They held a mock symbolic burial of a former slave woman named Hannah Reynolds who was killed here on the morning of april 9. No one ever knew where she was buried. They do her name and who her master was, her owner and the Africanamerican Community of appomattox county got together with the National Parks service and planned for months this amazing performance that was a living history burial, a funeral for Hannah Reynolds. The choirs were terrific. They same they sang spirituals. Without any accompaniment. I was surprised stunned, and please define hundreds and hundreds of black folks. I have never seen that many of the civil war site. Today there are almost none. That is a very very old saga. Historic. It goes back to the years when civil war sites and this is changing by the National Parks service, they have begun to make Great Strides but it used to be seen as essentially a place where you saw the story of the blue in the grade. You saw the story of an. A sitespecific story of bat
Not capable of cordiality. On the confederate side we have only one man with lee, charles marshall. [applause] there are not as many confederates who bear witness and he will be prolific and writing about the surrender scene after the war. One of the challenges of recreating this moment down to the challenge of figuring out who was in the room and what they were thinking was partially the fact that grant wrote that famous memoir of 1885 and he tells us in the memoir how he felt at that moment. Leave it not need such a story. He lived for only another five years after the surrender. Lees views have to be reconstructed from proximate sources, from those close to him , from the way people reacted to him. I will conclude by saying that in the immediate aftermath lee was a very controversial figure. Host elizabeth barron, thank you so much for being here and speaking with our viewers. We are going to take you live now here to the main stage at the Appomattox National historical monument. Yo
Famous memoir of 1885 and he tells us in the memoir how he felt at that moment. Leave it not need such a story. He lived for only another five years after the surrender. Lees views have to be reconstructed from proximate sources, from those close to him , from the way people reacted to him. I will conclude by saying that in the immediate aftermath lee was a very controversial figure. Host dr. Blight thank you so much john. Thank you all for coming this afternoon. You are the loyal diehards. You have all been here all day watching the magnificent tableau of the reenactors in front of our eyes. They are irresistible. I have already watched two marches and stackings of the rifles and there is going to be a third that im told is even bigger right after we finish year, so i will try to get done in a hurry. Not to be missed. I want to first honor and praise the National Parks service. Ernie price and the incredible staff of appomattox, john and all of the other part Service Staff and battlef
How is this event organized . How do you know what to do and when . With the signing of the letters of surrender their at the mclean house, how do you know where to be . Tyler the simple answer is you either get told or you have some sort of schedule that you need to follow. Having an accurate timepiece is really important out here. Make sure that your watch is wound and that you know where you are going. Meaning that your act actual watch winds . Tyler yes, it winds by key. Bringing it out now, other than the physical things how do you maintain the mental sort of mindset of being in 1865 . Tyler especially if im answering the questions of people im not doing whats called first person. Im not pretending like im in 1865. Its a lot easier to relate to people if youre not attending like what is this microphone . Its a lot easier to answer questions. But while were in the field one of the things that keeps you sane is to remember that it was done in the past and if that they could do it, y
Bringing it out now, other than the physical things how do you maintain the mental sort of mindset of being in 1865 . Tyler especially if im answering the questions of people im not doing whats called first person. Im not pretending like im in 1865. Its a lot easier to relate to people if youre not attending like what is this microphone . Its a lot easier to answer questions. But while were in the field one of the things that keeps you sane is to remember that it was done in the past and if that they could do it, you could do it, too. Just camping out and everything, this is why we came out here. If you get rained on, thats just part of the deal. What brought you out into doing these kinds of events to begin with . Tyler i wanted to start as a musician. I taught myself how to play fife and i joined the fife and drum corps. Ive come out for about 14 years now, its on most like a family. We just go everywhere as a group. Have you been here before . I have not been to the park before, no.