Richmond Hill and Ft. McAllister

By Sam Burnham
​@C_SamBurnham

During the Summer Road Trip Ft. McAllister State Historic Park served as our base of operations. Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites has a spacious campground and some beautiful cottages built along the coastal salt marshes in the park. The accommodations are affordable and comfortable as well as convenient to the sites we visited on out trip. We drove to each site from this location with the exception of Milledgeville, which we visited on our way to the coast.

Let me take a minute at this point to say that the people we encountered in Richmond Hill were as friendly as any we've met in Georgia. The park staff, people in stores, everyone we encountered were just good friendly folks. We definitely recommend dinner at Fish Tales on Ft. McAllister Rd. The restaurant sits right on the beautiful Ogeechee River, the food is good, the atmosphere great, and the bartender was wearing overalls and a bow tie.

The Ogeechee River winds through this area. It is a sight you have to see for yourself to completely appreciate. At Seven Mile Bend the river is wide and deep. The current appears to be slow. The fishing in the area is good and the sunsets are a work of natural art. Even if we weren't at the fort at sundown, I'd make the short trip up to the pier to watch. The sunset alone is worth the small fee to use the park. 

A glorious Seven Mile Bend sunset

Getting the 1860's Team Organized

Ft. McAllister is not a new site for us. We've been there a couple of times, including a Christmas road trip this past December. The Winter Muster is a great program surrounding the anniversary of the fort's capture that also ties in period Christmas traditions.

But this was their Independence Day celebration. There were fort tours, rifle and artillery demonstrations, a little music, and, appropriately, baseball.

Baseball in the 1860's was a bit different than baseball today. I'm not talking Field of Dreams and Shoeless Joe different. I mean different.

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The sport evolved out of cricket and similar sports. The reports that Union officer Abner Doubleday invented baseball are likely erroneous. It is believed he enjoyed the sport, played a lot, and likely encouraged his men to play in their downtime. But the origins of the sport predate the war. Evolving from stickball and townball, the sport entertained soldiers in both armies.
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At the appointed time, the living historians dropped their heavy coats, kicked off their brogans, rolled up their sleeves and pants legs and took the field. Barefoot and I n their homespun butternut the fort's garrison looked more like pirates than soldiers. The other team was compromised of visitors. It was 2016 vs 1863. There were even a few ladies in hoop skirts who got in on the action - something not unheard of in the early days of the sport.

What followed was different and loads of fun to watch. No balls, no strikes, underhanded pitching, batter can only swing with the upper body. No one wears a mitt, as those were yet to be invented. The goatskin ball is softer, bouncier , and slightly larger than a modern ball. There are no fouls. If the batter makes contact the ball is in play, no matter where it goes. But, if the batter makes contact and the ball is caught off the first bounce, the batter is out. Usually, a team has as many outs as it does "strikers" (batters). But if a ball is caught on the fly, the whole side is out.

Baseball Game In Front of the Officers' Huts

An Early Hit by an ABG Team Member

Even the Slightest Contact REsult in a Live Ball

​Needless to say, the game is unpredictable and full of laughs. It was a fun experience just to watch.