Civil War events set for October

Commemorations of Civil War battles and other activities in October have been sanctioned by the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission to observe the war’s 150th anniversary.

A Massard Prairie Re-enactment is scheduled for today at Massard Prairie Park at Red Pine Drive and Morgans Way in Fort Smith to commemorate the July 27, 1864, Battle at Massard Prairie on the outskirts of Fort Smith. The Confederate victory led to the Battle of Fort Smith days later.

On Oct. 9, the Bryant Historical Society will present a video on the Oct. 23, 1864, Battle of Hurricane Creek where Confederates attacked Union troops, resulting in 28 deaths.

Drew Hodges will lecture Oct. 9 during the Batesville Civil War Round Table meeting on “The Life of Jefferson Davis Before the War,” at First Community Bank, 1325 Harrison St., in Batesville.

The Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock, will be host Oct. 10 to “Torn by War: The Civil War Journal of Mary Adelia Byers,” a lecture and reception for the di- ary’s editor, Samuel R. Phillips.

Camp White Sulphur Springs Living History Weekend will be Oct. 11-12 at the Camp White Sulphur Springs Confederate Cemetery in Jefferson County.

A traveling exhibit, “Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and the March on Washington, 1963,” will be on display through Oct. 17 at the Dean B. Ellis Library at Arkansas State University at Jonesboro.

The 20th annual Ghosts of the Past, featuring Civil War re-enactors among others, will be Oct. 18 at Arkansas Post National Memorial, Gillett (Arkansas County).

Reed’s Bridge Battlefield Park on Arkansas 161 in Jacksonville will host its annual Reed’s Bridge event Oct. 18. This year’s event will feature an “1860s-style political rally.” The Battle at Reed’s Bridge was Aug. 27, 1863, leading up to Union troops capturing Little Rock.

A list of all sanctioned activities, contact information and other details about forthcoming events are available, along with other information about sesquicentennial observances, at arkansascivilwar150.com/events.