Jones Countians have the opportunity this weekend to be a part of a living history in the historic town of Clinton that features a glimpse into the daily lives people of the 1800s and the reenactment of two Civil War battles.
The city that was the county seat of Jones County from 18081905 will come back to life with the sights and sounds of Civil War-era Georgia Saturday and Sunday, May 3-4. The gates of the town will open to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Each day at 2 p.m., re-enactors will recreate battles fought in Jones County in the last months of 1864, the battles of Sunshine Church and Griswoldville. The battles will feature weapons of the period, including muskets and cannons.
War Days is an annual fundraiser for Old Clinton Historic Society. According to OCHS president Earlene Hamilton, its first prototype was held in April of 1982.
War Days began as part of a Spring celebration with a few re-enactors being invited as almost an afterthought to the festival. The popularity of the re-enactment so enhanced the event that War Days emerged as the center of the activity.
Hamilton said this year’s reenactment will expand the focus on women’s contributions, using thestory of the Battle of Sunshine Church and the ladies who doctored and nursed the wounded.
Both Confederate and Union soldiers will live in reconstructed troop camps scattered throughout the historic town. Narrations explaining Clinton’s connection to the events leading to Sherman’s 1864 March to the Sea and the battles begin each afternoon at 1:45 p.m.
The c. 1809 McCarthy- Pope House, furnished and decorated by the Ladies of the Confederacy, will be open for tours. At 11 a.m. Saturday, there will be a Ladies’ tea at the historic home and a church service at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Miss Annie’s Store will be set up as an 1800s mercantile establishment and will also display a variety of war relics, a prize-winning exhibit of Griswold pistol parts, an example of a finished Griswold pistol, a Burnside carbine, other war weapons and authentic Confederate currency.
The event includes demonstrations of crafts of the era as well as arts and crafts of today for sale. A variety of food vendors and food of the period will also be available.
Saturday’s events will conclude with a memorial service at 8 p.m. in Old Clinton Cemetery to honor Clinton’s Confederate soldiers, led by the 16th Georgia, Company G, Jackson Rifles, CSA, Inc.
More information about War Days can be found at www.oldclinton.org.
