Two-Man Play in Avon on Lincoln/Grant Relationship

From Avon Historical Society

The Avon Historical Society’s Sesquicentennial Committee is pleased to present an “Audience with President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant” on Saturday, December 13 at 1:00pm at the Avon Senior Center, 635 West Avon Road, Avon, CT. It is open to the public courtesy of a grant from Connecticut Humanities and co-sponsored with the Avon Senior Center.

The year is 1864, 150-years ago, when our nation was in the third year of a bloody Civil War. Both the North and the South had suffered terrible tragedy and losses. President Lincoln had won re-election to a second term and gave the full command to General Ulysses S. Grant who was a graduate of West Point with lots of spirit and drive to succeed. Grant had his own way of leading the war effort and Lincoln is hoping to see an end to the effort very soon. This event will be presented by historians and first person re-enactors, Howard Wright as Lincoln and Sam Grant as General Grant. Both men are well known for their portrayals and will engage each other in a dialogue on the events of 1864 when Grant was made General in Chief of all Union Armies by President Lincoln in March of that year. Although these two men took separate paths during the War, they ultimately merged and ended what was the bloodiest battle on American soil with an estimated 750,000 deaths. The audience is encouraged to participate in the discussion, as it progresses, showing how both Lincoln and Grant worked in concert together for the future of our country.

This presentation is part of Avon’s exhibit entitled “SACRIFICE: The Ill-Fated 16th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry” outside the Marian Hunter History Room of the Avon Free Public Library from November 1 through December 31, 2014. It is part of the ongoing “Avon to Appomattox” series supported through 2015 by Connecticut Humanities, Ensign Bickford Foundation, Avon Public Schools, Avon Senior Center and the Avon Free Public Library.

SACRIFICE tells the story about the CT 16th regiment, comprised of men mostly from Hartford County, including 21 from Avon, who served at the Battle of Antietam in 1862 through to the “Siege of the City” at Suffolk, VA in 1863 before finally being captured at Plymouth, NC in 1864. Thirteen Avon men were imprisoned in Andersonville, GA which was thought to be the worst of all the Civil War prisons. While many of the 16thdied in prison, others were paroled and sent home; some with injuries and illnesses so severe that they died shortly after coming home. Photos of many of the men of the 16th will be included in the exhibit. In addition will be images of two of the 16th Connecticut’s flags and maps of Antietam and the Battle of Plymouth, NC. In addition, images of life in the Andersonville Prison in Georgia will be on display.

These events will be followed in March and April 2015 by “Legacies of the Civil War” – an exhibit and series of events that will bring an end to the four-year commemoration. The Society will present four events that focus on the conclusion and aftermath of the War and how Connecticut residents can continue their education of it beyond the national and state commemoration.

Image via White House official portraits