Pirates at Fort de Chartres

I was at the annual Rendezvous at Fort de Chartres with the Crew of the Mercury. This event is basically a large rendezvous with some military units at a partly-reconstructed French fort.

When it was built the fort was on the Mississippi but the river has shifted and is now around a mile away. The French built timber forts in the area starting in 1720. The stone fort was largely completed by 1754. In 1765 the British gained control of it as part of the end of the Seven Years War. It was abandoned by 1771. The river undercut the walls and the buildings were stripped of their stone for building materials.

So, what were a bunch of pirates doing so far inland? The idea was to have an event that mid-west members of the Mercury could come to. Our camp wasn't particularly piratical although we did have some nice handouts thanks to William Red Wake.

As far as I was concerned the main reason for going was to hang around with the Mercury members.

I did get to see a live-fire cannon contest. If I go again I will seriously think about entering my new cannon. There was one there that was about the same size.

There was a short battle between the French and the English. We bolstered the English numbers. The brown bess that I was firing needed a new flint and was misfiring every other shot so I went down as a casualty. The Mercury Crew died to a man.

The event was hot, possibly the hottest I have ever been to. We heard that the temperature on Saturday was 102 with 75% humidity. Sunday was a lot more comfortable - 83 when we left.

On to Put-In-Bay.