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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T190000
DTSTAMP:20260917T013438Z
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UID:10007925-1789822800-1789930800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Civil War Encampment Weekend Brings the 1860s to Life During Hopkinton’s 250th Celebration
DESCRIPTION:Civil War Encampment Weekend turns a corner of Crandall Field in Ashaway into an 1860s military camp on Saturday and Sunday\, September 19–20\, with living-history reenactors camping overnight\, period clothing\, music\, historical storytelling\, and the possibility of cannon fire. \nAnd this one is bigger than the encampment alone. \nThe weekend is part of Hopkinton’s 250th anniversary celebration\, so the town has built two days of activities around the living-history camp. There will be horse-drawn hayrides\, food trucks\, children’s activities\, historical displays\, and musicians roaming the grounds. Saturday adds an opening ceremony\, community dinner\, and fireworks. Sunday continues the encampment and concludes with an evening performance by The Swell Band. \nWith the exception of food and Saturday’s ticketed dinner\, the activities are free. \nThe setting also gives the Civil War component some genuine local context. Men from Hopkinton served in Rhode Island regiments during the war\, while Ashaway itself had connections to the abolition movement and Underground Railroad before the fighting began. \nThis Isn’t Just a Few Reenactors Stopping By for the Afternoon\nThe encampment is being established on the Route 216 side of Crandall Field\, and the reenactors are staying there throughout the weekend. \nThat means tents\, camp equipment and the routines of military life become part of the landscape rather than a brief scheduled demonstration. \nHopkinton’s organizers describe it as an opportunity to experience living history from the 1860s. \nThe encampment continues through both days and overnight Saturday\, giving visitors a look at the physical world occupied by Civil War soldiers away from the battlefield. \nFor soldiers in the 1860s\, battles occupied only a fraction of military service. \nMuch more time was spent in camp. \nSoldiers drilled\, cooked\, cleaned equipment\, wrote letters\, repaired clothing\, stood guard\, waited for orders and tried to make themselves comfortable in circumstances that frequently were anything but comfortable. \nLiving-history encampments attempt to reconstruct some of that less dramatic but essential part of the Civil War experience. \nAnd Yes\, There May Be a Cannon\nOrganizers say the reenactors plan to fire their cannon if conditions and permissions allow. \nThat’s an important qualification. \nThe cannon firing isn’t guaranteed. \nBut if it happens\, it should provide a rather convincing reminder that Civil War artillery is something very different when experienced physically instead of through a television speaker. \nEven demonstration charges without projectiles produce tremendous concussion and sound. \nThe encampment continues rain or shine\, according to Hopkinton’s official anniversary schedule. \nThe Weekend Begins With a Saturday Opening Ceremony\nThe formal celebration begins at 1 p.m. Saturday with an opening ceremony. \nLocal Boy Scouts will provide an honor guard\, accompanied by patriotic music and presentations. \nFrom there\, the field becomes a mixture of eras. \nThe Civil War encampment occupies one portion of the grounds\, while volunteers dressed in 19th-century clothing circulate through the celebration. \nA wandering fiddler will perform music from the 1700s and 1800s\, and a harpist will perform in the gazebo during meal periods. \nHistorical storytelling is planned for children and adults\, with an emphasis on Rhode Island and Hopkinton history. \nThere will also be drawing and art activities for younger visitors built around a “Happy Birthday America!” theme. \nHopkinton’s Civil War Connection Was Personal\nFor Hopkinton families in the 1860s\, the war wasn’t something happening exclusively in Virginia\, Tennessee or Georgia. \nLocal men left town to fight. \nRhode Island responded quickly after the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861. President Abraham Lincoln initially called upon the state to supply 780 men\, and Rhode Island’s General Assembly moved rapidly to meet the request. \nWithin days\, Rhode Island troops were leaving for war. \nAmong the first was the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia under Col. Ambrose E. Burnside\, who would become one of the state’s most famous Civil War figures. \nThe regiment included a company from nearby Westerly. \nOver the next four years\, Rhode Islanders served in infantry\, cavalry\, artillery