November 6, 2014 - The City of Knoxville and the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable will commemorate the 151st anniversary of the Siege of Knoxville at Fort Dickerson Park this weekend. The event is part of both Knoxville and the state of Tennessee's ongoing Civil War Sesquicentennial remembrance activities.

Built as part of the Union Army's attempt to maintain control of both Knoxville and East Tennessee, 16 forts and artillery batteries were constructed during the Civil War in and around Knoxville. Fort Dickerson, along with Forts Stanley and Higley, were a series of three earthen forts lining the southern shore of the Tennessee River to protect Knoxville from any incursion by Confederate forces. Fort Dickerson was named after Capt. Jonathan C. Dickerson of the 112th Illinois Mounted Infantry, who had been killed in action near Cleveland, Tenn.

The weekend's events will include a living history campsite, where re-enactors will put on a display of camp life during the Civil War; a live infantry firing drill; a surgical exhibit; a display of period women's fashion; and a re-enactment on both Saturday and Sunday. Historians and authors will be present to put both Fort Dickerson and the Siege of Knoxville into the broader context of the American Civil War.

Located at 3000 Fort Dickerson Road in South Knoxville, the event is free. The commemoration will run from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. Visitors may park for free at the Disc Exchange on Chapman Highway, and a shuttle will take them to the Fort Dickerson site.

Here is a tentative schedule of activities:

Saturday, Nov. 8

10 a.m. - Camps open to the public
10 a.m. - Women's Fashion during the Civil War with Sandra Augustus
11 a.m. - Remembrance of the 151st anniversary of the Siege of Knoxville
11 a.m. - Infantry drill demonstration
Noon - Fort Dickerson history with historian Dorothy Kelly
12:30 p.m. - Medical and surgical demonstration with Ed Archer
1 p.m. - Topographical engineer demonstration
1:30 p.m. - Arms of the Civil War with Gerald Augustus
2 p.m. - Battle of Fort Dickerson re-enactment
3 p.m. - Pass in Review
3:30 p.m. - Civil War medical demonstration
4:30 p.m. - Camps close to the public

Sunday, Nov. 9

10 a.m. - Vesper Service
11 a.m. - Camps open to the public; topographical engineer demonstration
Noon - History of the Siege of Knoxville
12:30 p.m. - Infantry drill demonstration
1 p.m. - Civil War medical demonstration
1:30 p.m. - Arms of the Civil War with Gerald Augustus
2 p.m. - Civil War skirmish re-enactment
3 p.m. - Pass in Review
4 p.m. - Camps close to the public

For more information about Knoxville's Civil War heritage, visit http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnkcwr/KCWRT/Fort_Dickerson.html. Or contact event coordinators Perry Hill at 865-283-1691 or Laura Reagan at [email protected].