CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – City offices are closed today for Liberation and Freedom Day. According to the Jefferson School, the celebration commemorates the March 3-6, 1865, arrival of Union cavalry in the area, when town and university officials surrendered at the current site of the UVA Chapel, and thousands of enslaved residents took the opportunity to escape and follow U.S. troops as they continued their advance toward Petersburg. Slaves who remained were not freed until June of that year.