By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Holland’s Van Raalte Farm will again be the site of the annual Civil War Muster next month.
This year’s event, which will be held Sept. 18-20, is the 17th year the muster has been held, and has taken on expanded significance since this year marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country.
To that end, the muster will incorporate the Revolutionary War as well as the Civil War. In addition, the Freedom 250 mobile museum will be on site and available for tours, said Rick Veenhoven, president and chairman of the event’s organizing committee.
Admission to the muster is free, with food available for purchase on site.
The muster weekend begins on Friday with an education day, as local fifth-grade students will visit the site. They will get to see the encampment of the reenactors, watch military drills and hear an address from a guest lecturer, speaking as President Abraham Lincoln, Veenhoven said.
The highlight event of the weekend is the reenactment of the First Battle of Bull Run that took place in Virginia on July 21, 1861.
“The first battle of Bull Run was probably the first and most significant battle of the American Civil War,” Veenhoven said.
In that battle, an undermanned Confederate army defeated the Union troops, resulting in President Lincoln calling for 500,000 more troops and installing Gen. George McClellan as head of the Union forces. The battle resulted in nearly 5,000 casualties, including close to 850 deaths. It was also the battle where Confederate Gen. Thomas Jackson earned the nickname “Stonewall.”
“This is a significant battle, because so many of the politicians and so many of the civilians thought this was going to be a one-and-done type of battle,” Veenhoven said.
The First Battle of Bull Run will be reenacted both Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Other highlights of the weekend will include a presidential panel – featuring actors portraying Presidents Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln and Grant. The panel will include George Washington’s speech from when he was inaugurated as the nation’s first president.
“This is what they do for their living. They do it very well,” Veenhoven said.
The presidential panel will take place Saturday from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Van Raalte house stage.
A Revolutionary War skirmish will be reenacted on the front lawn of the Van Raalte house at 3:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend will also feature portrayals of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and of the abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who helped 70 slaves escape from the South through the Underground Railroad.
Also part of the weekend’s activities is a tribute to the late Hope College professor Fred Johnson, a noted Civil War historian who served on the event’s organizing board up until his death on Feb. 27 of this year. That service will take place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the Van Raalte house stage.
Public hours for the muster are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Parking will be available at the Yanfeng (formerly Johnson Controls) lot, located at 858 E. 24th St. From there, visitors will be taken by shuttle to the entrance of Van Raalte Farm on 16th Street. During the times of the battle, the shuttles will also be making a stop at the 24th Street entrance, which is closer to the battlefield.
Zeeland Record
Holland’s Van Raalte Farm will again be the site of the annual Civil War Muster next month.
This year’s event, which will be held Sept. 18-20, is the 17th year the muster has been held, and has taken on expanded significance since this year marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country.
To that end, the muster will incorporate the Revolutionary War as well as the Civil War. In addition, the Freedom 250 mobile museum will be on site and available for tours, said Rick Veenhoven, president and chairman of the event’s organizing committee.
Admission to the muster is free, with food available for purchase on site.
The muster weekend begins on Friday with an education day, as local fifth-grade students will visit the site. They will get to see the encampment of the reenactors, watch military drills and hear an address from a guest lecturer, speaking as President Abraham Lincoln, Veenhoven said.
The highlight event of the weekend is the reenactment of the First Battle of Bull Run that took place in Virginia on July 21, 1861.
“The first battle of Bull Run was probably the first and most significant battle of the American Civil War,” Veenhoven said.
In that battle, an undermanned Confederate army defeated the Union troops, resulting in President Lincoln calling for 500,000 more troops and installing Gen. George McClellan as head of the Union forces. The battle resulted in nearly 5,000 casualties, including close to 850 deaths. It was also the battle where Confederate Gen. Thomas Jackson earned the nickname “Stonewall.”
“This is a significant battle, because so many of the politicians and so many of the civilians thought this was going to be a one-and-done type of battle,” Veenhoven said.
The First Battle of Bull Run will be reenacted both Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Other highlights of the weekend will include a presidential panel – featuring actors portraying Presidents Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln and Grant. The panel will include George Washington’s speech from when he was inaugurated as the nation’s first president.
“This is what they do for their living. They do it very well,” Veenhoven said.
The presidential panel will take place Saturday from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Van Raalte house stage.
A Revolutionary War skirmish will be reenacted on the front lawn of the Van Raalte house at 3:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend will also feature portrayals of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and of the abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who helped 70 slaves escape from the South through the Underground Railroad.
Also part of the weekend’s activities is a tribute to the late Hope College professor Fred Johnson, a noted Civil War historian who served on the event’s organizing board up until his death on Feb. 27 of this year. That service will take place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the Van Raalte house stage.
Public hours for the muster are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Parking will be available at the Yanfeng (formerly Johnson Controls) lot, located at 858 E. 24th St. From there, visitors will be taken by shuttle to the entrance of Van Raalte Farm on 16th Street. During the times of the battle, the shuttles will also be making a stop at the 24th Street entrance, which is closer to the battlefield.
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