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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
Media contacts: Nancy Kleinhenz: 800.998.7737 or nkleinhenz@rbhayes.org
For Immediate Release
Civil War reenactment recalls President Hayes' military career
(FREMONT, Ohio, Sept. 10, 2008) – Rutherford B. Hayes loved being a soldier. He preferred the title "General Hayes" to all others – despite the fact that he had been a Congressman, three-term Ohio governor, and 19th President of the United States. After leaving the White House in 1881, Hayes regularly hosted reunions of his Civil War regiment, the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at his Spiegel Grove estate.
Each year, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center re-creates those reunions on the weekend closest to Hayes' Oct. 4, 1822, birth date with its 2008 Hayes Civil War Reenactment. This year's event, sponsored by Solar Solutions by PSI, takes place 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4 & 5. More than 500 costumed Civil War reenactors camp on the grounds of Spiegel Grove and participate in three reenactments of a battle in which President Hayes took part. Event admission is $3/adult and $1/children ages 6-12.
Visitors to the 2008 Hayes Civil War Reenactment can experience the Battle of Opequon Creek as artillery, infantry, and cavalry units re-create the 1864 conflict in which Rutherford Hayes played a crucial role. Battle reenactments are at noon and 3 p.m. Oct. 4 and at 2 p.m. Oct. 5. Immediately following Sunday's battle, the life of our 19th President is commemorated in a military memorial service at the Hayes Tomb. This tribute involves veterans groups, reenactors and active-duty personnel, including Brigadier General Frank A. Cipolla, Deputy Commanding General 88th Regional Readiness Command, Fort Snelling, MN.
Other weekend activities include period entertainment, demonstrations of 19th-century life, lantern tours of soldiers' camps, a Civil War Military Ball (Saturday night), a lecture by Jim Bissland, author of Blood, Tears, & Glory, a program on Civil War fashions by Jomarie Soszynski, and a Sutler's Row area where period food and wares can be purchased.
The 31-room home of President Hayes and his Museum also will be open for tours. A special reenactment-weekend admission of $3 per building is being offered. Museum admission includes entry to the exclusive exhibit Patterns from the Past: Quilts of Northern Ohio. Created by Hayes Presidential Center staff, the exhibit brings together thirty 19th-century quilts fashioned by Northern Ohio women. The exhibit is made possible through the generosity of the Kate Doust Family, with additional funding from the Jeanne Reed Foundation. (NOTE: Event admission does NOT include admission to the Hayes Home or Hayes Museum).
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is located at the corner of Hayes and Buckland avenues, Fremont, Ohio. The facility is affiliated with the Ohio Historical Society. Check the Hayes Presidential Center website www.rbhayes.org for more information about events or the life of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
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