A Letter on July 5

BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE - 2007

REENACTMENT - OCTOBER 26,27,28 - 2007

In reference to the upcoming Pea Ridge (Bentonville) reenactment, plans are proceeding as scheduled, and some recent commitments are making more things possible than planned.
Two weeks ago the principal volunteers here met with the Mayor of Bentonville and received good news in several areas. The Mayor has said the reenactment will be a reality. He backs it all the way and has shown support by providing the site free of charge. In the past this has been very difficult in some cases since dealing with private parties makes land usage a big cost to a successful reenactment.
The Bentonville Parks and Recreation Department is busy with plans including cutting the grass and other site preparation duties and providing bleachers for the spectators five rows high.
According to Mrs Leah Whitehead we have a party involved who will provide all the firewood we need. We also anticipate using bottled water instead of water buffalos. This seems to be a real comfort to the troops, along with hay to sleep upon.
We have commitments from the two most famous authors on Pea Ridge and southern Missouri during the War. They are Dr. William Shea and Dr. William Piston and they will be the featured guests at the symposium occurring between the two Saturday battles. Superintendent John Scott of the Pea Ridge National Military Park will be the moderator.
Registration inquiries are coming in on the new Peel Mansion website and you can now visit it to sign-up at http://www.peelmansion.org. We hope to get the word out to the commands and spectators rapidly now that the infrastructure is now in place and the commitments we need to go forward have been attained.