Ol' Bennie, he seems like he was a disgruntled person all his life. If you ask me, that's a person who never learned to count his blessings. I don't care how crummy your life is, or how crummy people treat you day in and day out, if you will just allow God to show you HIS blessings, you won't end up being a grouch and a downer of a person. Let me rephrase that: if you will just allow yourself to SEE God's blessings... you won't end up being a grouch and a downer.
Start by listening to yourself - not any one else - just yourself. Are you mumbling about the rain? or are looking for a rainbow or pretty clouds or the flowers that bloom and plants that literally spring up because of the rain? If you're mumbling, then you have turned inward and "it's all about you." Das not good, my friend. Look outside of yourself at what God has given you, not what the sinful nature of man is doing to you.
Arnold's life started out pretty good. His parents were in good financial shape. Over the course of time you would be able to trace back to their lineage four future American presidents! That's pretty cool!
Arnold was born January 14, 1741, the second of six children. Unfortunately four died of yellow fever (malaria). That set his daddy to drinking, and by the time Arnold was 14 they were pretty much destitute. The alcoholism kept his dad from training Arnold for business, so his momma finally apprenticed him out to two of her cousins. They did good, he did good, and life began to look up again. Then the pesky British had to go pass the stupid Sugar and Stamp Acts...
Actually, Arnold's first brush with the military was during the French and Indian War in 1757, when he was sixteen. Fort William Henry in the Albany, New York area, had been taken by the French and Indians. The Indian atrocities after the capture were so horrendous that it caused Arnold's band of militia to hightail it home. He served for a grand total of thirteen days!
Then Arnold's momma died, so his daddy drank even more! He was arrested for public drunkenness, refused communion by their church, and died in 1761. Very shameful stuff back then (ought to be today, too!) Here's a clue to Arnold's future though: he was accused of desertion from his militia service, the documentation was pretty shaky, though, so the matter was just dropped.
During this time Arnold partnered with some friends, bought three ships, and established himself in the West Indies trade. He was very hard-working and became quite successful. While in the West Indies (he occasionally captained his own ship) Arnold had his first brush with the British. Seems that down in Honduras, there was an insult and a challenge to a duel and shots were fired. Arnold hit his mark, but it wasn't a kill shot. After Arnold's threat to kill with the second shot, the British sea captain apologized.
1764 and 1765, respectively, saw the British impose the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. Both wreaked havoc on American merchant's business (i.e. Benedict Arnold's business!) Arnold joined the Sons of Liberty, defied those Acts and therefore became a smuggler. Even so, the financial legs were being kicked out from under him - just like when his daddy started drinking.
After the Boston Massacre in 1770, Arnold wrote from the West Indies that he was "very much shocked" and
wondered "good God, are the Americans all asleep and tamely giving up
their liberties, or are they all turned philosophers, that they don't
take immediate vengeance on such miscreants." You go, Bennie!!! Love it!!
Arnold's military career kind of went up and down like his life always had. He was at the top of his game, then had to fight for recognition, at the top of his game and then had to fight to clear his name of some carping nonsense fellow officers threw at him, at the top of his game and then had to go to Congress to fight over financial stuff. You know, if it hadn't happened so often I might be inclined to feel sorry for the guy - but the ups and downs were just so consistent...
Fighting the British, Arnold was actually wounded in the same left leg three different times, with the last wound resulting in a bad patch up that left the leg 2" shorter than the other. No recognition for his wounds (no Purple Heart back then) left him kinda chapped. He wrote his friend, George Washington, in 1779: Having become a cripple in the service of my
country, I little expected to meet [such] ungrateful returns.
His first wife died, his second wife was a British sympathizer, and, well, every American knows the rest of the story. He was made commander of West Point, (WEST POINT!) and made plans to turn it over to the British. His plans were discovered when his British spy chief was intercepted and written communications between Andre and ol' Bennie were exposed. Arnold escaped to England where he died in 1801. (Good riddance to bad guys!)
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The Gem Collection
At the same Smithsonian (there are a bunch of 'em) we find a collection of crystals and gems - including the infamous Hope Diamond.
