Tessa Resko, the Murfreesboro Post, July 8, 2012
The lawn and the fields of Oaklands Historic House Museum will mimic the Union and Confederate encampments Saturday with soldiers setting up camp, pitching their tents and preparing for a fight.
On July 13, 1862, U.S. Col. William Duffield and the 9th Michigan Infantry Division were camped on Oaklands’ front lawn near the Maneys’ Spring.
In a surprise attack, Confederate Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest and his men snuck up on the regiment. The fight with the North ended in Union surrender.
Duffield was wounded, leading to their surrender that took place in the Oaklands mansion.
“War means fighting, and fighting means killing,” Forrest said to his troops.
In remembrance of the moment when the South won back Murfreesboro in the Battle of Stones River, Oaklands Historic House Museum will be holding a public event, inviting families to come out and experience life during the Civil War.
Imagine using a time machine and ending up in Murfreesboro in 1862. This will be the event’s setting.
The lawn and the fields will mimic the Union and Confederate encampments. Families will observe soldiers setting up camp, pitching their tents and preparing for a fight.
Soldiers will be using Civil War era tools and trades, and they will be in proper uniform, authenticating the experience. Although this will not be an interactive exhibit, Oaklands offers plenty of educational programs and camps throughout the rest of the year for those interested in learning and being more active in Civil War re-enactments.
For this celebration, attendees will feel like they are walking through time while being invisible.
It is entirely observational, and there will be no acting inside the house during the tours.
For people and families interested in local or military history, Civil War tools and trades or are looking for somewhere to spend a Saturday, the Oaklands Civil War Remembrance: Surrender Ceremony is ideal for whatever it is that you are yearning for.
This experience begins on the morning of Saturday, July 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free to the outside event.
There will be half-hour, guided museum tours starting at 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. The cost is $5 per person, and children 5 years and younger are free.
The tours will not be full tours of the house, but will be in coordination with the Civil War. The actual Surrender Ceremony begins at 2 o’clock, also free to the public, and will only last a few minutes.
Parking will be on Roberts Street, which is attached to the mansion’s own driveway. The entrance will be at the pavilion.
Worried about the July heat?
The gift shop will be selling drinks and snacks to visitors. It also has beautiful plantation-era relics, like toys, bonnets and pipes, on display and for sell.
If you are less interested in the military standpoint of the Civil War, the following weekend, Friday, July 20, through Sunday, July 22, Oaklands Mansion is holding a clothing exhibit in Maney Hall from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. that weekend for $5 dollars a person. The clothing will be from PNJW (Phillips and Janine Whiteman) Collections in Georgia.
This is a good experience for people interested in textiles, sewing and the history and evolution of clothing.
A different set of campers will be set up than the ones there for the surrender ceremony.
A ranger will be giving tours of the Stones River Battlefield. Half-hour house tours will be given in coordination with the Civil War Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at regular price: adults are $10, children are $5 dollars and children 5 years and younger are free.
At 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, a Galloping to Victory Ceremony will take place at the Stones River National Battlefield. There will also be Union Infantry demonstrations of the soldiers’ lives during their time in the war at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Oaklands Mansion is located at 900 Maney Ave., in Murfreesboro, Tenn.