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Yankees to return to Falmouth this weekend for a re-enactment Date published: 9/19/2008
BY CLINT SCHEMMER
Once more, the Yankees are coming, and they're bringing their weapons to Falmouth. But fear not, the Union soldiers' intentions are educational this time, unlike their visit to the riverfront village during the Civil War in April and December 1862. The "Yankees in Falmouth" events this weekend will re-create the sights and sounds that Union troops encountered on the front lines in Falmouth before the Peninsula Campaign and, later, the Battle of Fredericksburg. "Falmouth has a long and remarkable history that a lot of people aren't familiar with," said Norman Schools of the Moncure Conway Foundation, which is sponsoring the free, two-day program with the National Park Service and Stafford Tourism Office. John Hennessy, chief historian of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, will lead three guided tours tomorrow, starting from Historic Port of Falmouth Park or the Conway House. He'll give two different talks, one on Stafford County during the Civil War and another on Falmouth history, including the story of Fredericksburg slave John Washington, who escaped to freedom in Falmouth when the U.S. 2nd Sharpshooters were there. Across River Road from the waterfront park, the Moncure Conway House--home of the Stafford abolitionist of the same name, and now a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site--will open its doors for tours. There, people can learn about the secret underwater telegraph that Union spies strung across the Rappahannock. Re-enactors are coming from across the country to portray the U.S. 2nd Sharpshooters, an elite unit of marksmen that fought in many of the war's major battles; the 7th Michigan Infantry, which led the first amphibious assault in American history, crossing the Rappahannock under fire; and the U.S. Christian Commission, which tended to soldiers' spiritual needs. The soldiers will camp at Union Church and the Conway House; give firing demonstrations, showing how the sharpshooters' Colt and Sharps rifles differed; tell evening campfire stories at the Conway House; and display Civil War artifacts and the personal effects of Wyman S. White, first sergeant of the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters Regiment. White wrote a frank, sometimes humorous diary describing what his regiment in Col. Hiram Berdan's U.S. Sharpshooters went through in the war. The Berdan's Sharpshooters re-enactors decided to visit Falmouth this fall when researchers, including Stafford historian Al Conner, solved the mystery of one of the few surviving wartime photos of its regiments, Schools said. It had been thought the photo might have been taken in Fredericksburg, but the researchers determined the Union soldiers posed for the camera in front of a now-vanished house in Falmouth--and that they were serving as the army's provost guard there at the time. Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Read more stories about Stafford Date published: 9/19/2008
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