I thought about telling everyone that Granpa bought some of these for me for an early 30th wedding anniversary, (He really WOULD like to) but he knows I'm not a fru-fru kinda girl. When we first got married he wanted to buy me jewelry and was frustrated when I kept saying I only need one watch, one set of earrings, and two finger rings - and with our wedding ring, I already had all I wanted.
On the other hand, green IS my favorite color...
Now what is this collection of rocks doing here? I see no crystals or gems...
(Gotta read the sign, Granma.) These guys fluoresce under a black light. Push the button and...
I thought about telling everyone that Granpa bought some of these for me for an early 30th wedding anniversary, (He really WOULD like to) but he knows I'm not a fru-fru kinda girl. When we first got married he wanted to buy me jewelry and was frustrated when I kept saying I only need one watch, one set of earrings, and two finger rings - and with our wedding ring, I already had all I wanted.
Now what is this collection of rocks doing here? I see no crystals or gems...
(Gotta read the sign, Granma.) These guys fluoresce under a black light. Push the button and...
How cool is that!
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Subscribing to our blog
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Thanks!!
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You can also make it an app on your smart phone. Pull the blog up in your browser, TheTravelersTwo.blogspot.com, then follow whatever your phone's operating system says to do to save it like an app.
Thanks!!
Speaking of Bones
Have you ever watched the TV series "Bones" or any forensics-based show? Well, now there's a whole section of this Smithsonian that treats discoveries in the same fashion.
This whole section is discussing the "starving time" that the members of the Jamestown Colony suffered through during the winter of 1609-1610. There were 500 colonists going into that winter and only 60 survived. No wonder its referred to as "The Harsh Reality of History." Just as Angela does in "Bones," a facial reproduction has been done based on the skull bones discovered by archaeologists. Notice that a huge section of this skull is missing. The interior of the skull shows interesting tool marks...
The Virginia Company of London sent these guys over to America in 1607 to establish a foothold and find gold. Yup, it was good ol' capitalism at work. Check this out:
Whereas our loving and weldisposed subjects ... and divers others of our loving subjects, have been humble sutors unto us that wee woulde vouchsafe unto them our licence to make habitacion, plantacion and to deduce a colonie of sondrie of our people into that parte of America commonly called Virginia, and other parts and territories in America either appartaining unto us or which are not nowe actuallie possessed by anie Christian prince or people, scituate, lying and being all along the sea coastes between fower and thirtie degrees of northerly latitude from the equinoctiall line and five and fortie degrees of the same latitude and in the maine lande betweene the same fower and thirtie and five and fourtie degrees, and the ilandes thereunto adjacente or within one hundred miles of the coaste thereof;
And you thought lawyers were a modern headache! This is the Charter that sent the first successful colonists to America. It goes on to say that if they don't find a way for the Virginia Company of London to profit financially they would be cut off from all funding. Even to these dudes, struggling to keep body and soul together, money was the alpha and omega - or so they thought.
The men spent all their time searching for gold and no time planting a vegetable garden or doing much of anything that might help them through the winter. Finally, in 1608, ol' John Smith, a soldier, explorer, and adventurer, had had enough. (Seems he was the only common sense man in the group!) Smith took charge and began to require that each colonist (man, woman or child) spend at least four hours a day farming. "Work or starve," he said. Hmmm, where have I heard something similar before? Oh yeah, it was told to the Corps of Discovery back at Fort Mandan: "If we eat you eat; if we starve, you starve " said the Mandan to the Corps. Only 38 of Virginia's colonists from the original 144 survived that year.
In 1609, John Smith suffered a very severe gunpowder burn and was shipped back to England. Then a re-supply ship (and by that I don't just mean material goods. They had to keep re-supplying people because so many were dying...) a re-supply ship sunk off the coast of Bermuda. That knocked their hat in the creek for sure (as a friend of ours in Texas would say!)
It was a harsh winter, and instead of relying on themselves, the colonists had relied on that ship to supply them. The price they paid was even greater than death, because the forensics show that they resorted to cannibalism to survive. Two colonists snuck into the community storehouse. Their punishment was to be tied to posts and left to publicly starve to death. Finally, with nothing left in the storehouse for anyone, one guy even ate his own wife! It is suspected that those who survived that winter did so off the bodies of others who had died. I suppose the concept of "body and soul" kicked in here. In their minds, once the soul left the body at death, what was left behind was no longer sacred? But if one starved to death, what would be left to eat? Eww, too gruesome for me! I'm movin' on...
