Parade Ground

The parade ground is the heart of Fort Warren. Day to day life revolved around here. During the Civil War, units came to Fort Warren for training in advance of being sent south to fight. These units would spend upwards of 8 hours a day, sometimes more, on the parade ground, marching and drilling to perfection. Once such unit was the 12th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The 12th Massachusetts had a young Private by the name of Joh Brown. This young Private is the inspiration for the song “John Browns Body”. that song was written on this parade ground and went on to be one of the most popular marching songs of the entire Civil War. This song also inspired the creation of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” that was written by Julia Ward Howe. It has seen use as a campground with tents during wartime expansions, a baseball field and other activities for recreation. It was in active use in day to day operations of this fort until it was decommissioned in 1950. Today you can still catch historic ball clubs competing on our parade ground as well as lawn games from the civil war and other special events throughout the year.