Montpelier welcomes reenactors Aug. 6-8

One hundred soldiers and civilians from the Third Regiment of the Army of Northern Virginia and Seventh South Carolina will descend on James Madison's Montpelier for Civil War Weekend from Friday, Aug. 6 through Sunday, Aug. 8.
Visitors will experience a weekend filled with skirmishes, dress parades, camp visits, and a period worship service. For the first time, the cavalry will come to Montpelier. Guests will have the opportunity to interact with 20 horses and their handlers throughout the weekend. All events will take place across from the Montpelier Train Depot on Route 20, four miles south of Orange. Admission to all Civil War Weekend events is free.
"Montpelier's Civil War Camp is a rare example of a place where people can see reconstructed Civil War huts where they once stood," said Dr. Matthew Reeves, Montpelier director of archaeology. "Nearly 150 years ago, General Samuel McGowan's South Carolinians spent an entire winter battling brutal weather conditions with minimal supplies. During Civil War Weekend, our visitors will be immersed in the events that took place here at Montpelier over that winter. They will also have the chance to experience some of the things that were common to the soldier experience, such as tactical drills and camp life."
General Samuel McGowan's South Carolina Brigade occupied Montpelier's Civil War Camp during the winter of 1863-1864, prior to the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness. Montpelier's archaeology department located and surveyed five Civil War regimental camps occupied by General McGowan's troops and over a dozen smaller winter camps scattered across the property. From this discovery, the archaeology staff established the enlisted and officer hut sites' form of architecture and types of materials used to survive the harsh winter of 1863-1864.
The Third Regiment of the Army of Northern Virginia began rebuilding the huts in February of 2009. Once finished, the huts will be a permanent base camp for the reenactors. The group will hold its final hut reconstruction demonstration on Sunday, August 15.
While at Montpelier, visitors will also have the opportunity to experience the "Presidential Detective Story," a multi-year effort to rediscover James and Dolley Madison through the restoration of the mansion, a worldwide search for the furnishings that once graced Montpelier, and an exploration of the plantation landscape. Montpelier is open daily 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., April through October, and 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., November through March. To learn more, visit www.montpelier.org.