However they accomplished it, some DID survive that winter (and wrote diaries throughout that winter which are still in print today!) Re-supply ships arrived with food and new colonists in 1610, and year after year more colonists came. Even though tobacco was introduced as a cash crop, financially Jamestown failed and the investors lost almost a quarter of a million pounds (English money.) If you ask me, the colonists paid a higher price: five out of every six died. The Virginia Company of London was declared bankrupt by the king in 1624, the colony became property of the Crown, and was therefore the first in America ruled by the Crown.
Here's a really good link if you want lots more detail:
This whole section is discussing the "starving time" that the members of the Jamestown Colony suffered through during the winter of 1609-1610. There were 500 colonists going into that winter and only 60 survived. No wonder its referred to as "The Harsh Reality of History." Just as Angela does in "Bones," a facial reproduction has been done based on the skull bones discovered by archaeologists. Notice that a huge section of this skull is missing. The interior of the skull shows interesting tool marks...
The Virginia Company of London sent these guys over to America in 1607 to establish a foothold and find gold. Yup, it was good ol' capitalism at work. Check this out:
Whereas our loving and weldisposed subjects ... and divers others of our loving subjects, have been humble sutors unto us that wee woulde vouchsafe unto them our licence to make habitacion, plantacion and to deduce a colonie of sondrie of our people into that parte of America commonly called Virginia, and other parts and territories in America either appartaining unto us or which are not nowe actuallie possessed by anie Christian prince or people, scituate, lying and being all along the sea coastes between fower and thirtie degrees of northerly latitude from the equinoctiall line and five and fortie degrees of the same latitude and in the maine lande betweene the same fower and thirtie and five and fourtie degrees, and the ilandes thereunto adjacente or within one hundred miles of the coaste thereof;
And you thought lawyers were a modern headache! This is the Charter that sent the first successful colonists to America. It goes on to say that if they don't find a way for the Virginia Company of London to profit financially they would be cut off from all funding. Even to these dudes, struggling to keep body and soul together, money was the alpha and omega - or so they thought.
The men spent all their time searching for gold and no time planting a vegetable garden or doing much of anything that might help them through the winter. Finally, in 1608, ol' John Smith, a soldier, explorer, and adventurer, had had enough. (Seems he was the only common sense man in the group!) Smith took charge and began to require that each colonist (man, woman or child) spend at least four hours a day farming. "Work or starve," he said. Hmmm, where have I heard something similar before? Oh yeah, it was told to the Corps of Discovery back at Fort Mandan: "If we eat you eat; if we starve, you starve " said the Mandan to the Corps. Only 38 of Virginia's colonists from the original 144 survived that year.
In 1609, John Smith suffered a very severe gunpowder burn and was shipped back to England. Then a re-supply ship (and by that I don't just mean material goods. They had to keep re-supplying people because so many were dying...) a re-supply ship sunk off the coast of Bermuda. That knocked their hat in the creek for sure (as a friend of ours in Texas would say!)
It was a harsh winter, and instead of relying on themselves, the colonists had relied on that ship to supply them. The price they paid was even greater than death, because the forensics show that they resorted to cannibalism to survive. Two colonists snuck into the community storehouse. Their punishment was to be tied to posts and left to publicly starve to death. Finally, with nothing left in the storehouse for anyone, one guy even ate his own wife! It is suspected that those who survived that winter did so off the bodies of others who had died. I suppose the concept of "body and soul" kicked in here. In their minds, once the soul left the body at death, what was left behind was no longer sacred? But if one starved to death, what would be left to eat? Eww, too gruesome for me! I'm movin' on...
However they accomplished it, some DID survive that winter (and wrote diaries throughout that winter which are still in print today!) Re-supply ships arrived with food and new colonists in 1610, and year after year more colonists came. Even though tobacco was introduced as a cash crop, financially Jamestown failed and the investors lost almost a quarter of a million pounds (English money.) If you ask me, the colonists paid a higher price: five out of every six died. The Virginia Company of London was declared bankrupt by the king in 1624, the colony became property of the Crown, and was therefore the first in America ruled by the Crown.
