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Special Event

Event

“Chiefly About War Matters”~ Concord and the American Civil War

Minute Man National Historical Park

Fee:

Free.

Location: LAT/LONG: 42.459060, -71.333007


Wayside: Home of Authors Parking available in National Park Service lot at intersection of Lexington Road and Hawthorne Lane

Dates & Times

Date:

Saturday, July 23, 2022

Time:

10:00 AM

Duration:

7 hours

Type of Event

Living History
Other
Partner Program
Talk

Schedule of Events: 10:00 a.m. ~ 5:00 p.m. Civil War Living History Vignettes and Wayside House Open 11:00 a.m.~ Louisa May Alcott and the United States Sanitary Commission- Nadia Peattie 2:00 p.m.~ “Chiefly About War Matters: Nathanial Hawthorne and the Civil War” ~ Richard Smith 5:00 p.m. ~ Site closed

Description

“Chiefly About War Matters”~ Concord and the American Civil War

(160th Anniversary of Hawthorn’s Chiefly On War Matters)


Saturday, July 23
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Wayside: Home of Authors
Sponsored in partnership with the Friends of Minute Man National Park


Following the outbreak of Civil War in April 1861 hundreds of volunteers departed Concord, Massachusetts to defend their nation teetering on the verge of collapse. From the Battlefields of Virginia to the Hospitals of Washington D.C., Concordians contributed to the war effort in whatever ways they could.

By March of 1862 the Civil War had been going on for almost one year. Wanting to see the seat of war first hand, writer Nathaniel Hawthorne and his editor William Ticknor, took a month-long excursion to Virginia, Washington DC and Harpers Ferry. From out of their experience (including a meeting with President Lincoln) Hawthorne returned to the Wayside House in Concord and wrote a controversial essay entitled, "Chiefly About War Matters".

Join us on Saturday, July 23 at the Wayside: Home of Authors for a day of Civil War Living History, Wayside Open House, and special guest lectures by Park Ranger Nadia Peattie and Historian Richard Smith.

Schedule of Events:

10:00 a.m. ~ 5:00 p.m.Civil War Living History Vignettes and Wayside House Open
11:00 a.m.~ Louisa May Alcott and the United States Sanitary Commission- Nadia Peattie
2:00 p.m.~ “Chiefly About War Matters: Nathanial Hawthorne and the Civil War” ~ Richard Smith
5:00 p.m. ~ Site closed


More information

Reservation or Registration: No

Image Gallery

A Civil War soldier dressed in a blue wool uniform stands in a field with a musket on his shoulder.
A large wooden historic house painted yellow. The house has a tower room and and numerous chimneys
A Civil War soldier dressed in a blue wool uniform stands in a field with a musket on his shoulder.
Come learn about Concord and the Civil War!
NPS Photo
A large wooden historic house painted yellow. The house has a tower room and and numerous chimneys
The Wayside House
NPS Photo