and naval units across the war. \nHopkinton was part of that story. \nA Dozen Hopkinton Men Went Into the 4th Rhode Island Together\nOne particularly interesting local connection involves the 4th Rhode Island Infantry. \nHopkinton did not raise enough men to form its own company for the regiment. \nInstead\, about a dozen Hopkinton men were placed in Company D\, whose ranks otherwise came primarily from Glocester and Burrillville. \nHistorical accounts describe the Hopkinton recruits initially being regarded as the “South County Boys” by their northern Rhode Island comrades. \nEventually\, those distinctions faded as the men trained and fought together. \nThe 4th Rhode Island would see serious combat\, including the bloody fighting at Antietam and Fredericksburg. \nThat puts a local dimension on the rows of tents and military equipment visitors will see at Crandall Field. \nFor men from Hopkinton\, an encampment like this once wasn’t a historical display. \nIt was where they lived. \nTwo Hopkinton Soldiers Died One Day Apart\nThe story becomes even more personal with the 7th Rhode Island Infantry. \nTwo young men connected to Hopkinton\, George Washington Gardiner and Gideon Franklin Collins\, served in Company A. \nThey died in October 1862 while the regiment was encamped in Maryland. \nNot in battle. \nFrom disease. \nGardiner died first. Collins followed the next day\, on his 25th birthday\, after contracting typhoid fever. \nTheir deaths were among the regiment’s first. \nThe loss made such an impression that Col. Zenas Randall Bliss ordered the entire regiment to participate in a funeral ceremony for them. \nIt’s a useful piece of history to remember while walking through a recreated military camp. \nDisease killed enormous numbers of Civil War soldiers. Camp sanitation\, contaminated water\, infectious disease and primitive medical knowledge could be every bit as dangerous as combat. \nAshaway Had Another Connection to the Coming War\nThe story of Civil War-era Hopkinton actually begins before Fort Sumter. \nNot far from the weekend’s celebration stands the historic Jacob D. Babcock House in Ashaway. \nBabcock was an outspoken abolitionist. \nHe repeatedly ran for lieutenant governor on the Liberty and Free Soil tickets and became chairman of Rhode Island’s delegation to the first Republican National Convention in 1856. \nHistorical research also identifies his Ashaway home as a station on the Underground Railroad\, although the secretive nature of that work means precise documentation of the people assisted there has not survived. \nThere’s an especially striking Civil War connection to the house. \nOn the night of December 31\, 1862\, Hopkinton residents gathered there as the clock approached midnight. \nThey were waiting for January 1\, 1863. \nThe day Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect. \nThat history happened only a short distance from where visitors will be walking among the encampment this weekend. \nRhode Island Sent Black Soldiers to War\, Too\nRhode Island’s Civil War history also includes the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored). \nThe regiment was composed of Black enlisted soldiers commanded\, as was federal policy at the time\, by white officers. \nThe unit served in Louisiana and Texas. \nAlthough it did not experience major combat\, disease took an enormous toll. The Rhode Island Historical Society notes that it suffered the highest number of deaths of any Rhode Island unit during the war\, with nearly all resulting from disease. \nThe regiment was part of a much larger transformation after the Emancipation Proclamation opened the Union Army more broadly to Black enlistment. \nBy the end of the war\, roughly 200\,000 Black Americans had served in the Union Army and Navy. \nThat makes the local story of abolition in Ashaway and the military history being interpreted this weekend parts of the same larger history. \nHopkinton Is Using the Weekend to Tell More Than Military History\nThe anniversary committee isn’t limiting its historical interpretation to soldiers. \nThe Tomaquag Museum is expected to participate with an exhibit highlighting Indigenous culture and regional history. Organizers say the museum may also promote the effort to create a statue honoring Ellison “Tarzan” Brown\, the Narragansett runner from Westerly who twice won the Boston Marathon. \nThat matters in an anniversary celebration covering 250 years. \nHopkinton’s history didn’t begin with European settlement\, and it certainly can’t be understood solely through wars. \nThe weekend’s historical storytelling is intended to broaden the picture. \nHorse-Drawn Hayrides and Period Music Fill Out the Grounds\nNot everything requires a history lesson. \nHorse-drawn