Service, the 7th US Infantry Living History Association, the Natchez Trace Parkway Association, and the Tennessee War of 1812 Bicentennial Committee. For more information, please contact the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center at 1-800-305-7417, or visit a partner website:

7th US Living History Association (see a commercial for the event here)

Natchez Trace Parkway Association

Tennessee War of 1812 Bicentennial Committee