Spotsylvania to commemorate 150th anniversary of Chancellorsville with major heritage weekend in May

As the ”Crossroads of the Civil War,” Spotsylvania County witnessed 30,000 casualties in the Battle of Chancellorsville. In remembrance of the 150th Anniversary of this pivotal battle, the County will host its largest ever heritage weekend on May 3-5, 2013.

To present event information, enable online registration for thousands of reenactors and offer ticket sales to the general public, Spotsylvania has launched a comprehensive website at http://www.battleofchancellorsville.com.

Spotsylvania County is home to more than 3,000 acres of battlefields that are maintained by the National Park Service, and the National and Central Virginia Battlefield Trust organizations. The County also offers a number of key historic sites as well as beautiful Lake Anna, a major Virginia state park and recreational area. At Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee won his greatest victory for the Confederate Army, but lost his most gifted tactical commander, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, in May of 1863.

Spotsylvania’s Chancellorsville commemoration, which will be held in the County Courthouse area May 3-5, will include two full-scale reenactments and “living history” events, a crafts fair, music of the period, a commemoration dinner, and numerous other activities designed to enhance awareness of this significant historical milestone.

In tandem with the County’s events, the National Park Service will host a series of events within the battlefield park.

The County has designed the event to accommodate up to 6,000 reenactors from several states and thousands of spectators. Authentic period camps will be provided for the reenactors, and many of the county’s hotels and other businesses are already preparing special offers to accommodate commemorative visitors.

Spectators can experience the tactical movements of the battle with two days of historical scenarios, including a scripted vignette that will give Confederate reenactors a special sense of what it must have been like that evening when General Stonewall Jackson was hit by “friendly” Confederate fire as he returned from a scouting mission. Highlights of the event will be:

• Special programs sponsored by the Spotsylvania Museum at the Courthouse

• Educational day for area schoolchildren

•  Commemoration gala dinner

• Living History area, Kid’s Camp, period sutlers and food vendors

• Arts and crafts and special events in the Courthouse area

• Two days of reenactments of the Battle of Chancellorsville and Salem Church

• “The Sound of the Guns” Fireworks Special

• Period music and Reenactor’s Ball

•  Special Civil War Period Church services on the battlefield and at Zion Church and Christ Church

Special Field Hospital and Program at Historic Berea Church

• Exhibits at Spotsylvania Towne Centre

The National Park Service will also be hosting commemorative events at the Chancellorsville Battlefield.

A portion of the proceeds from this event and related commemorative events will go to historical preservation and to the further development of the Spotsylvania Museum. The County is inviting all businesses interested in sponsorship or participating in the event to contact the Spotsylvania Museum via the new website.

The event will be held on the historic Dabney/Alrich Farm (W. J. Vakos Properties) and venues at historic Spotsylvania Courthouse.

About the Battle of Chancellorsville

Originally fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, the Battle of Chancellorsville represents the fifth Federal attempt in less than three years to move on and capture Richmond. The battle involved nearly 195,000 troops and took place in the area around the Orange Turnpike and Orange Plank Road near the village of Chancellorsville in Spotsylvania County, all the way along todays Route 3 to Fredericksburg. The County is the location of many camps and movement by both armies, some of General Lee’s greatest victories, the second bloodiest day of the entire Civil War (May 3, 1863) and the death of General Stonewall Jackson. The Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, a product of Lee’s audacity and Union General Joseph Hooker’s timid decision-making, was tempered by heavy losses on both sides, including the loss of Jackson to “friendly fire,” a loss that Lee likened to “losing my right arm.”