The Yankee Visits Bull Run

We gave the new car its shakedown cruise on Saturday taking a trip out to Manassas National Battlefield Park. I'll leave the car stories for posts on the other blog. It was a great day for a drive, and after stopping for brunch we arrived in time to do the 2:00 p.m. walking tour of Henry Hill followed by the 3:00 p.m. walking tour at Brawer Farm. They didn't involve a lot of walking, but I suppose they had to call them something to distinguish them from the driving tour.

The park is primarily a lot of open space with a scant few buildings. Only three predate the Civil War, one because it was stone. Wooden structures were pretty much destroyed in one or the other of the battles that took place on these fields north of Manassas. You get get a real feel for just how much civilian lives were disrupted by the masses of armed men and artillery swarming over the hills. Behind me and the canon you can see the house the Henrys built after the war to replace the one destroyed by canon fire during the first battle of Bull Run in 1861.

Bull Run? Manassas National Battlefield? Depends on where you learned about the Civil War. Or the War Between the States. Or the War of Northern Aggression. I grew up in Connecticut. Although my first exposure to the Civil War in a school setting was in 5th grade history class, my father wrote his Master's thesis on the Lincoln assassination, so I'd read a lot about the time period in books on the shelves in the house. Practically everything I read called it the Battle of Bull Run after the run (creek or brook to most of us from New England) that the Union Army had to cross to get to the railroad junction in Manassas in 1861.

I remember reading about the civilians who brought picnics to watch what they thought would be the bloodless battle to end the war. I remember learning that Union forces suffered major defeats in both battles. I don't remember learning anything about the military objective, which was the railroad junction in the town of Manassas. Maybe I didn't absorb that information. Or maybe it just wasn't there. What's the important information for elementary school students to know about these battles? Or middle school students? High school students? What was it about these battles that made them important in our history as a nation?

Ultimately, it has to be the human stories. The ranger who conducted the tour on Henry Hill always talked about the number of Americans killed during the first battle. Not Union soldiers. Not Confederate soldiers. American men, and one woman, who died or were wounded that day fighting for something they believed in. When is something so important that we're willing to die for it?

Somewhat subdued we left Manassas and headed to Leesburg. We arrived shortly before the historic downtown area began rolling up the sidewalks. We wandered into a couple of shops, we looked at buildings, and I noted this road sign. At home this intersection would be CT 15, which runs southwest and northeast, and US 7, which runs north and south. Is it any wonder I get confused trying to remember which direction I'm driving? Fortunately Dennis was with me, so I didn't make the mistake on our way home of getting off the Beltway and turning around. The Beltway curves, so yes, sometimes it crosses the same road twice!

I appreciate having someone to do these day trips with. When I moved down here my intention had been to get out at least once a month to some historical or cultural place. That didn't last very long. While I don't mind doing things alone, this kind of trip is much more enjoyable with someone else along. I'm looking forward to more in the coming weeks.