DNR
Home PageCIVIL WAR LIVING HISTORY EVENT IS MARCH 15-16
AT HUNTER-DAWSON STATE HISTORIC SITE
JEFFERSON CITY, MO., MARCH 5, 2008 -- Visitors to Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site in New Madrid on March 15 and March 16 will experience what a town under occupation may have been like during the Civil War. Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, this living history event entitled "The Occupation of New Madrid" is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Re-enactors will portray members of Gen. John Pope's staff and Co. C of the 47th Illinois Infantry. According to family tradition, Pope used the Hunter home as his headquarters after the fall of New Madrid in March of 1862. Part of the 47th Illinois Infantry served as his escort and bodyguard. Other re-enactors will portray the mostly pro-Confederate residents of New Madrid who were affected by the battles in the area and were not happy about the occupation of the town.
Visitors will be led by interpreters through the historic site and given the opportunity to see a variety of events and scenarios taking place as soldiers and civilians go about their daily activities. The schedule on Saturday will include several drills, pay call, dinner and mail call. Sunday's schedule begins with church call followed by a parade and inspection, a captain's choice drill and dinner. Throughout the event, guests will learn what life may have been like for the people involved in these historic events and may better understand life in Missouri during the war.
New Madrid was an important Confederate stronghold during the early part of the war and was fortified to help protect the Mississippi River from Northern advances. Combined with the fortifications at Island No. 10 just upstream, the defenses blocked the river and were needed by the Union as part of its strategy to split the Confederacy in two. Army and Navy units set out to capture the town and the island in early 1862. New Madrid fell in March, and troops on Island No. 10 finally surrendered about a month later.
For more information, contact Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site at 573-748-5340 or the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit www.mostateparks.com.
