For over a decade, Angel Island State Park has hosted Civil War Days, a family-oriented event that educates through tours, activities, demonstrations and interaction with park staff and Civil War re-enactors.
Civil War Days is a family-oriented event that encourages interaction with park staff and Civil War re-enactors.
With concern mounting over threats to the Bay Area from Confederate sympathizers and naval forces, the federal government established Camp Reynolds on Angel Island in 1863. Artillery batteries were built near the camp and at Point Stuart, Point Knox, and Point Blunt. For over 82 years, Camp Reynolds served as a military post in the heart of San Francisco Bay. First garrisoned in September 1863, Camp Reynolds was named in honor of Brigadier General John F. Reynolds of the Army of the Potomac, who had been killed on the first day in the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. The designation of the post would remain Camp Reynolds until the turn of the century, when it became known as “West Garrison” and became a bedroom community to Fort McDowell, now the main post on the island.
First established as an artillery post, Camp Reynolds was designed to augment the two existing fortresses guarding the Bay: Alcatraz and Fort Point. The perceived threat, though real, never materialized, and at the end of the Civil War, Camp Reynolds became a staging point for men leaving for military posts throughout the west. As many as 300 troops were there at one time, and, although the days for the enlisted men were dull and routine, for the officers and their families it was a prime location. Commanding officers were former Civil War Generals. The company band gave concerts on Sunday, ice cream was fresh from the islands’ dairy, and officers’ wives organized parties and went to the opera in San Francisco.
Little changed until the 1890s, when buildings began to fall into disrepair. After 1900, Fort McDowell became the military’s focus of attention, and West Garrison was used to house staff NCOs until 1946, when the army closed the post.
Today, of the remaining structures, at least two are among the oldest Civil War era buildings in California and are excellent examples of 1860s military construction and post design. The two-story buildings at the top of the Parade Ground are known as Officer’s Quarters #10 and #11. They were built on Yerba Buena Island in 1867 or 1868 for the U.S. Army Engineers and were barged to Angel Island in early 1882. The Bake House was built on its present site in 1863, but after the turn of the century it served as quarters for NCO staff and a schoolteacher.
On Saturday, June 13 the days of the Civil War will be brought back to life for just one day at Camp Reynolds in Angel Island State Park. You can take a ferry to Angel Island from Tiburon, San Francisco Pier 41, Alameda or even Vallejo (via the SF Ferry Building). Bring the family, pack a picnic and discover the life of a Civil War soldier at Camp Reynolds. You can enlist as a soldier for a day and train in militia drills, bread making, battlefield surgery and much more. Also, there will be cannon demonstrations every hour while the fun lasts from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
At the end of the Civil War, Camp Reynolds became a staging point for military posts in the west. Photo by Joel Williams
The Bake house is the oldest building on Angel Island constructed in 1863. Photo by Joel Williams
