“Battle on the Red River” Re-Enactment

Remember the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War and the Red River Campaign through living history, battle re-enactments, and symposia, March 6-9, 2014, in Alexandria and Pineville. This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the Red River Campaign.

All events are free and open to the public.

Enjoy “A Taste of the Old South” during a symposium being offered Thursday, March 6, at Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site (SHS), 135 Riverfront Street in Pineville. The event will feature a social hour with food and music from the Civil War era and guest speaker, author and humorist, Dr. Donald Frazier. Frazier will speak on “Alexandria: The Most Important Louisiana City in the Civil War.”

Forts Randolph & Buhlow SHS will host school day on Friday, March 7, with living history stations, artillery demonstrations, camp life tours, and black pot cooking. Interested schools can contact Shirley Ingram to schedule tours by calling (318) 442-9546. The Forts will also be open to the general public.

Delve into “The Red River Campaign” Friday evening Kent Plantation House, 3601 Bayou Rapides Road, with wine and cheese reception and speaker, author and historian, Dr. Gary Joiner. Both the Thursday and Friday evening symposia are presented by the Civil War Roundtable of Central Louisiana.

Saturday, March 8, Forts Randolph & Buhlow SHS will offer camp life tours featuring living history stations depicting life on the battlefield. Camp area will be open 9 a.m. to noon. A battle re-enactment will take place at 1 pm at the State Historic Site.

Join the crowd at 5:15 pm at St. Frances Xavier Cathedral in downtown Alexandria to watch as the Catholic priest saves the church from burning at the hands of the Union soldiers. Based on actual events, the priest saves the only church left standing when Alexandria was burned in 1864 by wielding two pistols.

Forts Randolph & Buhlow SHS will offer a community church service on Sunday, March 9, at 10 am. A battle re-enactment will take place at 1 pm at the State Historic Site. The re-enactment is a depiction of an actual baseball game held on the grounds of Fort Randolph. The Union soldiers were playing baseball in the field when they were surprised by Confederate soldiers.

For more information about these events and other special events, visit AlexandriaPinevilleLA.com or call (318) 442-9546. To learn more about Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site and the re-enactments, call (318) 484-2390.