Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute will commemorate the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Cool Spring at Shenandoah University’s River Campus at Cool Spring Battlefield on Saturday, July 20. 

The day will include:

• Battlefield walking tour from 9:30-11 a.m. with Jonathan A. Noyalas ’01 M.A., director of SU’s McCormick Civil War Institute
• Lecture about Union colonel Joseph Thoburn inside the lodge from noon-1:45 p.m. with historian Jonathan Tracey from Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Parks 
• Celebration at 1 p.m. for the release of Noyalas’s latest book “The Blood-Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah: The 1864 Valley Campaign’s Battle of Cool Spring” (Savas Beatie). Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. All proceeds go to support the McCormick Civil War Institute’s interpretive and educational efforts at Cool Spring.

An exhibition of the Civil War art of Paul Salmon from the collections of the McCormick Civil War Institute will be on display in the lodge throughout the day. Additionally, a new exhibition in the lodge about the care of the battle’s wounded, including an original Civil War amputation saw manufactured in France from MCWI’s collections, will be available to view throughout the day. Visitors can explore the site throughout the day and visit a newly installed wayside sign which focuses on how the Battle of Cool Spring impacted the families of those who perished at the battle. For more information visit su.edu/mcwi or email Jonathan Noyalas at jnoyalas01@su.edu.