Sunday, September 25, 2016

Fort Mill History Days Military Displays


On the afternoon of Saturday, September 24th, following my morning visit to the 2016 Piedmont Pottery Festival at Historic Brattonsville, I traveled north to attend Fort Mill History Days at Walter Y. Elisha Park in downtown Fort Mill, SC. 

Sponsored by the Fort Mill History Museum, the event included an outstanding military timeline impression that included artifacts, actual weapons, and re-enactors in period military uniforms from the American Revolutionary War to the present.  




One of the best displays at the event included a scale replica of the Confederate submarine HL Hunley, the first human powered war sub to successfully sink an enemy warship in battle. 

This display was sponsored by the HL Hunley Camp #143 Sons of Confederate Veterans from Summerville, SC and included the display model with eight kepi caps in honor of the crew of the Hunley who perished on their last voyage on February 17, 1864 in Charleston harbor. Also included was information about how the Hunley worked and biographical information about those brave men who crewed it. 



Another personal favorite of mine was the Chester Cannon on display courtesy of the Chester County Historical Society. Y'all might recall my story about the interesting history of this particular cannon HERE. The cannon - a 6 pound Parrott Gun manufactured by the Confederacy during the war - was buried in Chester, SC at the end of the War to keep it from falling into Federal hands. This cannon and three others were rediscovered in 1986 and restored. Two are on display in downtown Chester, one at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, and one restored to perfect working order.



Overall a very educational program of events and presentations. It was really neat to see all those artifacts on display and hear the stories from re-enactors about the people they portrayed and their service in America's armed forces over the last 240 years. 

Once again I hope y'all enjoyed this photo presentation.