hayrides will operate around the grounds. \nA wandering fiddler will perform music dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. \nA harpist will provide music during meal periods. \nVolunteers in period clothing will circulate through the celebration. \nFood trucks and local vendors will be on site throughout the weekend. \nThree large tents are being erected to provide shelter and meal space\, an important detail because the celebration is scheduled to proceed rain or shine. \nThe town is also providing an accessible transportation option. Hopkinton’s handicapped shuttle van will run between Ashaway School and the Crandall House. \nSaturday Night Ends With Fireworks\nSaturday has the more elaborate evening schedule. \nA community pulled pork and chicken dinner begins at 5 p.m.\, with mac and cheese\, pork and beans\, cornbread and salad. \nUnlike the rest of the celebration\, the dinner isn’t free. \nTickets are $28 per person\, must be purchased in advance and will not be sold on site Saturday. \nPeople without dinner tickets aren’t being left hungry. Food trucks and other vendors will continue selling food. \nThen\, at 7:30 p.m.\, fireworks are scheduled over Crandall Field. \nSevere weather could push the fireworks to Sunday\, but the Civil War encampment itself continues regardless of the weather. \nSunday Keeps the Encampment Going\nThe Westerly Sun’s Sunday listing begins at 1 p.m.\, and Hopkinton’s official schedule likewise identifies 1 p.m. as Sunday’s start time for the anniversary activities. \nThe Civil War camp\, however\, is described by organizers as continuous throughout the weekend\, with reenactors remaining on site overnight. \nSunday again includes food trucks\, period music\, volunteers in 1800s clothing\, storytelling and children’s activities. \nThe weekend then makes a considerable chronological leap. \nAt 5:45 p.m. Sunday\, The Swell Band is scheduled to perform. \nThat’s less Civil War camp and more community birthday party. \nWhich is really what this entire weekend is. \nWhy Hopkinton Is Celebrating 250 Years in 2026\nHopkinton’s anniversary activities commemorate the town’s incorporation in 1757\, but the community has been using 2026 for a broad series of commemorative activities connected with local history and America’s 250th anniversary era. \nThe celebration isn’t confined to one weekend. \nEarlier activities took place in June\, while the Civil War Encampment Weekend occupies September 19–20. \nA Liberty Tree Planting Ceremony follows on September 26. \nThe Crandall House itself is part of Hopkinton history. \nThe historic property dates to around the turn of the 19th century\, and the Crandall House and surrounding field were acquired by the town in 1976\, following a gift from the Crandall family combined with federal funding. \nToday the property functions as a recreation and community center. \nFor one September weekend\, the field becomes something else. \nCanvas tents go up. \nPeriod clothes come out. \nA fiddler begins playing. \nAnd\, if everything goes according to plan\, somewhere on the Route 216 side of the field a cannon is going to make sure everyone knows the Civil War encampment has arrived. \nDetails\nEvent: Civil War Encampment Weekend\nDates: Saturday–Sunday\, September 19–20\, 2026\nSunday Time: Anniversary activities begin at 1 p.m.; the Civil War encampment is continuous through the weekend\nLocation: Crandall House and Crandall Field\nAddress: 188 Main Street\, Ashaway\, RI 02804\nEncampment Location: Route 216 side of Crandall Field\nAdmission: Free\nCivil War Encampment: Living-history camp operating throughout the weekend and overnight\nCannon: Firing is planned if conditions and permissions allow\nOther Activities: Historical storytelling\, children’s activities\, period-costumed volunteers\, wandering fiddler\, harp music\, horse-drawn hayrides\, historical displays\, food trucks and vendors\nSaturday Opening Ceremony: 1 p.m.\nSaturday Community Dinner: 5 p.m.; $28 advance ticket required\, no day-of dinner ticket sales\nSaturday Fireworks: 7:30 p.m.; may move to Sunday in severe weather\nSunday Music: The Swell Band at 5:45 p.m.\nWeather: Rain or shine; Civil War encampment continues regardless of weather\nAccessibility: Hopkinton’s handicapped shuttle van will transport visitors between Ashaway School and the Crandall House\nParking: Follow event signage and directions at the Crandall House/Field area \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/civil-war-encampment-weekend-brings-the-1860s-to-life-during-hopkintons-250th-celebration/
LOCATION:Crandall House & Crandall Field\, 188 Main St A\, Ashaway\, RI\, 02804\, United States
CATEGORIES:Crandall House & Crandall Field
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