Civil War Encampment Returns to Strawbery Banke

The 5th New Hampshire Regiment of Civil War role-players will pitch camp on the lawn of "Puddle Dock" at Strawbery Banke Museum in downtown Portsmouth on Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17, and present a glimpse of camp life and American Civil War history over the course of the weekend.

The program is included in the price of regular admission to the Museum ($15 for adults; $10 for children 5-17 and free to members and children under 5.)

The Museum will open its grounds early at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday so visitors can watch the regiment as it follows a usual day's routine: cooking breakfast over an open fire, answering roll call and performing armed drills, a dress parade, Sunday religious exercises and a 19th century baseball game.  Highlights of the weekend include a program on "The Bridge That Saved the Army" and the story of the 5th New Hampshire's role in building the Grapevine Bridge that prevented the Grand Army of the Republic from being split in Virginia in May 1862. On Sunday the Regiment will relive the court martial of an actual hungry ancestor of a corps member who was accused of stealing hardtack. Glass-plate photographer Mark Bingham also returns to the event.

"As America continues to observe the 150th anniversary of our Civil War, from 2010 to 2015, Strawbery Banke Museum offers a view of how events in the field affected life here in this Portsmouth neighborhood," said Lawrence J. Yerdon, Museum president and CEO. "In 2011 we presented the story of Gen. Fitz John Porter and created a self-guided walking tour of Civil War Portsmouth that visitors can still follow. We are pleased that the 5th NH Regiment returns this year for another reenactment and more information about the lives of New Hampshire soldiers."

The 5th New Hampshire Regiment, "The Fighting Fifth" is a campaign-oriented, Civil War living history organization. Founded in 1981, the Fifth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers is a membership organization seeking to recreate and honor Company A, formed in 1861 to assist in preserving the Union. The 5th NHV is a 501 (c) 3, tax-exempt historical society, organized to promote, educate and preserve the Civil War heritage of our state and nation representing in style and equipment an authentic Union Civil War Infantry Regiment. Members of the Fifth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers have gathered due to a common goal of participating in a living-history experience that approximates soldier life  from 1861-1865. For more information, visit www.fifthnhvol.org.

Strawbery Banke Museum is a living history museum founded in 1958 to portray the lives of the people who lived between 1795 and 1950 in the waterfront neighborhood of "Puddle Dock" in historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Strawbery Banke exists to provide a sustainable place to gather and to learn, presenting a variety of special events, educational programs and family activities that span the experience of 300+ years in the same New Hampshire community. For more information, visit www.strawberybanke.org

Submitted by Stephanie Seacord on behalf of Strawbery Banke Museum