Battle of Port Jefferson

BATTLE OF PORT JEFFERSON

May 2th, 3th, 4th in the year of 1864

Travel back to 1864....
What could have happened in the very busy Port of Jefferson, Texas?

The Marion County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 2008 reenactment:

THE LARGEST REENACTMENT IN TEXAS!

At the Tuscumbia Ranch - owned by the Key Family

The following information will provide details regarding the reenactment event:
* Event Schedule * Event Supporters and Visitor Information * Reenactor/Civilian Registration
* Sutler’s Row * Ticket Information * Southern Heritage Grand Ball * 1864 Ladies Reception
* Living History Day *Spectators Information * For further information, please feel free to contact us

Regarding the Reenactment of the Battle of Port Jefferson…

“This will go down in the TMVI history as one of the great ones!”
The Trans-Mississippi Volunteer Infantry Battalion Website

“The Battle of Port Jefferson is an event for the entire family!”
The Reenactment Coordinator, Tammy Pettigrew Ennis

Thursday, May 1, 2008

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Registration of Reenactors & Civilians
Chamber of Commerce, 118 N. Vale

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Reenactment & Ball Ticket Sales Chamber of Commerce/ Cypress Valley Education Center

Friday, May 2, 2008

Sutlers Open Downtown Jefferson

9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Living History Day Battlefield

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Registration of Reenactors, Civilians & Horses Chamber of Commerce 118 N. Vale

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Reenactment & Ball Ticket Sales Chamber of Commerce 118 N.Vale

11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Pilgrimage: Tour of Homes Jefferson / Excelsior

8:00 p.m. Pilgrimage: Diamond Bessie Murder Trial Jefferson / Excelsior

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Sutlers Open Downtown Jefferson

8:00 a.m. –   9:30 a.m. Registration of Reenactors, Civilians & Horses Chamber of Commerce 118 N. Vale

8:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. Reenactors’ Shuttles are available Town to Battlefield

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Parade line-up Lions Park, Jefferson

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Parade / Town Skirmish Jefferson

1:00 p.m.
1864 Ladies Reception
Period Attire Required

House of the Seasons
   409 S. Alley St.

11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Pilgrimage: Tour of Homes Jefferson / Excelsior

4:00 p.m. Battle Tuscumbia Ranch

5:00 p.m. –   6:00 p.m. Encampments Open to Public Battlefield & Downtown Jefferson

6:00 p.m. Reenactor / Civilian Dinner Battlefield

8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Southern Heritage Grand Ball
Period Attire Required 1850 Historical
CVA Building, Jefferson

8:00 p.m. Pilgrimage: Diamond Bessie Murder Trial Jefferson / Excelsior

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Sutlers Open Downtown Jefferson

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Presentation of Colors Reenactment/Reception
Period Attire Encouraged Episcopal Church, Jefferson

1:30 p.m. Battle Tuscumbia Ranch

11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Pilgrimage: Tour of Homes Jefferson / Excelsior

2:00 p.m. Pilgrimage: Diamond Bessie Murder Trial Jefferson / Excelsior

*Event times subject to change. Contact Chamber for more information.

Other activities and family entertainment:

Museums; Riverboat Rides; Steam Engine Train Rides; Living Room Theater; Historical Churches;
Carriage Rides; Trolley and Mule/Horse Drawn Wagon Tours; Historic Oakwood Cemetery;
Antique and Gift Shops; Restaurants and Cafes; Various City and Ghost Tours

Would you like to PRE-REGISTER for our 2008 Event?
Click here to sign up.

The source for Civil War Reenactment Events,
Events, Reenacting Units and Supplies.
http://www.reenactmenthq.com/eventlist.asp

Attention History Teachers and Educators!!
Bring your school to attend Living History Day!
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
Call 1-888-467-3529
or
903-665-2672
jeffersonchamber@sbcglobal.net

Reenactment Festivities are hosted by the Marion County Chamber of Commerce Pilgrimage Festivities are hosted by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club

To view a video of last years battle, please click on the link below.
Remember to use your Back button to come back to our web site.

