Civil War Parks

Manassas Battlefield

My Dad has been interested in visiting some of the Civil War battlefields while he's here, so we've been tagging along.  Manassas was our first stop--where it all began.

Little boys checking out the artillary ammunition.

The Stonewall Jackson Memorial was quite impressive-a confederate, but very good at 'holding the line' to be impenetrable.

The children deciding which flag they would fight for:)

Typical Jane-the park service fella was giving out activity cards and she was compelled to work on hers rather than watching where she was going.

This is a memorial built after the war in memory of all who died in this first, bloody conflict, for both Union and Confederate soldiers.  Apparently many on both sides thought this would be a one day war, being more interested in their fancy uniforms than the fact that they might die.  Many of the townspeople in fact, packed picnic lunches and sat on the hillside to watch like it was going to be entertaining.  They were soon introduced to the reality of the war.

Porter and Andrew were impressed with the variety of wild flowers they found on our hike to the Stone House.

Another memorial to one of the confederate leaders-we had some interesting conversations about why people would want to and be allowed to make memorials to those who were fighting for slavery. 

Fredericksburg Battlefield: Sunken Road
This was another educational stop for us.  The war moved here about 2 years following it's beginnings in Manassas.

The little ones were much more interested in putting sticks down the drain than the original civil war stone wall in the distance:)  The Union lost the summation of the battles here but it was neat to hear of their bravery and the compassion shown on this sacred ground.

The memorial pictured below was to the 19 year old Confederate soldier pictured above who risked his life to deliver water to the wounded Union soldiers who were stranded between enemy lines.  His humanity led him to action when he heard their desperate calls.  That was something I kept having to remind myself of during our tours-these 'soldiers' were no more than civilian fathers, sons, and grandfathers who quite literally put down their plows and picked up rifles to fight for a cause they believed in.  They were not highly trained and certainly not blood thirsty.   

A family house that has been restored, but retained walls with original bullet holes from crossfire.

Completely un-related to the Civil War...we ate a picnic lunch there and had brought some 'veggie-straws'.  A debate struck up about weather the 3 colors of the veggie-straws really have distinguishable flavors, so the kids started feeding them to each other blind.  Andrew is the only one that could label them correctly at all. 

Thanks for helping us get in some history this summer Dad!