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I was running a 5K in Batesville and while I failed to take any notice of the cemetery that I ran beside for over a half a mile, I did notice not one, but two trucks that passed me with old war cannons in the back. My curiosity was piqued and despite my exhaustion after running 3.1 miles in a steady drizzle, I set out to discover the reason for the cannons and found myself at my very first Civil War Encampment.
Having grown up in Vermont, the first state to abolish slavery in 1777, I wasn’t sure where my place was at a Civil War camp held in Arkansas, one of the last states to abolish slavery in April 1865, just over two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
As it turns out, Civil War events all over Arkansas and throughout the country strive to educate the public on many aspects of the Civil War. The war was really about the Confederate States of America, more commonly referred to as the Confederacy, and their attempt to secede from the Union. The war was fought to determine the survival of the Union and slavery issues were really only a small part of the war.
So, as it were, I felt right at home at that event in Batesville. I learned about how the war had divided Arkansas. I discovered that some people identified strongly with the Confederacy, others sided with the Union and others still just wanted to stay out of it all-together. Through a series of living history demonstrations, I toured the camp and learned about some of the medical issues during the war, the role of women in the war and yes, I got to see (and hear) one of those cannons being fired.
This year marks the fifth and final year of Arkansas’ Civil War Sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. The Sesquicentennial Commission’s mission is to “tell the story of the Civil War in Arkansas without making judgments about the actions and motivations of the people who took part in the war” and to stress how the event had an impact on modern Arkansas.
Logo used with permission from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
The theme of this year’s events is “Emancipation and Reconstruction”. Seventeen major battles were fought in Arkansas leaving a blighted landscape behind which just acted as salt in the wounds of the defeated confederate soldiers. The process of emancipation was slow and physical recovery of the land and economy in Arkansas was even slower.
There are events, lectures, reenactments, marker dedications and festivals relating to the Civil War in Arkansas happening all over state this spring and throughout the rest of 2015.
151st Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Mark’s Mill, May 15, 2015 – May 17, 2015
This three-day encampment event in Fordyce will mark the 151st anniversary of the Battle of Mark’s Mill. Soldiers, tradesmen and women will participate in living history demonstrations throughout the weekend. Saturday will include a battle reenactment at 1 p.m., camp tours and an evening dance with period dancers and music. On Sunday, a second reenactment will take place at 2 p.m.
Dallas County Museum
1101 South Main
Fordyce, AR 71742
Ph: 870-313-2717
Cannon Firing Demonstration, May 24, 2015
Celebrate Memorial Day with a boom! This national holiday originally honored Union and Confederate veterans, so join park staff as we fire off our Civil War cannon in honor of the holiday. We’ll need some volunteers to help us, so you may even get to fire the cannon!
Lake Charles State Park
3705 Highway 25
Powhatan, AR 72485
Ph: 870-878-6595
Southern Memorial Day – Commemoration of Confederate Dead, June 6, 2015, 10 a.m.
Join the Southern Memorial Association during its annual memorial ceremony to commemorate the over 600 Confederate dead buried in Arkansas’ largest, only Confederate cemetery. The ceremony will include a guest speaker, live music, a re-enactor gun salute, and placement of flowers at the monument by children and the officers of the Southern Memorial Association.
Confederate Cemetery
514 East Rock Street
Fayetteville, AR 72701
26th North Arkansas Ancestor Fair, June 5, 2015 – June 6, 2015
What are you doing with your Civil War information? The 2015 (26th) North Arkansas Ancestor Fair will answer those questions and more. The theme is “Writing and Interpreting the Civil War: Resources Authors Use” and there will be two well-known authors who have written about the Civil War–especially in Arkansas, and an aspiring doctoral candidate, who will share their techniques, resource evaluation and interpreting methods to tell the audience how to make sense of the information and to tell us how to rate its reliability.
Friday’s presentations will take place in the air-conditioned Marshall Civic Center on Zack Road, beginning at 9:30 a.m. There will be a small fee for Friday’s events. Following the presentations there will be a mixer-dinner at 5:30 p.m. at the Civic Center. This is an opportunity for those who will be looking for kin Saturday to get a head start on finding folks who might have information one is looking for, or who are kin.
Saturday’s “genealogical swap meet” will open its doors at 9 a.m. to the Civic Center for the public to meet family historians, county genealogical and historical societies and book sellers who have set up to answer questions and help seekers find answers. All browsers are welcome; there is no entry fee or set up fee. It is a time to meet kin with North Arkansas roots.
Shirley J. Gray
515 Zack Road
Marshall, AR 72650
Ph: 870-448-3308
http://ancestorfair.us/
Traveling Exhibit visits the Hope Visitor Center and Depot Museum, June 1, 2015 – June 28, 2015
The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, in cooperation with the Old State House Museum and the Arkansas Humanities Council, now offers “Civil War Arkansas, 1861-1865,” a traveling exhibit about the state’s involvement in the war.
Hope Visitor Center and Depot Museum
Hope, AR 71801
Ph: 870.722.2580
For a complete list of events for the remainder of 2015, please visit Arkansas Civil War 150. If you are interested in learning more about the 17 major battles fought in Arkansas, please visit the Civil War Academy. A comprehensive list of related links can also be found on Arkansas Civil War 150.
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