Video of Battle of Port Jefferson 2007

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BROOKSHIRE’S PITCHES IN FOR RE-ENACTMENT

$2,000 Contribution To Feed Troops After May 3 Battle

If an army travels on its stomach, troops registering for this year’s Battle of Port Jefferson enactment on May 3-4 should be able to travel a good ways.

Brookshire’s last week donated $2,000 in gift cards to the Marion County Chamber of Commerce, host organization for what has become the largest gathering of Civil War re-enactors in the State of Texas.

“This is a huge boost to our budget for the re-enactment,” said event chairman Charlie Chitwood. “One of our biggest expenditures is for the food needed to feed our guests on Saturday after the first battle. Thanks to Brookshire’s, we’re going to be able to put on quite a chow line for the re-enactors and any of the spectators that want to stay, eat and mingle with the rest of the history buffs.”

The Chamber is expecting close to 1,000 re-enactors to be on hand for this year’s “Battle” portion of the 61^st Annual Historic Pilgrimage, with “soldiers” and their families coming from at least five states - Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The civilian contingent gets into the act as well, dressing and acting as suttlers, doctors and camp followers of both Federal and Confederate forces.

The Battle of Port Jefferson again follows a “what-if” scenario set in the spring of 1864. Union Major General Nathaniel P. Banks forces were destined for Texas had his Red River Campaign succeeded, and the defense of Jefferson’s inland river port - along with its valuable stores of supplies, would certainly have been a Federal target.

Re-enactor created Federal and Confederate troops will again skirmish in Jefferson’s downtown historic district to set the stage for the larger-scale battles at Rudd and Evelyn Key’s Tuscumbia Ranch.

“The opportunity to ‘fight’ like this on the city streets is one of our big draws within the re-enactment community,“ Chitwood said. “The bulk of these guests will also be camped out in and around the downtown blocks - they had the opportunity to do that last year for the first time and it was a real hit.”

Black powder rations for the troops and artillery - as well as the pyrotechnics used to simulate the effect of artillery fire at the battlefield - remain the biggest expenditures for the event. Most cash solicitations for the vent are put toward those budget items.

“We have created the ‘Jefferson Society of the Cannon Cockers’ (an Army nick-name for artillery units) to help fund the black-powder purchase,” Chitwood said. “It’s very much like the ‘Firecracker 50’ that supports our July 4 fireworks display. Minimum contributions of $50 give people membership in this support unit and they’ll be recognized in the event program and at the battlefield for their contribution. We’ve already raised $750 and we’re hoping to top $3,000.”

Friday, May 2 will be the day that schoolchildren from around East Texas come to town for a tour of the Living History Encampment. Native son Paul Hamilton’s troops will again put on the educational demonstrations out at the battlefield between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

“We already have 1,700 school children lined up for this,” Chitwood said. “The kids really seem to enjoy the encampment, particularly getting to see how a 19^th-century field hospital worked and as well as seeing one of the artillery pieces fired.”

After Saturday’s fighting concludes, troops and followers of both camps will descend upon the Cypress Valley Alliance Center on Austin Street for the formal Heritage Ball. “Time Was,” a band performing music of that era on period instruments, will again entertain the audience. Most of the re-enactors will be decked out in their finest regalia for the affair and the public is invited to attend as well - either period attire or formal wear is required, however. Tickets to the ball are $10-$12 and can be purchased at the Chamber office.

Prior to Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. battle at Tuscumbia Ranch, many of the troops will gather before Christ Episcopal Church for the annual “Presentation of the Colors” re-enactment. This brief ceremony is the only true re-enactment staged all weekend, with the ceremony a re-creation of the sending off of the Jefferson Guard unit that was raised in 1861. This year’s re-enactment includes a roll call of the men who formed the unit as well as a 25^th-anniversary appearance by Phillip Lowe and the Hill College Confederate Band.