Civil War Saturday at the Battlefield

Join us at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site’s Navy Yard on Saturday, Aug 9, from 10 am to 3 pm, for “Civil War Saturday,” when the past comes alive for this special living history day.

For this event (weather permitting), volunteer living history presenters will offer stories of the US Army and Navy during the war years. Those representing the US Army will share what it was like for the Union troops on land, and those representing the US Navy will discuss life on board a ship.

Like many people at that time, loyalties were strained. US Commandant Josiah Tattnall (1795-1871) was stationed at the Sackets Harbor Navy Yard with his family. Although he was nearing retirement, Commandant Tattnall decided to leave his post in Sackets Harbor in 1861 and start a new military journey serving in the Confederate States Army (CSA) for his native state of Georgia. Today, attendees can tour the historic site’s Commandant’s House, restored to how the family left it in the early 1860s, and learn more about how they lived while here and what became of the family during and after the war.

This series is organized and sponsored by the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. For more information on the Battlefield’s Summer Series schedule, please visit our 1812 Living History page. And for more information on this event, or any in the series, please contact the Battlefield at 315-646-3634 or visit the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site website.