May 2013 Issue 150th News

Raymond Cannons
RAYMOND, Miss. — Visitors to the May 12, 1863, Battle of Raymond field will find 25 cannons on display in their battle positions. They represent the three Confederate guns of Capt. Hiram Bledsoe’s Missouri Battery and 22 Union guns.

When the battle began the Confederates faced six Federal guns of Capt. Samuel De Golyer’s 8th Michigan Light Artillery, according to Brig. Gen. Parker Hills (Ret.) of the Friends of Raymond.

The cannon line will be dedicated on May 11.

The Friends group was established in 1998 and since then has preserved 136 acres of battlefield, installed a walking trail with a kiosk and 12 interpretive panels and the reproduction cannons. The Civil War Trust helped with the purchase of the park’s first 40 acres.

Vicksburg National Military Park donated 100-year-old surplus cast-iron replica cannon carriages. Donors covered the cost of carriage restoration and cannon tubes. Blue and Gray Education Society members donated funds for 12 of the barrels. Battery markers and a limber will also be installed.

For information about this Vicksburg Campaign battle visit friendsofraymond.org and http://battleofraymond.org

Missouri Promotions

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) through its Civil War 150 Promotion Program is offering matching funds for Civil War-related attractions and Sesquicentennial-related events.

Cities, counties and Missouri non-profits that focus on tourism promotion are eligible. Information is at Industry.VisitMO.com.

Missouri was the site of more than 1,000 battles, the third-highest total behind Tennessee and Virginia. Hundreds of Missouri attractions have ties to the Civil War.



Learn more at VisitMO.com and MoCivilWar150.com.



At Laurel Hill

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Laurel Hill Cemetery, an 1836 National Historic Landmark rural cemetery where many Civil War notables, including generals, surgeons and nurses, are buried, will host an 1863 anniversary exhibit.

Items related to 1863 will be added to the ongoing Civil War exhibit, with an opening on June 1 at 1 p.m. plus walking tour and wreath-laying.

Attendees will then travel to the nearby 1869 West Laurel Hill Cemetery, which is on the National Register for Historic Places, for a lecture and tour of additional Civil War graves. Cocktails and dinner in the conservatory will close the day with a program by General Meade Society of Philadelphia President Andy Waskie and independent historian Russ Dodge.

Tickets may be purchased at (215) 228-8200 or www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org.

Tennessee Plates

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee is so close to the 1,000 pre-orders required by June for a Civil War Sesquicentennial specialty license plate that the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association is waiving the $35 fee for the first 120 people who sign up.

The association and Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission are sponsoring the license plate to honor the memory of the 230,000 Tennesseans who fought in the Civil War. Proceeds will support Civil War battlefield preservation in Tennessee and the Tennessee Civil War Trails Program.

To sign up www.tcwpa.org/license-plate or contact info@tcwpa.org.

Descendants Sought

LOCUST GROVE, Va. — Friends of Wilderness Battlefield (FoWB) seeks descendants of soldiers and non-combatants at the battles of Chancellorsville (1863) and the Wilderness (1864) and those who were treated at or served at the Wilderness area Confederate hospitals after Chancellorsville.

The Wilderness Brigade and Ellwood Legacy, named for the manor house at the battlefield, where Stonewall Jackson’s amputated arm is buried, invite descendant applicants, for a $50 fee, and sharing of information about their ancestors. FoWB hopes to collect at least 100 ancestral histories.

For information go to www.fowb.org

Hanover’s Ditch
HANOVER, Pa. — The Evening Sun reported that borough councilman Sonny Eline is raising funds to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the June 30, 1863, battle in Hanover, which is near Gettysburg. He wants to plant a memorial tree.

A narrow ditch in the city’s West Hanover Street Park is a remnant of a 15-foot-wide ditch that Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s horse leaped over during his escape from a rearguard under U.S. Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick.

Stuart and Capt. W.W. Blackford made it across in one leap, while some of their men landed in shallow water and scrambled up the other side.

Eline seeks a maple of the type that Brig. Gen. George A. Custer tied his horse to two days before the battle. The original “Custer maple” has since died.

Stuart’s leap is documented in various books, including A Strong and Sudden Onslaught: The Cavalry Action at Hanover, Pennsylvania by John T. Krepps.

Westport Anniversary

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A committee has started meeting monthly to plan programs commemorating the Oct. 23, 1864, Battle of Westport in what is now Kansas City.

Some 30,000 troops were engaged in the action that ended Confederate Gen. Sterling Price’s Missouri Raid. For information contact George Vesel at (816) 797-9452 or BattleofWestport150@gmail.com.

Lincoln Funeral
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition (1865-2015) will begin several weeks of Lincoln funeral commemoration on April 14, 2015.

Civil War military and civilian reenactors from throughout the country are invited to set up encampments in Springfield and take part in the May 2-3 funeral reenactment. A procession with a replica of Lincoln’s casket will follow the historic route. The eulogy, speeches and salutes will be presented at the old public receiving vault.

The commemoration will begin on April 14 with a performance of “Our American Cousin.” Symposiums, church services, poetry, visual arts and musical performances will be part of the pre-funeral programming.

Reenactors interested in participating in the military portion of the commemoration should contact Ted Henry, 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, at 10thIlVolCav@wildblue.net. Additional information is at http://lincolnfuneraltrain.org.