SLU to Host Camp Jackson Re-enactment

The camp will be the site of a weekend-long symposium that includes a display of a pre-Civil War militia camp, along with authentic demonstrations of drill and Civil War-era equipment. Both sides of the Camp Jackson affair that took place on May 10, 1861 will be represented — members of the Holmes Brigade will portray the pro-Union home guard, while members of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi (AoTM) will portray the First Regiment, Volunteer Militia, Company A, (The St. Louis Greys).

“The Lincoln Legacy: Presidential Years” opens August 25, 2006 at the Saint Louis University Museum of Art and will feature autographed manuscripts, as well as significant historic artifacts relating to the presidency of Mr. Lincoln. The most significant artifact in the “Legacy” exhibition is a copy of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment banning slavery is one of only three extant versions of the amendment to have been signed by 36 of the 38 members of the U.S. Senate serving in 1865. This document also bears the signatures of President Abraham Lincoln; President of the Senate Hannibal Hamlin; and Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax.

WHAT: Camp Jackson Living History Encampment
WHERE: Saint Louis University, near the intersection of Grand and Lindell
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 1-Sunday, Sept. 3
ADMISSION: Free
PARKING: Available on Lindell Blvd. and at Saint Louis University’s Compton Ave. Garage
INFO: cupples.slu.edu, sluma.slu.edu, (314) 977.2666

Friday, September 1

• 2:00 p.m. Camp set-up
• 7:00 p.m. Supper
• 7:30 p.m. Guard mounting
• 10:00 p.m. Tattoo
• 10:30 p.m. Taps (lights out)

Saturday, September 2

• 5:00 a.m. Reveille
• 5:30 a.m. Police call
• 6:00 a.m. Breakfast: Daily ration issue
• 7:30 a.m. Troop & guard mounting
• 8:00 a.m. Squad level drill
• 10:00 a.m. Presentation: “The Antebellum Militia and St. Louis Society” by Frank Aufmuth
• 11:00 a.m. Presentation: Lyon, Sigel, and Blair Holmes Brigade
• 12:00 p.m. Dinner call (women visit camp)
• 1:00 p.m. Camp Jackson, by Frank Aufmuth
• 2:00 p.m. Antebellum music (tentative)
• 3:00 p.m. Home guard drill demonstration
• 4:00 p.m. “Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer and the United States Sanitary Commission,” presented by Vivian Murphy*
• 4:30 p.m. “The Mysteries of St. Louis: Immigration, Abolition, Jesuit Conspiracies, and Buried Treasure” a retrospective of the 1851 novel presented by Deborah Hyland, Saint Louis University
• 5:00 p.m. Presentation: “Slavery in Missouri,” by Professor Silvana Siddali, Saint Louis University
• 6:15 p.m. Militia drill demonstration
• 7:00 p.m. Retreat parade (company level)
• 7:30 p.m. Supper
• 10:00 p.m. Tattoo
• 10:30 p.m. Taps

Sunday, September 3

• 6:00 a.m. Reveille
• 6:30 a.m. Police call
• 7:00 a.m. Breakfast call: daily ration issue
• 9:30 a.m. Troop & guard mount
• 10:30 a.m. Church call
• 11:30 a.m. Drill demonstration(s)
• 12:00 p.m. Dinner call
• 1:00 p.m. Break camp

* Vivian Murphy is an expert on 19th century material culture, and has done extensive research on the United States Sanitary Commission. She lives in Iowa, and operates a business where she produces and sews 19th century clothing reproductions.

[ Return to Top of Page ]