While the siege of Ft. Mifflin re-enactment is the largest and most famous at Fort Mifflin, other re-enactments occur regularly here. The Historic Soldiers weekend (that Mama Blaster went to) usually occurs in September, but can move around. Check the Fort's website for more specific dates and other historic reenactment events -- they do them frequently.
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The Historic Soldiers Weekend event draws reenactors from all military eras and countries to Ft. Mifflin. It's fun to talk to these re-enactors from so many different eras, but it can be tough to keep the centuries and conflicts straight!
The Fort's marquee event (of course) centers around its own beseigement during the American Revolution. That annual re-enactment of the British Army's 1777 siege of Fort Mifflin PA is held on the weekend nearest the siege's anniversary dates of 10-15 Nov. It draws re-enactors nationwide for a weekend of history and fun.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer's article about the 2011 Reenactment:
"Reenactors commemorate 234th anniversary of Siege of Fort Mifflin
November 14, 2011 | By Linda Loyd, Inquirer Staff Writer
As blasts from dozens of muskets filled the air, the British army seized control of the American garrison at Fort Mifflin a little before 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon.
It was the final battle in a two-day commemoration marking the 234th anniversary of the siege and bombardment of Fort Mifflin, an often-neglected chapter in American history.
The British pounded Fort Mifflin by ship and land for six days in November 1777, and the Continental Army ultimately lost the fight but won valuable time for the colonists by delaying British ships carrying much-needed supplies. And it gave commander-in-chief George Washington the time he needed to establish winter quarters at Valley Forge.
As many as 700 students and history buffs came this weekend to learn about the battle and watch 200 reenactors relive scenes from the heaviest naval bombardment of the Revolutionary War.
"It's really loud!" third-grader Lauren Karpyn, 7, said, adding that an ancestor, Gen. Nathaniel Greene, had fought for the Continental Army.
"It's a great story, a fabulous historical site," said her father, Michael Karpyn, a history teacher at Marple Newtown High School.
Karpyn, who visited Fort Mifflin himself as a child, worked as a summer intern there while in college. "I love this place," he said. "It's off the beaten path, but it's a great educational experience for kids."
These days, airplanes, not cannonballs, fly over Mud Island Fort, as it was originally known, situated in the shadow of Philadelphia International Airport.
"As the planes fly over - and some of them do get rather close - don't think of it as a jet," reenactor Ed Kane, a captain in the Pennsylvania State Regiment, advised the crowd. "Close your eyes. Go back to that time. It's the whistling of 1,000 cannonballs coming over your head."
Added Kane: "Nov. 10, 1777. 7 a.m. Here's a wake-up call for you: 1,000 cannonballs coming at you every 20 minutes from sunrise to sunset."
After the siege ended on Nov. 15, the American soldiers evacuated the fort but did not surrender. Forty volunteers remained to set fire to everything but the flagpole. The colors were left flying." [end of article]