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St. Francisville Commemorates
"The Day The War Stopped"
Saturday, June 13, 2020
On June 13, Feliciana Lodge #31 F&AM will once again present the Day The War Stopped reenactment of the Masonic Burial of Union Commander John Eliot Hart – a moment in time when the two sides of the Civil War laid down arms to honor a fallen brother – brought together by the common bonds of Masonic Brotherhood.
In June, 1863, the bloody siege of Port Hudson was pitting 30,000 Union troops under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks against 6,800 Confederates under Major General Franklin Gardner, fighting over the all-important control of traffic on the Mississippi River.
The USS Albatross was patrolling the Mississippi River off the port city of Bayou Sara just below St. Francisville. On June 11, Commander John Elliot Hart of Schenectady, New York, lay mortally wounded. Attempts to find a metal coffin in which to ship his body home proved futile, and so the ship’s surgeon sent an ensign ashore in hopes of making arrangements for burial on land.
Both the surgeon and executive officer Theodore DuBois were Masons along with Commander Hart. Once ashore DuBois found several other masons in St. Francisville and asked for a masonic service. One, W.W. Leake, an officer with the Confederacy on leave, found it his duty to afford a decent burial for his Masonic Brother. And so, animosities were put aside and the war stopped, if only for a few mournful hours, enough for a ceremony and a meal.
Every year Feliciana Lodge and the town of St. Francisville welcome the public to join them as they remember and celebrates this moment in time. Please come join us and celebrate the anniversary of this amazing event.
9:30 AM - Day the War Stopped Play -Grace Episcopal Church Hall
10 AM - Reenactment - Corner of Prosperity St./Ferdinand St.
10:30 AM - Graveside Historical Reenactment
11 AM - 1 PM - 3rd Annual Jambalaya Cook off - Prosperity St.
Noon - 1:30 PM - Vintage Dancing and Music - Grace Episcopal Church Hall
2 - 2:30 PM - Historical Talk - Feliciana Lodge
7 pm to 11 pm - Gala Jackson Hall - 11621 Ferdinand St, St. Francisville, LA 70775
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