Special Programs, Dinner, Auction Will
Honor The Wilderness 145th Anniversary
(May 2009 Civil War News)

LOCUST GROVE, Va. — Friends of Wilderness Battlefield (FoWB) and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park will commemorate the Battle of the Wilderness 145th anniversary on May 2 and 3 with tours, living history, demonstrations, a dinner and auction.

The park will host four free battlefield walking tours as well as artillery demonstrations on May 2 as follows:
“Unexpected Battle in Saunders Field.” One-hour walking tour from tour stop 3, Hill-Ewell Drive, led by Park Historian Kris White at 9:45 a.m.

“Slow Fire with Short-range Shells.” Half-hour artillery firing demonstration at tour stop 6, Hill-Ewell Drive, at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m.

“Home Turned Battlefield: The Higgerson Farm.” One-hour walking tour from tour stop 4, Hill-Ewell Drive, led by Park Historians Janice Frye and Noel Harrison at 11:45 a.m.

“Bad Days in Beautiful Places: The Chewning Farm." One-hour walking tour from tour stop 5, Hill-Ewell Drive, led by Janice Frye and Noel Harrison at 1:45 p.m.

“Reuniting with General Lee: The Widow Tapp Field.” One-hour walking tour from tour stop 6, led by Kris White at 3:45 p.m.

Saturday night’s “A Wilderness Evening,” the FoWB 7th Annual Dinner and Auction, will be held at the Daniel Technology Center, Germanna Community College, Culpeper. Tickets are required.

Ellwood Manor will open for the season on May 2, with tours from 11 to 5. Ellwood is the 18th century home on the battlefield grounds that became a Confederate hospital in the aftermath of the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville and a Union army headquarters a year later during the Battle of the Wilderness.

Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s amputated right arm is buried there. During the past two years, much of the house has been restored to its Civil War time period.

On Sunday, May 3, the 145th anniversary commemoration will move to Ellwood for “Uncommon Hardship: Soldier and Civilian in the Wilderness” activities honoring the contributions of the ordinary citizens and soldiers who served and lived during the time of the battle.

Tours and programs featuring musket firing, soldiers’ accoutrements, blacksmithing, cooking at home and in camp, medical practices, domestic demonstrations and civilian hardships will be given from 11 to 5.

“In the Tangle of the Wilderness: An Artillery Nightmare,” 30-minute cannon firing demonstration, will be given at 11, 12:30 and 2 p.m.

“Songs of Joy and Anguish,” a concert of secular and sacred music appropriate to the history of Ellwood and the Wilderness Battlefield, is scheduled at 2:30 p.m.

Ellwood events on Sunday are open free to the public with donations to the Ellwood restoration gratefully accepted.

Go to www.fowb.org for details about the weekend and the Friends’ work.