Civil War-era skirmishes will take place at Aiken museum
The Aiken County Historical Museum will take a trip back to the civil war with an encampment of living history re-enactors the weekend of Jan. 15.
Re-enactors from the Palmetto Sharpshooters and the Hampton Legion out of Columbia will stake their tents on the grounds of the museum the evening of Friday, Jan. 15, with Confederates settled on the South Boundary side of the property near the red schoolhouse, and a small camp of Yankees by the cancer memorial garden, according to museum Executive Director Elliott Levy. But the real action, including a skirmish with firearms drawn, will take place on Saturday, Jan. 16.
“We got permission from Aiken Public Safety to have the skirmishes,” Levy said.
Gates open at 9 a.m. Saturday, and the Wheeler Camp Sons of Confederate Veterans will hold a prayer breakfast from 9 to 11 a.m. Skirmishes will take place at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and a cavalry unit also will ride out of Hitchcock Woods at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
“It’s going to be quite an array,” Levy said. “It’s not quite an official preview of the Battle of Aiken, but it’s very much in the spirit of that re-enactment.”
At 3 p.m., horse-drawn carriages will bring re-enactors portraying Gens. Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Wade Hampton, Jeb Stuart, A.P. Hill and Stonewall Jackson from the campsite to the museum for a Generals’ Reception in the main ballroom; there will also be a Ladies’ Tea in the parlor at 3 p.m. The encampment ends at 6:30 p.m., and re-enactors will reconvene at the Aiken Municipal Building at 7 p.m. for the Coker Springs Ball.
“The generals are all part of an organization called Voices of the Past, and we travel around giving presentations in character,” said Eddie Rodgers, who portrays Gen. Wade Hampton. “We’ve all researched our characters pretty thoroughly.”
The encampment is free and open to the public for self-guided tours. For more information about the event, call the Aiken County Historical Museum at 642-2015.
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The Book Stall to host two Civil War history writers.
The Book Stall welcomes two writers whose books shine a light on the South’s Civil War history later this week.
Tom Moore Craig of Spartanburg, editor of “Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War,” and William Rawlings of Sandersville, Ga., author of “The Rutherford Cipher,” will sign copies of their books from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the bookstore, located on Hayne Avenue.
“The Civil War is a popular subject around here; we have a lot of interest in that with our patrons,” said The Book Stall’s Meg Ferguson. “I thought William Rawlings was a captivating writer and speaker, and, as far as Tom Moore Craig, there are a lot of people in town who I know have family ties to the Upcountry families he’s written about.”
Craig’s book examines letters home from the front lines to prominent Piedmont families such as the Andersons, the Brockmans and the Moores, dating back to 1861, including two rare letters from family slaves. The correspondence includes accounts of eight major Civil War battles.
Rawlings’ novel “The Rutherford Cipher” features a family inheritance, a mysterious letter written in code and the search for a treasure of lost Confederate gold. The wetlands now housing the Savannah River Site play a central role in the book. It is one of five novels Rawlings has published, including a sequel, “Crossword.”
“Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War” was published in April by the University of South Carolina Press and has a cover price of $29.95.
“The Rutherford Cipher” was published by Harbor House in 2004, with a hardback cover price of $24.95; a softcover edition of the novel is due out this month.
For more information about the book signing or other upcoming events, call The Book Stall at 644-0604.
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