Re-enactor talks about war, fort at Fort Laurens

BOLIVAR, Ohio – The third of four military conversations with war re-enactors will be at Fort Laurens State Memorial Sept. 14-15, noon to 5 p.m.

A military re-enactor, dressed in carefully researched uniform including weapons, ammunition and cooking utensils, will be at the fort museum to greet visitors and give an up-close look at life as a frontier soldier during the War for Independence.

Fort Laurens, built in 1778 and abandoned in 1779, was the only Continental Army fort in what is now Ohio.

Built as a supply outpost for an aborted attack on the British at Fort Detroit, the wooden-palisaded fort held more than 200 Pennsylvania and Virginia soldiers and withstood a month-long siege by British-led Indians.

Today, the fort no longer stands, but it has been excavated and the artifacts are displayed inside the museum along with life-like mannequins of soldiers with their weaponry and accouterments.

A 22-minute video outlines the history of the fort. The 21 soldiers who died here are buried in a crypt inside the museum and at the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot on the grounds.

The remaining military conversation will be Oct. 19-20.

Fort Laurens State Memorial, administered by the Ohio Historical Society, is located near Bolivar, Ohio, on Fort Laurens Road (County Road 102), south of Canton. The grounds include a picnic area open to the public.

For more information call 800-283-8914.