Encampment Part Of New England Civil War Museum Grand Reopening

VERNON, CT — The New England Civil War Museum and Research Center in Vernon will celebrate its grand reopening on Saturday with events that will feature an encampment in front of the old Grand Army of the Republic Meeting Hall in Downtown Rockville.

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Central Park in front of Vernon Town Hall The museum is housed in the old GAR Hall on the second floor of town hall.

"The New England Civil War Museum is a national treasure and we are fortunate to have it here in Vernon,"
Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne said. "This grand reopening is a great opportunity for people to learn about the museum and its work preserving and telling the story of a defining time in our nation’s history."

Civil War re-enactors will set up camp in Central Park, recreate camp life, fire muskets and drill just like their
predecessors did 155 years ago. The re-enactors will be allowing children from the crowd of onlookers join them in their drills, said Daniel Hayden Jr., the commander of Alden Skinner Camp No. 45 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, which operates the museum. Living historians will demonstrate impressions of infantry, artillery, navy, signal corps, and civilians of the time. The event will even include a cannon and a working model of the ironclad ship U.S.S. Monitor.

"This is an event for families, Civil War historians, history buffs and anyone else fascinated by the stories of the
farmers, factory workers, craftsmen and other everyday people who went off to war as ‘citizen soldiers’ during
perhaps the most extraordinary time in American history," Hayden said.

The museum will be open for tours and visitors will be able to see the changes made to the museum and its
exhibits during the pandemic.

"We’ve changed the format and setup of the museum so that visitors experience the journey of an average
soldier during the Civil War, from their enlistment, through their service during the war and then their time as
members of veterans organizations," Hayden said. "The grand reopening is a celebration of all that work and of
the museum and what it represents."

Aside from the Civil War-related features, representatives and vehicles from various Town of Vernon

Departments will join the celebration along Park Place, as will representatives from UConn ROTC and other local
organizations. There will also be a used book sale and raffles, Hayden said.

The Memorial Building, which houses the museum and Vernon Town Hall, was built in 1890 as a memorial to
Civil War Veterans. The second floor was dedicated for use by the veterans and served as the meeting place for
the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization of Civil War veterans. The
national GAR dissolved in 1956, after the death of its last member.

A successor organization, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, took over the GAR's work of honoring and
remembering all Union soldiers. The local camp was established in 1883 and named in honor of Dr. Alden B.
Skinner, a local physician who, at 64, joined the Union Army and was commissioned as the surgeon of the
25th Connecticut Infantry Regiment. While on a detail in Louisiana, he became ill and subsequently died
in 1863.

Every Memorial Day, members of the camp decorate Skinner’s grave and those of 148 Civil War veterans buried
at Grove Hill Cemetery in the Rockville section of Vernon. The Camp meets the first Thursday of each month in
the museum.

The grand reopening celebration is free to the public. Regular museum hours are noon to 3 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays.

The museum features extensive research materials and artifacts like Civil War weapons to personal effects to even a regimental bible.