Here's a really good link if you want lots more detail:
Friday, May 31, 2013
Bones and Mummies
Everyone loves bones, especially dinosaur bones.
Big bones...
And little bones!
Standard mummified remains, and non-standard.
Surely you know that the ancient Egyptians removed the brains with tweezers shoved up the nostrils before mummifying those kings and queens... Hmmm. I can think of a few folks I wouldn't mind mummifying! (Zing!)
This leathery lookin' dude is a big-horned bison. The interpretive information plaque says it's extinct. (Duh!) I think what it meant to say is that that particular species is extinct. Because it was found near Fairbanks, Alaska the horn sheaths and hooves are still intact. The freezing temperatures are what made that possible.
The lower part of that display are the remains of the rear lower leg and foot of the second most abundant critter, la horse! This represents the last of the true wild horses (not counting related asses and zebras.) What we think of as "wild horses" are really descended from stock that somehow found its way from human owners and reverted to a wild state.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
"Our Beginnings" in D.C.
I thought this was a pretty cute picture of Benjamin Franklin wavin' at us... The flags are at half staff because it's Memorial Day. This is outside of the old Post Office building. Benji is here because he created the postal service.
From here we walked down to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center. That would be North American history, not Central American history, so I'm not sure why they have this guy sitting by the front door:
This would be a replica of Colossal Head No. 4 (of 17). The original was uncovered by a Smithsonian archaeologist in 1946. He's kinda cute, too. (The head, not the archaeologist :)
Inside we find a really cool lookin' giant, polished piece of rock that is as tall as I am!
The red striations indicate periods of high oxygen concentration in the atmosphere; the gray show low oxygen. It's really pretty.
A bit farther on I find this interesting little tidbit on an interpretive plaque: "It is unlikely that living things could spontaneously arise on earth today. Anything resembling the primitive forerunners of life would be quickly gobbled up by ever-present microbes in the environment. Primeval conditions must have been more favorable for life-forming processes." Huh? Say again? Why, that's the closest statement I have ever heard "science" say that lends credence to the Creation! How could primeval conditions be "more favorable." Somehow I had the idea the "primeval" was all about everything gobbling up everything else voraciously. Primeval was all ABOUT microbes. If you believe evolutionists, all life on earth began as microbes - so there must have been zillions of gazillions of microbes all gobbling on each other.
It goes on to say: "What were these conditions? Scientists' ideas about them have also evolved. Early notions of a young earth with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and ocean basins filled with bubbling 'organic soup' now seem questionable." WOWSER! "Experiments have shown that amino acids and other organic compounds form most readily in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, but the light gases that would have made up such an atmosphere probably escaped into space early in the earth's history. And while organic compounds may have accumulated in the primordial oceans, they probably existed in such dilute concentrations that life-forming reactions would have occurred slowly, if at all." DOUBLE WOWSER!
Then they go into suppositions and may be's and probably's. Well, guess what. My "suppose" that God created all life on earth carries more weight than their "may be." But their own first two paragraphs take away 99% of a persons belief in their tired ol' concepts.
A warm little pond? or the Garden of Eden and a manger? "They" keep changing their story; the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and never, ever changes.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Our Blog Audience
I'm always amazed when I stop and check out who has been reading our blog! It's 10:30 in the morning, and so far today we've had readers drop in from good ol' America, Colombia, Brazil, Latvia, Russia, Croatia, England, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Poland. That's just stunning! There have been over 45,000 page views so far
All I can say is that I really do hope folks are enjoying it and sharing it with others. They can "Google+" it, or copy the URL and share it. If you're one of the lucky few who have it emailed to you, it's really simple to forward that on. If you're using the mobile version the blog can be turned into an app so that all you have to do is tap the app and you get the latest post - that's pretty convenient.
I just don't know what to think about all these folks in different countries reading the blog. It's such an enormous variety of places all across the globe...! All I can think of is to say thank you to each and every one of you. Oh, and ask that you forgive my occasional spelling and grammar mistakes. I get so caught up in the story that my education gets left behind sometimes. Maybe you can make a game of how many mistakes I make every day - or maybe not. I could get really depressed if it was too many!
Read on, oh world, read on. I'm having a wonderful time sharing our discoveries, and thank you for joining us!
