News Release

Harpers Ferry holiday program portrays a Civil War town under martial law

Date: November 21, 2022
Contact: Leah Taber, 304-579-9208

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. – On December 3 and 4, experience a Union-garrisoned town during the 1864 Christmas season in “Captain Flagg’s US Quartermaster City: Prospects of Peace.”  Join the conversation as park staff and living history volunteers portraying Federal soldiers and civilian workers talk about the town’s transformation from war-torn community to successful war machine for Union General Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Encounter a tempered holiday celebration overshadowed by realities of war.

Saturday, December 3

• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Living history exhibits open (historic Lower Town)
• 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. – “Decking the Halls: Ornaments for the Tree.” Make 19th century tin tinsel and tin spiral decorations and edible ornaments to use on your tree at home. (Tent on The Green - Shenandoah Street)
• Noon – “The Perfect Gift, 1864.” Visit the shopkeeper, a Civil War veteran, to discover what this last Yuletide of the War means and the types of gifts Americans are hoping to receive. (Dry Goods Store - Shenandoah Street)
• 2 p.m. – "Caught Yesterday, French Bill, Notorious Murderer and Bushwacker." Follow the Provost Marshal as they deal with the crime and punishment of a well-known Union Army deserter. Guided tour includes a historic weapons firing demonstration. (Begins at tent on The Green - Shenandoah Street)
• 3 to 5 p.m. – "A Grand Military and Citizen's Ball." Join the 34th Massachusetts officers and their wives as they host a Victorian dance. Dance instruction provided by the Victorian Dance Ensemble to period dance music by Wheaton's Parlor Orchestra. (Tent on The Green - Shenandoah Street)

Sunday, December 4

• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Living history exhibits open (historic Lower Town)
• Noon – "A Visit from St. Nicholas, 1864." This is the most famous and well-remembered American poem of all time. A program for young and old alike! (Dry Goods Store - Shenandoah Street)
• 2 p.m. – "Caught Yesterday, French Bill, Notorious Murderer and Bushwacker." (Begins at tent on The Green - Shenandoah Street)
• 3 p.m. – "Wagons, Ho Ho Ho!" Seen as a great gift from the Army to its soldiers fighting in the Shenandoah Valley, the US Quartermaster pulled 1,000 supply wagons with over 6,000 mules from Harpers Ferry to the front. Meet the soldiers and the animals and inspect a wagon that represents a once-vast 6-acre operation along Potomac Street. (Market Street, next to the park's wagon) 

Traffic flow in historic Lower Town will be modified from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4:

• Traffic eastbound on Shenandoah Street will close to vehicles at the intersection of Shenandoah Street and Shoreline Drive. Traffic will be rerouted to Shoreline Drive for park visitors or to US 340/Washington Street for Olde Tyme Christmas event attendees.
• Traffic westbound on High Street and Washington Street will close to vehicles between Shenandoah Street and Henry Clay Street. 
• Hog Alley and Public Way will be closed to vehicle traffic. 

We recommend parking in the Visitor Center parking lot and taking the park shuttle bus. Bus service to Lower Town will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, December 3 and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 4. 

Harpers Ferry operated as the main staging area for Union Army operations in the Shenandoah Valley. Everything that the Army needed to fight came into and moved out of the town’s former US Armory site. 60,000 troops and their supplies advanced from Harpers Ferry via railroad or wagon train, and the same means of transportation brought back a steady stream of prisoners along with the dead and wounded. Town buildings morphed into hospitals and headquarters for the Christian Commission and Sanitary Commission, organizations that provided charity, aid, and comfort to soldiers spending the holidays far from home. Civilians experienced a Yuletide dampened by concerns for loved ones fighting on other battlefields.