South Carolina 2011: August 2011

AN AWESOME DAY IN WASHINGTON D.C.

The Smithsonian Palace. There are now 16 different buildings that are part of the Smithsonian Institute. This is the original.

The National Museum of Natural History

Getting ready to go inside

We spent a long day in Washington and were only able to see a small part. We managed to get through the National Museum of Natural History, and saw some famous exibits.

THE HOPE DIAMOND

The Hope Diamond has recently been re-set in the above setting by Harry Winston for a short period of time while it's on display at the Smithsonian. It will be returned to its original setting when its term at the Smithsonian is finished.

Gotta watch those travelling salesmen!

AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM

We also made it through the American History Museum and saw some great American icons.

JULIA CHILD'S ENTIRE KITCHEN

THE FAMOUS RUBY SLIPPERS FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ

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EDITH & ARCHIE BUNKER'S CHAIRS

We then walked down to the Washington Monument. Near the monument is a gorgeous fountain dedicated to those who served in the Second World War.

Unfortunately, the Reflecting Pool has been dug up and is in the process of being re-constructed. Very disappointing as we were really looking forward to seeing it.

What should be the Reflecting Pool with the Lincoln Memorial in the background.

We also managed to get part way through the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It is a heart wrenching exibit of a horrible reality. We are going to be heading back to DC tomorrow to do some more touring and will definitely go back to the Holocaust Museum to finish seeing it.

A VISIT TO QUANTICO, THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MARINE CORP & QUANTICO NATIONAL CEMETARY

We headed to Quantico and had to go through a check-point and show ID to be admitted to the town. It appears that there are sections of the town that you need to go through check-points but, at the same time, it's not all military and people live in Quantico that are non-military.

Quantico Golf Course

The Potomac River at Quantico

Not sure but think these are some of the barracks as there were quite a few buildings like this.

The famous statue of the flag planting at Iwo Jima on the corner by the entrance to Quantico

We then headed off to the National Museum of the Marine Corp. It is an absolutely beautiful place and the exibits are fantastic. It takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to go through the exibits and it's well worth it.

Front Entrance of the Museum

The beam that you can see part of coming out of the peak of the roof is on the same angle as the flag planted at Iwo Jima.

Not the best picture but this is the original flag used at Iwo Jima

The Dough Boy

MANASSAS (FIRST & SECOND BULL RUN)

Today we drove to Manassas to the battlefield overlooking the Bull Run River. First Manassas (First Bull Run) occured in July, 1861 and the Second Manassas (Second Bull Run) occured a year later in August, 1862.

The First Bull Run, July 1861, started out with ranks of enthusiastic young volunteers in two armies, confident that their foes would run at the first shot. Soldiers on both sides were stunned by the violence and destruction they encountered. At day's end nearly 900 young men lay lifeless on the fields of Matthews Hill, Henry Hill, and Chinn Ridge.

MANASSAS BATTLE FIELD

The Second Bull Run, a year later in August 1862, covering three days produced far greater carnage . . . 3,300 killed.

The Civil War was the most violent and fateful experience in American History. At least 620,000 soldiers were killed in the war, 2% of the American population in 1860. If the same percentage of Americans were to be killed in a war fought in the 1990's, the number of American war dead would exceed five million. An unknown number of civilians, nearly all of them in the South, died from causes such as disease, hunger or exposure inflicted during the conflict. As a consequence, more died in the Civil War than in all of the country's other wars combined.

HENRY HOUSE

The Henry House was the home of Judith Carter Henry who was mortally wounded by artillery fire and the only civilian killed during the first battle. The house was destroyed and the above is a picture of the house rebuilt in 1870.

The grave of Judith Carter Henry in the yard of the Henry home.

Cam at the Stonewall Jackson Monument at Manassas

The Stone House sheltered the wounded as a Union field hospital during both battles.

The history buff taking a break

The Stone Bridge over the Bull Run River was partially destroyed by Confederate forces to stop the Union Army. The North repaired the bridge in order to bring supplies and troops in.

Cam and I on the Stone Bridge

HURRICANE IRENE HAS COME AND GONE

Just wanted to let everyone know that we rode out Hurricane Irene successfully. We were unable to get into our RV park in Dumfries as they had closed up due to the storm. We ended up in a Walmart parking lot, battened down the hatches and road it out there.

