No Battle of Marianna Reenactment This Year in Florida

Battle of Marianna Reenactment, 2011
Courtesy Ashley Pollette

The Marianna Day Committee tells me there will not be a reenactment of the Battle of Marianna in Florida this year.

The small reenactment had been a feature of Marianna Day observances over the last few years, but was expensive to produce and difficult to coordinate. As a result, last year's event will be the last, at least for now.

Marianna Day, 2011
Courtesy Ashley Pollette

The Committee does plan to host other events to commemorate Marianna Day, which honors the anniversary of the 1864 battle. The William Henry Milton Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) will continue to hold its annual memorial ceremony at the Battle of Marianna Monument downtown, the Blue Springs Chapter of the Children of the American Revolution (CAR) will provide information on the numerous noteworthy people buried at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, scene of heavy fighting during the battle. The Committee will also announce other events over coming weeks to commemorate the anniversary of the battle.
Fought on September 27, 1864, the Battle of Marianna was a small but highly significant action. It took place at the culmination of the deepest penetration of Florida by Union troops during the entire War Between the States. On their way to and from Marianna, the Federal soldiers covered more land miles than did Sherman on his March to the Sea through Georgia.

To learn more about the Battle of Marianna, please visit www.battleofmarianna.com or consider my book, The Battle of Marianna, Florida (Expanded Edition). It is available in both print and Kindle editions by following the links below. You can also find it on iBooks.

Book:  The Battle of Marianna, Florida: Expanded Edition - $17.95
Kindle:  The Battle of Marianna, Florida - $9.95

Reenactment of Battle of Marianna, Florida set for September 24th.



Ely-Criglar Mansion in Marianna

Marianna Day, which features a parade, live music, memorial services and a battle reenactment, will be observed on Saturday, September 24th, in Marianna, Florida.
The city is located along Interstate 10 and U.S. 90 in the Florida Panhandle, 66 miles west of Tallahassee, 133 miles east of Pensacola, 55 miles north of Panama City and 36 miles south of Dothan, Alabama.

The annual Marianna Day event commemorates the Battle of Marianna, a Civil War engagement that culminated the deepest penetration of Confederate Florida by Union troops during the entire Civil War. It was one of the fiercest small battles of the war and involved full speed cavalry charges, a bayonet assault and hand to hand combat.

St. Luke's Church, Scene of Heavy Fighting

The Battle of Marianna took place on September 27, 1864, when a Union column led by Brigadier General Alexander Asboth launched simultaneous frontal and flank attacks on the city, which was defended by the Confederate forces of Colonel Alexander Montgomery. Both commanders had been wounded earlier in the war - Asboth at Pea Ridge and Montgomery at Second Manassas - and many of their men had already fought on some of the largest battlefields of the war. The result was a confrontation unlike any other fought in the Deep South during the entire war. To learn more, please visit www.battleofmarianna.com or consider the book: The Battle of Marianna, Florida: Expanded Edition (also available for Kindle and iBooks download).

The main day of events will begin on Saturday morning (Sept. 24th) was a parade through downtown Marianna. The downtown reenactment will immediately following the end of the parade. Other events planned for the day include memorial services, a fall festival featuring live music at Madison Street Park beginning at noon and a mock battle complete with cannon fire (not a representation of the real battle) at 3 p.m. at Citizens Lodge Park on Caverns Road. A second mock battle will be held at Citizens Lodge Park on Sunday (Sept. 25th) at 3 p.m. Please click here for more information on the weekend's events.