FREDERICKSBURG AND SPOTSYLVANIA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

SPECIAL EVENT PROGRAMS FOR 2008

Please watch the park website’s “Special Events” page www.nps.gov/frsp/special.htm for any changes to the following schedule.

May 16.  Speech by Christian Keller, military historian and author of a new book on Chancellorsville and the German natives who fought in the battle. 7:00 p.m. at Tour Stop #8 (Jackson Flank Attack) on the Chancellorsville Battlefield.  In case of rain, the event will take place in the Chancellorsville Visitor Center.  For more information call (540) 372-3031.

May 17.  Ellwood Restoration Celebration Phase 1.  A grand opening celebration of the restoration of General Gouverneur K. Warren’s headquarters,  Visit Ellwood  between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to participate in special tours of the newly completed restoration and furnishing of General Warren’s headquarters at Ellwood (the Lacy house) during the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness.  Lemonade and cookies will be provided.  Sponsored by Friends of Wilderness Battlefield.

May 24.  Ellwood Memorial Day Weekend Activities.  At 2:00 p.m. musical group Evergreen Shade will play Civil War songs.  At 3:00 p.m., historian Mac Wyckoff will describe the last days of Stonewall Jackson.  At 4:00 p.m. the Stafford High School Chamber Singers will perform a concert of spirituals and patriotic songs.

May 24. Luminaria program in Fredericksburg National Cemetery.  Scouts light a candle for each of the 15,300 soldiers buried in Fredericksburg National Cemetery.  Tours of the cemetery are given throughout the night, punctuated each 30 minutes by the playing of “Taps.”  8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.  Rain date of May 25.

May 26.  Memorial Day Ceremony in Fredericksburg National Cemetery.  A 30-minute com­memo­ra­tive program honoring American soldiers who have died in service to this country.  11 a.m.

          « 2008 History at Sunset Programs.

« June 6.  A Woeful Place Reclaimed: From Farm to Battlefield to Park—the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania.  Led by Historian John Hennessy.  Meet at the McCoull Farm lane, tour stop 5, Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield.  7 p.m.  1 1/2 hours.

June 7-8.  “Thunder of Marye's Heights.”  Living History Artillery Weekend.  Living history event featuring firing demonstrations near the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center.

« June 13.  In the Vortex:  A Walk on the Slaughter Pen Farm.  Led by Historian Frank O’Reilly.  Meet at the entrance to the farm which is off Route 2/17, 2 miles south of  Fredericksburg.  7 p.m. 1 1/2 hours.

« June 20.  Bloody Homecoming:  David Kyle and the Ordeal of the Bullocks.  Led by Historian Greg Mertz.  Park on Bullock Road, near tour stop #2 on the Chancellorsville Battlefield.  7 p.m.  1 1/2 hours.

« June 27.  History Revealed:  Civil War Secrets on the University of Mary Washington Campus.  Led by Historian Eric Mink.  7 p.m. 1 1/2 hours.  Park in the lot at the corner of William Street and Sunken Road.

« July 11.  First Blood at Chancellorsville:  A Walk on the May 1 Battlefield.  Led by Historian Eric Mink.  Gather at the Civil War Preservation Trust lands on Route 3 west, about 1/4 mile west of Chancellor Elementary School.  7 p.m.  1 1/2 hours.

July 12-13.  Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield Living History Artillery Weekend.  Living History event featuring artillery firing demonstrations at the Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield.

« July 18.  Through the Streets, Into the Maelstrom: In the Footsteps of a Union Regiment.  Led by Historian Frank O’Reilly.  Meet at the city dock at the south end of Sophia Street in Fredericksburg.  7 p.m.  1 1/2 hours.

« July 25.  Homefolk and Heroes:  A Walk through Fredericksburg’s City and Confederate Cemetery.  Led by Historian Mac Wyckoff.  Meet at the entrance gate to the City/Confederate Cemetery at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Amelia Street.  7 p.m.  1 1/2 hours.

« August 1.  Bloody Dawn:  Fairview in the Maelstrom.  Led by Historian John Hennessy.  Meet at Fairview, tour stop # 10, Chancellorsville Battlefield.  7 p.m.  1 1/2 hours.

« August 8.  Lens on History:  The Photography of the Sunken Road.  Led by Historian Stacy Humphreys.  Meet at the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center.  7 p.m.  1 1/2 hours.

« August 15.  Beyond the Big House:  Slaves and Slavery at Chatham.  Led by Historian John Hennessy.  Meet on the Chatham patio on the garden side of the house.  7 p.m.  1 hour.

August 16-17.  Chatham Living History Weekend.  Living history event featuring a wide variety of activities including infantry, artillery, medical, and signal corps demonstrations; a presentation by a Walt Whitman impersonator, as well as a concert by the Wildcat Regimental Brass Band.  9:00 – 4:30 at Chatham.

September 28.  Taming the Wilderness 2008.  The historic structure Ellwood on the Wilderness Battlefield is the setting for a day of activities showing how buildings such as Ellwood were constructed in the 18th century. Further details on this event sponsored by Friends of Wilderness Battlefield will be announced later.   (See their web site www.fowb.org.)

December 7.  Old Salem Church Holiday Music Program.  Tentative date, and tentative time:  6 p.m.  The decorated and candle-lit church will come alive again with choral music in a program sponsored by the congregation from the New Salem Baptist Church.

December 14.  Anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg Ceremony.  2:00 p.m.  The annual anniversary program at the Kirkland Memorial honors the troops of both sides.  The battle is commemorated with a keynote speaker, the presentation of wreaths and the playing of Taps.