Monday, April 19, 2010

Civil-War Re-Enactment Near Melbourne (Pioneer Day)

The Seventh Arkansas Volunteer Infantry will bring to life the Battle of Lunenburg on Saturday, May 1st at 3:00 p.m. The public is invited to the recreation of the battle in the same farm field south of Melbourne where the 1864 battle was fought. Led by their color guards, Confederate and Union re-enactors in authentic uniforms will take up positions as five full size cannons take the field. A second re-enactment is planned for Sunday, May 2nd at 2:00 p.m.

The Izard County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Historical Marker Program are placing a plaque commemorating the battle on the grounds of the Lunenburg Community Center. This plaque will be unveiled on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. after the re-enactment. The text of the plaque reads:

“On January 20, 1864, a detail of 44 men of the Fourth Arkansas Mounted Infantry Volunteers (U.S.) under Capt. T. A. Baxter, the brother of a future Arkansas governor, attacked Col. T. R. Freeman’s Confederates, driving them from their camp at Lunenburg. Four Confederates were seriously wounded and two were captured, along with horses and equipment. The Fourth Arkansas lost one man killed in the skirmish. The combat at Lunenburg illustrates the war’s true nature: Most of the men in both forces were residents of Izard County.”

The Izard County Historical and Genealogical Society is raising $1,000 in matching funds for the plaque. Contributions can be sent to ICHGS, PO Box 306, Pineville, AR 72566. To watch the battle of Lunenburg, take Highway 9 southwest from Melbourne, turn left on Country Road 3, drive back three and a half miles to the Community Center. For more information, contact Historical Society President Roger Harvell at 870-368-3618 or mailto:rogerh48@earthlink.net

2 comments:

Jim Evans said...

The lone soldier killed from Baxter's Forth Infantry was my great great granduncle Asa Williams.

Laura Bowles said...

I have been looking all day for war records on Asa Williams, my 3rd great grand uncle and after making assumptions about him being in CSA I kept going nowhere. Finally I narrowed it down and found this site. I was just wondering if the lone soldier killed from the 4th was Asa whom I have a death date of Jan 21, 1864 in Lunenburg and then read Jim
Evans' comment! Jim, I am on ancestry.com. Thanks for your site, and I am so sorry I missed the re-enactment. Will include this spot on our next vacation! Laura Bowles