This Saturday, the intersection of Routes 3 and 14 in Mathews County will be alive with the sounds of artillery and musket fire.

Lee Hall Mansion historian and curator J. Michael Moore will be the keynote speaker for the 10 a.m. grand opening ceremony for Fort Nonsense, Mathews County’s new historical park. The colors will be presented by the Sons of Confederate Veterans color guard from the Edmund Ruffin Camp.

Members of the 12th Virginia Infantry and the 56th Virginia Infantry re-enactor groups will be in attendance. They will be participating in the infantry drills and a display of camp life. Union General Isaac Wistar, who conducted a Federal raid of Mathews County in the autumn of 1863 while looking for John Yeatts Beall and his Confederate raiders, will be with his staff at headquarters.

At noon, the Tredegar Brass Band will present a program of Civil War era music playing their authentic period instruments. The brass band program will also demonstrate the history of mid...