WARREN - The Civil War 150 Committee, which has planned various events to mark the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, will host an Antietam Battle commemoration from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the McKinley Memorial Library auditorium in Niles.
The event will include battle photos, displays of uniforms, lists of soldiers who fought in the battle, and biographies of Gen. Jacob D. Cox and Sgt. William McKinley, who fought in the battle.
There will be first-person portrayals of Clara Barton, Gen. Robert E. Lee and President Abraham Lincoln.
Presentations will include John Caparanis of Cortland speaking about Cox and Brian Brenman of the Youngstown State University Medical Museum speaking about the role of medical teams and ambulance service.
There also will be displays, re-enactors, artifacts and a musical performance by buglers Jordan Frederick and Nick Parsons of the Niles McKinley High School.
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, was fought Sept. 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Md., and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign. It was the first major battle in the Civil War to take place on Union soil. It also was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties on both sides.
Fact Box
Schedule of events
1 p.m. - Introduction by Sally Thomas, curator of the Sutliff Museum
2 p.m. - Ed Beers as Gen. Robert E. Lee
2 p.m. - Historian Wendell Lauth will give an overview of the war
3 p.m. - Carol Starre-Kimciek as Clara Barton
4 p.m. - Abraham Lincoln presentation
The Civil War Committee also has a free speaker's bureau.
Among topics included are: black soldiers in the Union and Confederate armies, the cavalry's role in the war, Confederate naval operations, Fort Sumter Battle, Shiloh, the Underground Railroad, and Trumbull County and Ohio in the Civil War.
Speakers include Harry Schoger, Ray Vanderpool, Hugh Mullen, Steffon Jones and Sally Thomas.
Call the Sutiff Museum at 330-399-8807, Ext. 121, or 330-399-6766 for more information.