(MITCHELL) – Spring Mill State Park visitors were able to go back in time this Memorial Day Weekend. From Civil War Re-enactments, History Lessons on Sam Bass, President Abraham Lincoln, Nancy Lincoln, and General Ulysses S Grant, all made appearances on this holiday weekend.
Along with the history lessons, the park was bustling with activities with visitors just enjoying boating on the lake, fishing, or cookout.
At 2:30 p.m. a war broke out in a field just east of the village where the Blue and Gray met each other on the battlefield. Cannons were rolled into position with infantrymen from both sides taking their position.
Cannon and rifles fire sounded in the thirty-minute war while President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Nancy watched from a distance.
Like any war, there were casualties and the dead laid on the battlefield unto they could be taken care of by the corpsman.
During a stroll through the village, we found; President Lincoln and his wife were sitting on the porch taking in a cool breeze. Members of the 18th Artillery was on hand with Ulysses S. Grant was passing out Confederate money to the kids as they passed.
Matthew and Sonya Miller of Mitchell appear as Abraham and Nancy Lincoln
The 18th Artillery Battalion
The 18th Indiana Battery of Light Artillery was organized at Indianapolis and was put into service August 14, 1862, with Eli Lilly in command.
18th Artillery Battalion firmed by Eli Lilly
The company was active around several areas, including Cincinnati, and several places throughout Kentucky. The Battery was assigned in June 1863, to Wilder’s Mounted Brigade, and participated in Rosecrans’ East Tennessee Campaign in the following months. During the battle at Hoover’s Gap, Tennessee Confederate forces were well positioned. But Wilder’s Brigade attacked and pushed the Confederate troops through the Gap.
The effective fire of the 18th Battery was experienced by the charging rebel columns of General Longstreet’s Corps. During the battle of Chickamauga, on September 19, 1863.
In May of 1864, Lilly’s Battery marched with General Sherman’s army on the campaign against Atlanta. It participated in numerous engagements, including those at Resaca, Cassville, Stilesboro, and Lost Mountain. Later, it was among the Union Forces that pursued General Hood’s troops after the Confederate defeat at Chattanooga.
The 18th Indiana Battery Light Artillery, Lilly’s Brigade, participated in the following campaigns: Kentucky, 1862: Rosecrans’ Campaign in Tennessee 1863-1864; against Atlanta 1864; Pursuit of Hood 1864; Wilson’s Raid through Alabama and Georgia 1864-1865, Tennessee,1865
(Information provided by Indiana War Memorial)
