Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Commemorates The Wilderness

Over the past several days, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness. If you are like me and did not have the opportunity to attend any of the events, you can check out the digital coverage posted by the park on their social media channels (twitter, facebook, and youtube). It looks like it was a successful commemoration. Here are some highlights:

Chief Historian John Hennessy discusses the Army of the Potomac on the eve of the Battle of the Wilderness #cw150 pic.twitter.com/0fwDlWEzIc
— FredSpotNMP (@FredSpotNPS) May 4, 2014

Visitors make their way across Saunders Field - where the armies met today 150 years ago #overland150 #cw150 pic.twitter.com/FqdjmnUvAy
— FredSpotNMP (@FredSpotNPS) May 5, 2014

Members of the audience with ties to Vermont lay wreaths honoring the fallen pic.twitter.com/DbqsGEoesk
— FredSpotNMP (@FredSpotNPS) May 5, 2014

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Vermont honored her Wilderness dead by tolling bells across the state at 4 pm. today. http://t.co/RcU0KpymfQ
— FredSpotNMP (@FredSpotNPS) May 5, 2014

Happening now: crowds gather for a sunrise program at Tapp Field - the site of the 1st assault on May 6 #overland150 pic.twitter.com/2dmDkeLB2n
— FredSpotNMP (@FredSpotNPS) May 6, 2014

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Visitors line up in formation to march through the Wilderness and experience the difficulty of moving forward #cw150 pic.twitter.com/D0ssryoUZs
— FredSpotNMP (@FredSpotNPS) May 6, 2014

Next week will come the commemoration of the Battle of Spotsylvania. I do intend to attend some of the programs planned, and will look forward to reporting back on my experiences. I also have the third and final part of my series on Seymour's brigade in the Wilderness, which I'll post on the blog, hopefully later this week. If you attended any of the Wilderness commemorative programs, and have any thoughts or experiences to share, feel free to post them in the comments section.