Commemoration of the Surrender & Freedom Day

159 Horseshoe Rd, Appomattox VA, 24522

ABOUT THIS SPECIAL EVENT

As part of the regional Commemoration of the Surrender & Freedom Day Weekend, April 8-9, the American Civil War Museum will be hosting a variety of programs and activities.

What was life like for soldiers, for civilians on the homefront, and for enslaved and free African-Americans? We invite the public to attend our annual programs and events commemorating the Surrender and Freedom Day Weekend.


SCHEDULE

Throughout the day visitors will be able to interact with living historians portraying soldiers from the 11th and 24th Virginia, the 99th New York and the 3rd U.S. Infantry and with the Pallas Athena Ladies Aid Society, demonstrating the equipment, comfort supplies, and services provided to soldiers and hospitals by aid societies during the Civil War. Children can go through the soldier’s enlistment process and practice drilling.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase from the Appomattox Fire Department and the Appomattox County High School Cross Country Team. Music will be provided by Banjo Bob.

Day 1
April 8, 2023

Day 2
April 9, 2023


Saturday, April 8, 2023

Cannon Firing

10:00am

Join us as we present cannon firing demonstrations throughout the day on Saturday, April 8, 2023 in commemoration of Surrender and Freedom Day. Each program will last approximately 15-minutes.

Musket Demonstration

10:30am

The Third U.S Regular Infantry is a Civil War living history group dedicated to educating the public on the life of the U.S. Regular infantry soldier.

Neither Slave Nor Free:  Voices of the Almost Emancipated of Appomattox

11:00am – 12:00pm

When did freedom come for enslaved people living in and around Appomattox, and what did that freedom look like? Lee’s surrender did not automatically guarantee freedom.  Some enslaved servants were held in bondage weeks beyond April 9th.  They accompanied their captured masters to hospitals or prisons before returning home or were kept from leaving plantations by cruel overseers who beat them when they sought aid from the Freedmen’s Bureau. Others were treated harshly by their Union deliverers who showed no regard for the wellbeing of the “freedmen.”

With local historian, Reverend Al Jones

Cannon Firing

12:30pm

Join us as we present cannon firing demonstrations throughout the day on Saturday, April 8, 2023 in commemoration of Surrender and Freedom Day. Each program will last approximately 15-minutes.

Musket Demonstration

1:00pm

The Third U.S Regular Infantry is a Civil War living history group dedicated to educating the public on the life of the U.S. Regular infantry soldier.

The Confederate Peace Makers, 1865

2:00pm – 3:00pm

As early as February 1865, John C. Breckinridge, the Confederate Secretary of War, began working with Lee and several others to maneuver a surrender short of abject defeat.  Follow Breckenridge’s efforts through Appomattox to Bennett Place beyond. 

With Dr. William C. Davis, author, historian and former executive director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech University

Musket Demonstration

3:30pm

The Third U.S Regular Infantry is a Civil War living history group dedicated to educating the public on the life of the U.S. Regular infantry soldier.

Cannon Firing

4:00pm

Join us as we present cannon firing demonstrations throughout the day on Saturday, April 8, 2023 in commemoration of Surrender and Freedom Day. Each program will last approximately 15-minutes.


Sunday, April 9, 2023

Cannon Firing

8:30am

Join us as we present cannon firing demonstrations throughout the day on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in commemoration of Surrender and Freedom Day. Each program will last approximately 15-minutes.

Easter Service with Reverend Alan Farley

8:45am

Join assembled reenactors in the field as Civil War Reverend Alan Farley, provides an Easter Service message.

Musket Demonstration

11:00am

The Third U.S Regular Infantry is a Civil War living history group dedicated to educating the public on the life of the U.S. Regular infantry soldier.

Cannon Firing

12:30pm

Join us as we present cannon firing demonstrations throughout the day on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in commemoration of Surrender and Freedom Day. Each program will last approximately 15-minutes.

The 11th Virginia at Five Forks

1:00pm

Join us for a mini-gallery talk with Kevin Shroyer, President of the Lynchburg, Civil War Roundtable, member of the 24th Virginia.