'Spirits of the Civil War' Sept. 10 at Lincoln Tomb

[August 26, 2011]  SPRINGFIELD -- First-person accounts of men who fought in the four branches of the armed services during the Civil War will be presented during "Spirits of the Civil War," a new event on Sept. 10 at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery. The event is free and open to the public.

First-person re-enactors will present their stories from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. on the grounds surrounding the Lincoln Tomb. The men will represent branch of the service -- artillery, navy, infantry and cavalry. Servicemen portrayed will be Isaac Newton, first assistant engineer on the USS Monitor during the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack; Maj. Robert Anderson of the 1st U.S. Artillery in the Battle of Fort Sumter; Samuel Howison of the 49th Virginia Infantry, Extra Billy Smith's Brigade, Earley's Division, 2nd Corps in the Battle of Gettysburg; and John Singleton Mosby, the "Gray Ghost," of the 1st Virginia Cavalry in the Battle of Berryville.

Each branch of the service will have encampments set up on-site and will talk with visitors about life in general during the Civil War.

Re-enactment groups taking part in the event are the 53rd Light Artillery Co. A, 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, Ship's Company USS Carondelet and the reactivated 114th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

The four branches of service are represented by sculptures on the roof of Lincoln Tomb.

Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site, the final resting place of Abraham and Mary Lincoln and three of their four sons, is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]