The Day the War Stopped
June 8, 9 and 10, 2012
St. Francisville, LA

Up the steep hill they trudged, sweating in the sticky June heat, staggering under the weight of the coffin, the white flag of truce flying before them in the hot summer sun.  The guns of their federal gunboat, the USS Albatross, anchored in the Mississippi off Bayou Sara, were silent behind them as a small party of officers struggled toward St. Francisville atop the hill.

The procession was not an impressive one, certainly not an unusual event in the midst of a bloody war, and it would no doubt have escaped all notice but for one fact--this was the day the war stopped, if only for a few mournful moments, and the lovely little rivertown of St. Francisville invites the public to join in commemorating the events 148 years ago on the weekend of June 8, 9 & 10, 2012

.               The free commemorative events begin on Friday, June 8, at 7 p.m., with graveside histories in the peaceful oak-shaded cemetery at Grace Church, where several of the participants in this unusual event rest in peace. The grave of Union gunboat commander Hart, whose burial is re-enacted on Saturday, is marked by a monument “in loving tribute to the universality of Free Masonry,” and nearby lies W.W. Leake, local Masonic leader and Confederate cavalry officer whose intervention permitted the interment of Hart in dignified rites attended by fellow Masons in both blue and grey.

 For more information, visit www.daythewarstopped.net or call Shirley Dittloff at 225-635-4791.

For visitor information, call West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisville.us or www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com