Virginia

Once we arrived in Virginia, we found a nice campground to call home for two or three weeks. During that time (the last weeks of September) Allan flew home to Silver Valley in order to get some final chores accomplished before the winter snows arrive. So, the kids and I spent our days working on school assignments or going on field trips. We found that our location at Luray, Virginia was central to many national parks and other sites.

Manassas National Battlefield Park was the location of two separate battles during the American Civil War. In July of 1861, First Manassas (or First Bull Run) was the first major clash of the war. In that way it was rather a gruesome shock for the sight-seers who drove their horses and buggies out from near-by Washington DC to watch 'the show'. The Manassas brochure claims, "Soldiers on both sides were stunned by the violence and destruction they encountered." It was at this battle that Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson received his famous nickname of 'Stonewall Jackson' for his stalwart defense of the line, which helped to bring a Confederate victory to this battle. The Battle of Second Manassas occurred in August of 1862, and was a much bloodier affair than the first. After three days of fighting, the Union army retreated, opening up opportunities for an 'invasion of the north' for Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

The next national battlefield that we visited was Antietam, in Maryland. The battle occurred on September 17, 1862, and is well-known as "the bloodiest day of the Civil War". There were three important areas of fighting: the cornfield, the Sunken Road (later to be known as Bloody Lane), and the Burnside Bridge. At the end of the day about 23,000 men lay in the field as casualties. It was considered a Union victory, but in hindsight, if Union General George B. McClellan had pressed his advantage at this time, he may have been able to put an end to the Confederate army, thus ending this horrible war three years earlier than actually happened. The American Civil War lasted from 1861 to1865, and took the lives of more than 623,000 soldiers (more than any other war in US history).