ST MICHAELS, MD – The Fort McHenry Guard and the Chesapeake Independent Blues will reintroduce the early 19th century tradition of firing the Christmas cannon as part of this year’s December 7-9, 2018 Christmas in St. Michaels event, with the public invited to a special program at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.
Hosted by interpretive volunteers of the Fort McHenry Guard and Chesapeake Independent Blues, the new program will be held on Saturday, December 8, 2018 from noon to 12:30 pm along CBMM’s Miles River waterfront. As part of the program, volunteers in authentic uniforms of the Maryland Militia during the War of 1812 will be demonstrating the loading and firing of a reproduction, 6-pounder iron field artillery piece.
“The traditions of celebrating Christmas, and the firing of guns, had been brought to the Americas by Swiss, Scandinavian, and German-speaking immigrants during the 18th and 19th centuries,” commented Chesapeake Independent Blues founding member Mark Dubin. “In Quebec, the firing of cannon after Christmas Mass had been assimilated into the religious customs by the mid-18th century.
“St. Michaels acquired two artillery barrels by August of 1813 as compensation for an unwelcomed prank played on the Town earlier that year by resident Jacob Gibson. In keeping with the American custom of the firing of guns for holidays, it is probable that the militia of St. Michaels would have fired the Town’s artillery for notable occasions such as the 4th of July, New Year’s Day, and Christmas, beginning as early as 1814.”
The Chesapeake Independent Blues was formed in 2012 as part of a State of Maryland grant matched by public funds from the Eastern Shore counties of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Talbot, and Queen Anne’s to create a living history representation of the Maryland citizen-soldiers who served during the War of 1812. A member of Maryland’s non-profit Friends of Maryland’s War of 1812 organization, CIB focuses on public education, and refers to its volunteer members as interpreters, rather than re-enactors.
The Fort McHenry Guard is a historical organization sponsored by the National Park Service and The Patriots of Fort McHenry. The Guard is composed of specially recruited “Volunteers in Parks” who provide visitors with a touchstone to the past.
The Dec. 8 program is free for CBMM members or with general museum admission. For more information, go to the “Friends of Maryland’s War of 1812” Facebook page, visit christmasinstmichaels.org, or call 410-745-2916.
#####