PRESS RELEASE: Richmond National Battlefield Commemorates Memorial Day at Ft. Harrison National Cemetery

Fort Harrison National Cemetery

RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond National Battlefield Park, in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, is sponsoring a Memorial Day program and wreath-laying to honor and remember those who have died in our nation’s service—especially those soldiers and sailors from the Civil War. This annual event is scheduled for Monday, May 27, at 12:00 p.m., at the Fort Harrison National Cemetery, on the Fort Harrison battlefield. The cemetery is located at 8620 Varina Road, two miles south of Route 5 and eight miles south of Richmond. More than 800 Civil War soldiers are buried at the Fort Harrison National Cemetery.

Jimmy Price, presently an adjunct professor of Civil War History at Germanna Community College, will speak at the cemetery. His talk is a part of the national park’s continuing commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War in the Richmond area. Mr. Price is well known for his recent book The Battle of New Market Heights: Freedom Will Be Theirs by the Sword, which is the only full-length book on that Henrico County battle. He also maintains a weblog entitled: “The Sable Arm: A Blog Dedicated to the United States Colored Troops of the Civil War Era.”

The public is invited to attend this free event.

Richmond National Battlefield Park protects 13 Civil War sites around the city of Richmond, Virginia. Experiencing the park’s battlefield sites and visitor centers usually takes a full day. A driving tour of the battlefields is available at any of the park’s sites. The main park visitor center is located at Historic Tredegar (470 Tredegar Street in Richmond) and provides museum exhibits, audio-visual programs and orientation services to help plan a visit to the battlefields.

For additional information, contact Richmond National Battlefield Park at 804-226-1981, or via the internet at www.nps.gov/rich or www.Facebook.com/RichmondNPS.