The view out our front window in the early afternoon. Just a rain storm at this point.

The day started out with a light rain which progressed to a very heavy rain. It didn't start getting windy until late afternoon. From there it just continued to rain harder and get windier . . . probably 45 mph gusts. I'm assuming during the night was when the brunt of the storm came through as it really got windy and the RV was rocking pretty good. It was hard to sleep when a gust would come along and start us rocking.

It's breezy this morning but no rain. With any luck, by tomorrow, we'll be back to the beautiful sunny weather we've been having. Hopefully the RV park is going to re-open today and we can check in. We're about 20 miles from Washington DC so we will camp there for about a week and take day trips into the city. We think we'll be able to catch a communter train and not have to worry about driving.

There you have it. We had to travel all the way from British Columbia to go through an earthquake and a hurricane. Just one exciting adventure after another in our travels.

THE BATTLE AT FREDERICKSBURG, DECEMBER 11 - 13, 1862

We spent another interesting day visiting the spot where the Battle of Fredericksburg took place. Check out the battlefield!

Along with Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg is considered the most contested ground in America . . . the bloodiest landscape on the continent. Picture these fields covered with the bodies of the dead and wounded Union soldiers.

In the four battles that ensued in this area . . . Fredericksburg (December 1862), Chancellorsville (May 1863), Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House (May 1864) together they caused over 105,000 casualties.

Looking to the right

Looking to the left

The Confederate soldiers hid behind these walls which overlook the field shown at the top. The Union soldiers couldn't see them as they marched forward and were mown down when they showed themselves.

During the battle of Fredericksburg the Union soldiers lay dying in the fields below the brick wall. Throughout the night they could be heard calling for water and for their mothers, wives and loved ones. A young Confederate soldier of 19 years named Richard Kirkland was so upset hearing this that in the morning he went to his commander and asked for permission to take water to the Union soldiers. His commander told him he would be shot by the Union snipers . . . it was death for sure to step onto that field. He paid no mind to this, filled as many canteens as he could carry and headed out into the field. The Union snipers started shooting because they thought he was looting the bodies. Miraculously, he was not hit and when the Union soldiers realized that he was giving aid to their soldiers they ceased firing and cheered him.

The Cemetary next to the Battlefield

We headed into Old Fredericksburg for a tour. Here's a few pictures we took . . .

One of the many beautiful homes

A Beautiful Old Bank

An old Masonic Cemetary

We then headed over to the trail where the command post for General Robert E. Lee was situated. It's a beautiful area as shown in the picture below . . .

The road used by the Confederate Soldiers to bring their supplies to Fredericksburg

"It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it."

General Robert E. Lee, Fredericksburg 1863

A HISTORY LESSON

We left Williamsburg this morning ahead of Hurricane Irene which is due in there on Saturday. We saw some army vehicles in a convoy so I guess they're preparing for the weekend. The signs were up to show the evacuation route and that's the way we went . . . inland and north.

We stopped at the Stonewall Jackson shrine which is the plantation office building where General Jackson spent the final six days of his life. The office was one of several outbuildings on Thomas C. Chandler's plantation, "Fairfield".

Today the office is the only plantation building remaining. The Chandler house burned after the Civil War and its shell was dismantled in the early 1900s. Established as an historic "shrine", the office underwent restorations in the 1920s and 1960s.

The Plantation Office

The bed frame and the blanket at the foot of the bed are the same ones used to prepare the room for General Jackson by the Chandlers.

The clock on the mantel is the only other original item placed in the room. It was put there by the Chandler's young daughter, Lucy.

Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own men on the night of May 2, 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Jackson's left arm was amputated at a field hospital near Chancellorsville early on May 3. He was then taken on a 27 mile ambulance ride to the Chandler's outbuilding office which was also known as Guinea Station.

Three days later, despite the efforts of 5 doctors, Jackson began exibiting symptoms of pneumonia. On Sunday, May 10, 1863 at 3:15 p.m. Jackson died.

His body is not buried at Guinea Station but there is a marker there commemorating his death.

General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, better known as Stonewall Jackson is buried at
Lexington, Virginia.

INTO THE PAST AT COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

We spent a wonderful day touring around Colonial Williamsburg. No need to explain anything . . . I'm just going to post some pictures for you all to enjoy. What an interesting and worthwhile way to spend the day!