STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. — The Stafford Civil War Park is set to open later this month to a special celebration.
According to Civil War News, the park will feature guest speakers and living history reenactor from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 27.
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The day will begin with a ribbon cutting by Stafford County officials, contractors and representatives of the Virginia Army and Air National Guard units that helped with site construction.
Speakers will include Dr. Christian B. Keller, a scholar on the history of German-Americans in the Civil War, and historian Al Conner who will speak about the winter encampment.
The grand opening will include tours of the park’s historical sites and fortifications, an encampment of living history interpreters and reenactors portraying infantry and artillery regiments, a military staff headquarters, a field hospital, period music and “Junior Soldier” programs for children.
At the conclusion of the event, the living historians and reenactors will march out of the site in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the 11th Corps heading south on April 27, 1863. The Corps fought at Chancellorsville, returned to this area and left again on June 12, 1863, for Gettysburg.
The effort cost donors at nearly $200 million to make the park a reality. The park will feature historic sites between the present day R-Board Regional Landfill on Eskimo Hill Road and the Accokeek Creek.
The site was home to three Union batteries including troops from Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.
In the works since 2006, officials broke ground for the project on a hot summer day in 2011.
