One of the best ways to enjoy and appreciate American history is to participate in re-enactments that involve live history drama. That means one dresses the part and talks the part of people from the past. Bruce and Sheila Tucker, Stan Folsom and his son-in-law Stephen Chadwick did just that recently.

Fort Clinch, located at Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, in Florida, was having a “Living History” in which re-enactors were invited to participate. Folsom, Chadwick and Bruce Tucker re-enacted as a surveying unit for the fort. Folsom is a certified surveyor, so he was able to bring his surveying equipment to use throughout the weekend. This weekend the Union Army was occupying Fort Clinch.

Sheila Tucker portrayed Mrs. Garrison, the lady who washed the soldiers’ uniforms. The washwoman was under contract with the Union Army. She would be paid one gold coin for each officer and soldier that she washed for. 

Mrs. Garrison worked hard and could clean clothes for about a total of $26 per month, which was more than what some of the soldiers were being paid. She was escorted by a Union soldier to the fort and escorted back to her home, which was in the local town. Women were not allowed in the fort, unless they were working with the laundry or at the sutler’s store where soldiers could purchase items not furnished by the federal government, such as tobacco. Garrison would arrive one hour after sunrise and leave one hour before sunset. She was always escorted by a soldier.

Fort Clinch was named for Gen. Duncan Lamont Clinch in honor of his service to his country. Born in 1787, he died in 1849 and was a hero of the Seminole War and a congressman from Georgia. 

Construction for Fort Clinch began in 1847. The fort, shaped like an irregular pentagon, has five tower bastions. It was built of masonry and stone with a two-wall system of brick and earth. The fort was designed to garrison 500 soldiers and 78 pieces of artillery. By 1860, only two-thirds of the walls were completed and not one cannon had yet been mounted. The guard rooms, prison, lumber sheds and carpentry shops were completed. The storehouse and kitchens were not yet finished.

The Confederate forces were able to take over Fort Clinch at the beginning of the War Between the States. Rather than continuing construction on the fort, the Confederate Army set up batteries in Fernandina and at strategic locations on Amelia and Cumberland islands. Because of Federal forces coming along several islands around South Carolina and the Georgia coastal islands, Gen. Robert E. Lee authorized the Confederate forces to withdraw from Fort Clinch in 1862. The Confederacy only occupied the fort for 11 months.

In 1935, the state bought Fort Clinch and the surrounding property in order to preserve it and provide outdoor recreational opportunities. Fort Clinch is one of Florida’s first eight state parks.

While the Tuckers, Folsom and Chadwick were re-enacting at the fort, they thoroughly enjoyed meeting visitors who were interesting people from other parts of the United States, as well as from other countries such as Canada, Germany, Italy, England and Spain.

Bruce Tucker, Folsom and Chadwick are re-enacting members of the 61st Georgia Infantry, C.S.A. One of the park rangers at Fort Clinch, Andy Smith, is also a member of the 61st Georgia Inf., C.S.A. Sheila Tucker is a member of John B. Gordon Chapter 383 United Daughters of the Confederacy.