Programs take place outdoors. Come prepared with bug spray, comfortable walking shoes, and water. The 2024 History at Sunset schedule is as follows:
June 15 – “The United Roar Was Sublime”: The Second Battle of Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863
Battlefield hike, 1 mile, meet at the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center; In May 1863, fighting once more returned to the town of Fredericksburg. The action that made up the Second Battle of Fredericksburg was full of drama and carried high stakes for both sides.
June 29 – Wilderness Crossing Trail
Battlefield hike, 1.5 mile, meet at Ellwood on the Wilderness Battlefield; Learn more about those hard at work behind the scenes of the Union army, the area hospitals, and the return of US military forces for Marine Corps exercises in the 1920s around Ellwood Plantation.
July 13 – “To Care for Him Who Shall Have Borne the Battle”: Stories from the Fredericksburg National Cemetery
Battlefield walk, 0.25 mile, meet at the side entrance to the Fredericksburg National Cemetery; Join park rangers for a program that examines the stories of some of the soldiers killed during the war and how their families navigated the difficult realities that war produced and explore how the country made meaning out of the devastation of war.
July 27 – “The Fruit of Grant’s Victories”: Confederate POWs at Spotsylvania Court HouseBattlefield hike, 3/4 mile, meet at the Bloody Angle (tour stop 3 on the Spotsylvania Battlefield); Thousands of Confederate soldiers became prisoners on May 12, 1864. What did their confinement entail? How were they treated by their captors and comrades during and after the war? Join park rangers to examine the experiences of these prisoners.
August 10 – The Legacy of Ellwood: Slavery, Resistance, and Power
Stationary evening talk, meet at Ellwood on the Wilderness Battlefield; What does it mean to resist against oppression? Join us and bring a chair for a talk about this complex place with a storied past of slavery and resistance.
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For more information about park programs visit go.nps.gov/frsp-programs.
