Minute Men to Minute Men
North Bridge Visitor Center
Saturday, May 24
10am - 4:30pm
As we launch into the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Minute Man National Historical Park is working on programs that not only tell the story of the revolution but how it impacted the development of the United States.
In the spring of 1861, President Abraham Lincoln put out a call for volunteers to suppress the secessionist rebellion brewing in the south. As a result, thousands of men from local communities like Concord, Acton, and Lowell answered the call as “Minute Men.”
Shockingly on April 19, 1861, the 6th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia (Minute Men) came under attack by a secessionist mob while transferring trains in Baltimore, Maryland. In a brutal melee the secessionist killed five militiamen and wounded 36 others. Overall, the battle resulted in the death of twelve Baltimoreans. These casualties are often cited as the first combat casualties of the American Civil War. For many of the Massachusetts soldiers, the symbology of their first combat experience occurring on the same day their grandfathers started the revelation was poignant.
Schedule of Events:
10:00 am~ Artifacts of the Pratt Street Riot and Living History at North Bridge Visitor Center
*Ongoing throughout the day.
10:00 am~ Uniforms and equipment of the 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia
11:00 am~ If there is no struggle, there is no progress: The Radicalization of Massachusetts before 1861
1:00 pm~ The Pratt Street Riot: Battlefield in a Box
2:00 pm~ Minute Men of 1775 to Minute Men of 1861
*Musket Firing Demonstration*
3:00 pm~ From Annapolis to Bull Run: The Massachusetts Volunteer Militia
4:30 pm~ Event Ends
This event is sponsored by
Friends of Minute Man National Park
