23rd Regiment Colored Troops Lead Memorial Day Procession

The 23rd Regiment United States Colored Troops will lead the historical Memorial Day procession from Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) through the streets of Fredericksburg to the Fredericksburg National Cemetery for the annual commemorative ceremony honoring the nation’s fallen soldiers.

"The procession recalls a long-ago tradition of Fredericksburg citizens, many of them former slaves," the National Park Service said in a press release. 

The cemetery program will feature keynote speaker Erik Nelson, a Navy veteran, Fredericksburg city planner and historian. Nelson is the past president of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and the author of an upcoming book on the Second Battle of Fredericksburg. The program begins at noon and will last about 30 minutes.

The procession departs Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site), 801 Sophia St., at 11:15 a.m.

The 23rd Regiment United States Colored Troops is a living history organization formed for the Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the American Civil War. "The 23rd USCT were the first Colored soldiers to fight in combat against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia on May 15, 1864, during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House," the group's Facebook page says.

The unit is located in the Spotsylvania area and is working in conjunction with the John J. Wright Educational & Cultural Center Museum. "We are actively seeking recruits in the Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Stafford regions to interpret and educate the public about the contribution made by the 23rd USCT and African Americans during the Civil War," the group said.

Fredericksburg National Cemetery was established in 1865 and is the final resting place for more than 15,000 Union soldiers who died in the major Civil War battles which occurred between Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Va.

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