Illinois Memorial to be rededicated this week|[10/22/06]
Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 22, 2006
Even though they’re miles away from Vicksburg, Civil War buffs in Illinois hold the National Military Park here close to their hearts.
“We want people to know that we all have personal connections, even if we live far from Vicksburg,” said Mary Abroe, one of 300 members of the Chicago Civil War Round Table, a group that has helped raise more than $15,000 during the past decade to preserve the Illinois Memorial.
“It’s very special to us,” said Abroe, who has visited the park eight times in the past 20 years. “It’s a national treasure.”
Thursday will mark 100 years since the original dedication of the monument that honors the more than 36,000 Illinois soldiers who fought in the Vicksburg Campaign.
Thousands turned out on that October day in 1906, dressed in their Sunday best and military regalia. Civil War veterans were brought to town via the Illinois Central Railroad, and hundreds lined the streets to watch a parade march along Grove Street to Union Avenue in the park.
“It was an all-day affair with speeches from war leaders, veterans and the governor of Mississippi at the time,” said Terry Winschel, park historian.
It was fitting that the state of Illinois spend as much time and money as possible to honor its war heroes, Winschel said. After all, half the soldiers who fought in the Vicksburg Campaign were from Illinois – including General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union leader, and Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president during the Civil War.
The memorial is still one of the most popular in the park today, Winschel said.
“We have relatives of soldiers come in almost daily to visit,” he said. “It is one of only two memorials in the park that lists names. Wisconsin is the other.”
For many park visitors, it’s a pilgrimage of sorts to see where their loved ones fought and died.
“It’s almost a religious experience for some. They rub the names onto a piece of paper, and some even shed a few tears,” Winschel said.
On Saturday, the park will mark the Illinois Memorial’s anniversary will a rededication ceremony, complete with cannon shots, re-enactments, Civil War-era music and birthday cake.
“It’s a celebration,” Winschel said.
The ceremony will start at 10 a.m. and will feature special guests including the Chicago Light Artillery and the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band, who will play the same musical selections that were played for the original dedication in 1906, said Rock Martin, chief of operations at the park.
Battle re-enactments will continue throughout the day, and the band will move downtown for a free concert on the lawn of the Old Court House at 3 p.m.
“We’re hoping to get a lot of people involved in the festivities,” Martin said.
The Illinois Memorial is one of three structures at the park celebrating its centennial anniversary this year. Pennsylvania turned 100 in March, and Iowa will turn 100 Nov. 15. The two milestones come before the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011 and the Siege of Vicksburg in 2013.
IF YOU GO.
The 100th anniversary of the Illinois Memorial will be celebrated Saturday at the Vicksburg National Military Park. All events are free and open to the public. For information, call 601-619-2908. The schedule: