Sunday, September 22, 2024
As with all good things, our amazing weekend had to come to an end today, but not before we explored the Civil War a bit more.
We checked out of our hotel in Bowie, Maryland early in the morning and opted for a quick stop about a mile away to check out the local minor league baseball park.
The Baysox play in the Eastern League
as a AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles
We had been willing to catch a few innings of one of their games before heading to the airport only to find out that their season's last game was played a week ago, a 5-4 road loss to the Erie Sea Wolves.
Prince George's Stadium
is a perfect minor league sized park
With a quaint feel and wooded surroundings, it makes for a great setting.
As we left the stadium's grounds,
Jacob spotted this merry-go-round
Tempting but a light drizzle made our decision simple.
Our Sunday Civil War plan was now put into full effect. We traveled through light traffic on the system of freeways that surround the Washington, D.C. area for the one hour drive to Manassas, Virginia.
The Manassas National Battlefield Park
The first land battle of the Civil War was fought here on July 21, 1861.
As was normal during the Civil War, this battle site is known by two names, First Manassas and First Bull Run. This occurs because the South named battles after the nearest town while the North tended to christen them after nearby natural features of the battle site. For these two important battles, Manassas is that city and Bull Run is the small creek that runs through the battleground.
Union Brigadier General
Irvin McDowell
At First Manassas/First Bull Run, the Northern contingent was the Army of Northeastern Virginia with 35,000 troops led by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell who had never led a fighting force into battle until this day.
Not good.
Confederate Brigadier General
Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard
The Confederates were led by Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard and his 29,000 man Army of the Potomac.
The mistaken belief by the civilian population in the northern states at the time was that this rebellion by the southern states would be put down in a matter of just a few weeks.
McDowell's troops were made up of green 90-day volunteers who had been summoned up by President Abraham Lincoln. Just like their leader, these troops had no battle experience.
Not good.
The excitement in Washington, D.C. over this impending battle led several citizens, including members of Congress, to load up their horse drawn carriages with wine and picnic baskets to watch what they expected to be simply a colorful show.
Not good.
Beauregard's troops were equally not battle tested to be sure but they had great resolve and were able to take advantage of the chaos that the battle would bring.
The Confederates had a second contingent with them, the Army of the Shenandoah led by General Joseph Johnston. The leader of Johnston's First Brigade was General Thomas J. Jackson who would gain everlasting fame at this battle.
As was usual, our first stop was at the Visitors Center.
Make that the well protected Visitors Center
I got a proper salute from this soldier
Various forms of battle ordnance
found at Manassas over the years
Interesting
Such a sobering statement
I believe that everyone at First Manassas/First Bull Run, both the swaggering soldiers and the excited citizen picnickers, quickly changed their romantic notions of war as well that day.
The realities of war
That day marked the End of Innocence and
the start of four bloody years of Civil War
A battlefield surgeon's kit
Many young men on both sides would
never be quite the same again
At the conclusion of First Manassas/First Bull Run the North would suffer 2,708 casualties while the Confederates were left with 1,982 casualties.
As we have observed at all four
Civil War sites this weekend, it is
hard to fathom the carnage at what
was today such a bucolic setting
Jacob in front of the statue of
General Thomas J. Jackson
Amid the chaos of the gunfire and confusion of battle, courage was a commodity that was much needed but somewhat in short supply on both sides.
At one point, Confederate General Barnard E. Bee tried to rally his frazzled men by telling them to look up on the ridge where they could see the stubborn bravery and courage of a stoic General Jackson astride his horse leading his troops.
Bee's famous words were, "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall."
Thus was born the new moniker,
General "Stonewall" Jackson
Jackson was a man of small physical stature who rode ponies into battle.
This statue makes him look like more of a Southern Superman with rippling muscles on a huge battle horse.
Many a southerner was upset at these misrepresentations that also included his wearing a heavy cape which he would never have worn it during the two battles that were fought here in the typical heat and humidity of Summers of July of 1861 and August of 1862.
Confederate General
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Stonewall was one of the Confederates' best generals throughout the Civil War until his untimely death at the hands of friendly fire.
On May 2, 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia, Jackson and his staff were returning to camp they were confronted by elements of the Confederates' 18th North Carolina Infantry Regiment who confused Jackson and his staff for Union officers. Shots were fired and Stonewall was hit by three bullets, two in the left arm and one in the right hand.
Jackson's left arm would soon be amputated and on May 10, 1863. Stonewall Jackson would die due to complications from the pneumonia that he had contracted.
The boys by the marker at the spot
where Confederate Colonel
Francis L. Bartow died during
First Manassas/First Bull Run
Bartow, an ardent defender of slavery and state's rights, was at the head of the 7th Georgia Infantry's counterattack. He would become the South's first military martyr.
The Henry House in the distance
How did Jacob do this?
The Monument to those who died
at First Manassas/First Bull Run
is located next to the Henry House
The view from the Henry House
towards the Visitors Center
Members of the Henry family
are interred on this spot
Posing for me
My two Civil War experts reprimanded me harshly.
I was told that artillery men would never stand behind a cannon like this as they risked great bodily harm were it to fire and then recoil.
Point taken.
Now about the chaos and confusion of battle that I keep referring to in this post. We all grew up believing that the American Civil War was fought by a Union army dressed in blue uniforms while the Confederates battled in Gray outfits.
As it turns out, at First Manassas/First Bull Run the Confederates wore a hodgepodge of confusing outfits. Some of the Rebel forces were indeed in gray but others were in their various colors of civilian clothes.
Generals Bee and Jackson, recently resigned from the Union Army posts at the start of the Civil War, even wore their U.S. Regular Army blue uniforms at the head of their southern warriors.
You may have needed a scorecard on that day as you picnicked.
A painting of Confederate General Bee
in blue leading his troops in gray
Wild uniforms but the blue coats
meant that they were Union troops,
correct?
Wrong, this painting depicts two members of the Confederate "Tiger Rifles" from Louisiana in what is called a Zouave uniform.
The confusion didn't stop there as the Confederate and Union flags also became a problem.
The Confederate flag used at
First Manassas/First Bull Run
The Union flag used at
First Manassas/First Bull Run
So they both have a blue square with white stars in the upper left corner and red and white stripes filing out the rest of their respective colors.
Amid the gun fire, the cannon smoke, the dead, the wounded, sketchy uniform colors and the general panic of battle, how could anyone not get confused.
One more thing that added to the chaos that day, there was no breeze blowing, thus the all-important identifying flags hung limp.
A non-breezy Union flag
A non-breezy Confederate flag
Add smoke that created poor visibility and men whose nerves were on edge to the equation and you can easily see what a cluster the battle became.
So who won this opening land battle of the Civil War?
That day belonged to the Confederacy giving them hope to eventually win the war despite their population disadvantage.
At the start of the Civil War, the North had a population of 18.5 million while the South only had 5.5 million souls plus another 3.5 million slaves.
I don't think that the South thought arming the slaves to be a good career move.
As for the Union, after this loss, the realization that this Civil War would definitely not be over quickly.
Second Manassas/Second Bull Run was fought here for three days, August 28-30, 1862.
Union Major General
John Pope
Pope commanded the Army of Virginia, a strange name as Virginia was a southern state, who marched into Second Manassas/Second Bull Run numbering 70,000 men.
Pope's well known bravado would exceed his strategic capabilities in this battle.
Confederate General
Robert E. Lee
Pope's forces would be squaring off against Lee's 55,000 man Army of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy's most powerful army.
Lee would lead a bold and brilliant Second Manassas/Second Bull Run campaign.
General "Stonewall" Jackson was at Lee's side fighting at Manassas/Bull Run yet again.
The Stone House was General Pope's
headquarters and sheltered wounded
Union soldiers as well
These wooden fences were common
to all four battlefields that we
visited over our interesting journey
The view from Buck Hill down
to the Stone House
The Stone Bridge spanning Bull Run
My recon scouts gathering
valuable intelligence
Michael touching the waters of
Bull Run beneath the Stone Bride
CAVALRY SIGHTED!
Thank goodness, she was a National Park Service Ranger.
We were safe.
Moving on . . .
A Union assault here would be
repelled by "Stonewall" Jackson's men
Peaceful now
Ever bold Union General Pope believed that the Confederates were in retreat through the Deep Cut and ordered an all out pursuit.
They were not.
Instead, Rebel forces under General Jackson were lying in wait and mowed down Pope's troops.
In the end, the South had won both of the Manassas/Bull Run battles 13 months apart.
The cost of victory was again heavy on both sides.
The Union had 14,462 casualties, the South suffered 9,474 casualties.
Jacob by freshly cut hay on
Chinn Ridge
Pope's Union forces struggled here as well against General James Longstreet's devastating flanking counterattack.
Confederate General
James Longstreet
His flanking tactics at Chinn Ridge turned the Battle of Second Manassas/Second Bull Run into a Confederate victory.
Chinn Ridge on a much less
hectic day to be sure
Cannoneers properly deployed
this time on Chinn Ridge
The New York Monument
Longstreet's men continued their deadly flanking maneuver to this ridge where the 5th and 10th New York Regiments made one last futile stand.
In five minutes, the 5th New York lost 123 men, the greatest loss of life in any single infantry regiment in any battle of the Civil War.
On this dour note, we headed to the local McDonalds which remarkably did not exist during the Civil War to try out their $5 Meal deals and keep Jacob happy.
A good move all the way around as we now headed back to Dulles International Airport for the five hour flight home.
Same poster that Jacob posed
in front of on Thursday's arrival
Dropping off our rental car and going
through airport security was easy
$14.99 chocolate candy bars with
a political bent were on sale
It looks like the Harris bar tastes much better than the Trump bar.
No, I did not buy either one of these "reasonably" priced confections.
We were early from our flight,
LET THE READING BEGIN!
Our flight was on time
Three happy and somewhat
exhausted campers on their
way home
Safe to say, we had a GREAT extended weekend while visiting four Civil War sights, going to a bizarre high school game, touring the beautiful Yard at the U.S. Naval Academy and attending a college game for the ages.
Laurie picked us up at LAX and got to hear Jacob's extremely detailed, sequential account of our journey.
AWESOME!
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