POMEROY — Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation members met Thursday night at the Meigs Museum to further plans for the Civil War Sesquicentennial celebration to take place in Meigs County July 19, 20 and 21, 1913.

Edd Sharp, the Ohio Civil War Trail Commission is president of the planning committee and presided at the meeting attended by members of the Foundation committee and representatives of local organizations.

The expectation, according to Sharp, is that 200 reenactors on horseback will be coming to Meigs County for the observance of the only significant Civil War battle to take place in the state of Ohio.

Plans are being formulated for the cavalry to congregate at the Rock Springs Fairgrounds on Friday, July 19, then leave there sometime on that day and ride to Chester where a skirmish will take place. After spending the night in Chester, they will move on to Bashan on Saturday for another scrimmage and overnight stay, and then proceed to Portland where on Sunday a battle will take place.

Following the battle, a commemoration ceremony will be held to mark the conclusion of Meigs County’s observance of the 150th year since the Battle of Buffington Island actually took place.

Margaret Parker, president of the Meigs County Historical Society, and a member of the Preservation Foundation, noted that the group is working in cooperation with the Ohio Historical Society which has placed the Meigs County observance “a priority Civil War celebration for the State of Ohio.”

It was emphasized that plans are still in a tentative form as participating groups and locations of events are finalized. Another planning session was set for Nov. 12 at noon at the Museum annex.

The goal of the Preservation Foundation is to have an event schedule completed by the end of this year so that specific planning of events can proceed.

Parker said that in conjunction with the cavalry activities, there will be educational sessions with special speakers over the three day period, probably at Meigs High School.

The mission statement of the Buffington Island Preservation Foundation is to preserve, interpret and increase public understanding and knowledge of the Battle of Buffington Island by providing opportunities for the public to identify the geographic location of the battlefield, to learn about troop movements, actions and tactics on land and water, and what has to be done to protect the character and integrity of the landscape, structures and archaeological resources of the battlefield.