Civil War Weekend Cancelled In Fairfax County

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA—A Civil War weekend scheduled for September has been cancelled in Fairfax County, the Associated Press reports.

The Civil War Encampment Weekend has been scheduled for Sept. 23-24 at the Sully Historic Site in Chantilly. Sully Historic Site was owned by Richard Bland Lee, uncle of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Today, it's a national historic site operated by the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Judy Pedersen, a spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Park Authority, told AP Civil War re-enactors had been notified due to “recent events."

The news comes as a similar Civil War Weekend in Manassas was cancelled earlier in August. A city spokesperson said in a statement, "The City of Manassas is saddened by these events and abhors the violence happening around the country," the statement said, "(and) does not with to further exacerbate the situation."

Yet on its face, Civil War Weekend is a pretty tame affair, according to last year's event page. Grown men get to play dress-up and act like soldiers. But there's no longer an event entry on Sully Historic Site's calendar. Ditto the entry for Civil War Weekend on the Virginia is For Lovers tourism website.

The debate over keeping or removing Confederate monuments has intensified following the outbreak of violence in Charlottesville earlier in August. White supremacists were in town to protest the city's decision to remove of a Robert E. Lee statue, protesters and ended up clashing violently with counter-protesters. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed after a man believed to have Nazi sympathies drove his car through a crowd. Hours later, two Virginia State Police troopers monitoring the situation from the air died when their helicopter crashed.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe has urged the General Assembly and localities to consider removing Confederate statues since the events in Charlottesville. He temporarily banned rallies at Richmond's iconic Lee Monument while the state puts in place new regulations on issuing rally permits.

What do you think of the Civil War Weekend cancellation? Let us know in the comments.

Image via Fairfax County