The 24th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend committee is completing plans for Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June12. The 12th US Co A Infantry will once again host the event under the military reenacting leadership of Lt. Neil MacMillan (Syracuse) with Lee Houser (Clifton Springs) of the Civil War Heritage Foundation.
Other units that will be part of the weekend encampment include the 1st NY Veterans Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Michigan Co E, 9th Battalion Confederates, 143rd NY Infantry, 176th NY, and Widows and Orphans Relief Society. The ongoing encampment demonstrates military and civilian life in the mid-1800s.
Visitors walk among the campsites talking with soldiers and their families as they go about their day. The reenactors also provide scheduled programs such as the skirmish each day at 2 p.m., a children’s drill, and a Sunday morning sermon. Period games for children will be on the green all weekend.
Saturday, June 11 programs include:
10 a.m. Matthew Urtz, Madison County Historian, will use letters and journals to describe the Madison County Soldiers Who Served in the Civil War.
11 a.m. Pat Ennis, translator of the Civil War diary which recently became the movie Union Bound, will share her experiences with her ancestor’s journal and with the movie-making.
11 a.m. The Union Camp holds a Children’s Drill
Noon: Darlene Haflett and Jody Luce will conduct a walking tour of the Hamlet of Peterboro.
Noon: In honor of the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day, Blaine Elkie, National Memorial Day Museum, will describeDecoration Day’s Sesquicentennial & the Scythe Tree of Waterloo.
Noon: Michael Keene, author, will explain The Psychic Highway: How the Erie Canal Changed America
1 p.m. Reenactor Laini Amaritnant will present A Fashion Show
1 p.m. Matt George, Capital District Civil War Round Table, will demonstrate The Life of a Civil War Soldier in the 134th.
2 p.m. Military Skirmish
3 p.m. John Goodnough, Secretary of the Binghamton Civil War Historical Society and Round Table will speak on the 150thAnniversary of the Grand Army of the Republic.
4 p.m. Cheryl Pula, The History Club in New York Mills, will present The 146th at Little Round Top.
7 p.m. Jason Emerson, researcher and author on the Lincoln family, will provide an evening program on Such a Baptism of Sorrow: The Lincolns in 1866 (separate admission).
Sunday, June 12 programs include
11 a.m. The Union Camp holds a Children’s Drill
11 a.m. Reenactor Tom Brokaw will preach a sermon for soldiers and the public
Noon: Darlene Haflett and Jody Luce will conduct a walking tour of the Hamlet of Peterboro.
Noon: Michael Keene, author, will explain The Psychic Highway: How the Erie Canal Changed America
1:00: Sheila K. Harris, author, will describe her family research for The Legacy of Rachel Harris Reid
2 p.m. Military Skirmish
3 p.m. Cheryl Pula, The History Club in New York Mills, will present The 146th at Little Round Top
3:45 p.m. Cheryl Pula, will explain the origins of Taps.
4 p.m. The Smalley family musicians will close the event with an instrumental rendition of Taps.
Historical organizations that will be participating with exhibits and demonstrations include the Binghamton Civil War Historical Society and Civil War Roundtable, the Capital District Civil War Round Table, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865, Homer Searle Camp Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, National Memorial Day Museum and Stewart-Hope Camp Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
The Peterboro Mercantile Tent and the sutlers (Greene Leather, Blanket Brigade and the Tin Smith) offer shopping for 19th C. clothing, household items, military equipment and photos, as well as tee shirts, flags, and souvenirs. Hidden Hearts Honey adds sweetness to the sales. MetroAir Photo will provide a vintage photograph opportunity. Cherry Valley Country Spinners & Fiber Artists will be demonstrating.
The Peterboro Area Museum will be open during the weekend. A special exhibit from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History in collaboration with the American Library Association Public Programs Office will open during the Civil War Weekend event at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. The traveling exhibition Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and the March on Washington, 1963,is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor. NAHOF is one of fifty sites in the country awarded this special exhibit. Exterior and interior exhibits on Gerrit Smith, African-Americans in 19th C. Peterboro, and the Underground Railroad will be open at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark.
The Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department will sell Chicken BBQ at noon on Saturday and the Peterboro United Methodist Church will serve pancakes at the Smithfield Community Center on Sunday from 8 – 10 am. Food is available both days at the Deli on the Green, and a favorite snack is handy.at Ma and Pa’s Kettle Corn.
The Peterboro Civil War Weekend is an educational and fund-raising event of the Smithfield Community Association based on the Gerrit Smith-John Brown relationship which helped ignite the Civil War. Admission ($8: Adults, $3: 6-12 years, Free: Under 6) covers weekend activities (except food). Volunteers, reenactors, authors, exhibitors, demonstrators, and period vendors are needed and encouraged to contact 315-280-8828 or mail@sca-peterboro.org for information and forms. Check updates at www.PeterboroNY.org.
The 24th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend committee is completing plans for Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June12. The 12th US Co A Infantry will once again host the event under the military reenacting leadership of Lt. Neil MacMillan (Syracuse) with Lee Houser (Clifton Springs) of the Civil War Heritage Foundation.