All I can say is that I really do hope folks are enjoying it and sharing it with others. They can "Google+" it, or copy the URL and share it. If you're one of the lucky few who have it emailed to you, it's really simple to forward that on. If you're using the mobile version the blog can be turned into an app so that all you have to do is tap the app and you get the latest post - that's pretty convenient.
I just don't know what to think about all these folks in different countries reading the blog. It's such an enormous variety of places all across the globe...! All I can think of is to say thank you to each and every one of you. Oh, and ask that you forgive my occasional spelling and grammar mistakes. I get so caught up in the story that my education gets left behind sometimes. Maybe you can make a game of how many mistakes I make every day - or maybe not. I could get really depressed if it was too many!
Read on, oh world, read on. I'm having a wonderful time sharing our discoveries, and thank you for joining us!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Traveling On The Metro to D.C.
What a simple idea! Stay outside of D.C. and take the Metro in to the Smithsonian. Rooms are less expensive, and we won't have to worry about parking. That'll work; and it did - but not without its complications!
We found a really nice Sheraton in Ruston, Virginia for next to nothing that was very near a Metro station. In hindsight, it was probably "next to nothing" because the Metro stations closest to it had been shut down for renovations.
Then we had a terrible time finding the Metro. Once there is when we discovered that it was shut down, but, not to worry, they had set up free shuttle bus rides to the nearest open station. Now we have to remember that we left the car at West Falls Church, got bussed to Ballston, caught the Orange line into D.C. and got off at Federal Triangle. (Whew! For a couple of kids from East Texas that never take mass transit, that's a lot to remember! Think of that the next time you lose your car at the local mall.)
We check the fares at Ballston and purchase tickets from the machine for Federal Triangle. The platform isn't too crowded, the ceilings are super high (I guess to keep claustrophobics from panicking), and the train is on time.
Too funny! There's a guy on the train asking us directions! We happened to have printed out a map of the Metro lines and were able to help him understand the system. Too funny!
We hop off at Federal and ... the exit booth won't let us out. Everyone clears the area pretty quickly, and there's no one to ask for help! It's just us in this whole enormous echoing place. Bummer. We go over to the fare machines and try to figure things out. Ah, seems they tack on an extra dollar on the weekends. (Take THAT Mr. and Mrs. Tourist!)
A station master appears. (Maybe they have security cameras stashed somewhere and they were watching us?) We explain our problem and get all straightened out. (He must get really tired of country bumpkin tourists like us, but then again, if it weren't for us dummies he wouldn't have a job maybe.)
Up the escalators and out into the sunshine! Wow, what a beautiful, beautiful day!
We found a really nice Sheraton in Ruston, Virginia for next to nothing that was very near a Metro station. In hindsight, it was probably "next to nothing" because the Metro stations closest to it had been shut down for renovations.
Then we had a terrible time finding the Metro. Once there is when we discovered that it was shut down, but, not to worry, they had set up free shuttle bus rides to the nearest open station. Now we have to remember that we left the car at West Falls Church, got bussed to Ballston, caught the Orange line into D.C. and got off at Federal Triangle. (Whew! For a couple of kids from East Texas that never take mass transit, that's a lot to remember! Think of that the next time you lose your car at the local mall.)
We check the fares at Ballston and purchase tickets from the machine for Federal Triangle. The platform isn't too crowded, the ceilings are super high (I guess to keep claustrophobics from panicking), and the train is on time.
Too funny! There's a guy on the train asking us directions! We happened to have printed out a map of the Metro lines and were able to help him understand the system. Too funny!
We hop off at Federal and ... the exit booth won't let us out. Everyone clears the area pretty quickly, and there's no one to ask for help! It's just us in this whole enormous echoing place. Bummer. We go over to the fare machines and try to figure things out. Ah, seems they tack on an extra dollar on the weekends. (Take THAT Mr. and Mrs. Tourist!)
A station master appears. (Maybe they have security cameras stashed somewhere and they were watching us?) We explain our problem and get all straightened out. (He must get really tired of country bumpkin tourists like us, but then again, if it weren't for us dummies he wouldn't have a job maybe.)
Up the escalators and out into the sunshine! Wow, what a beautiful, beautiful day!
And so we begin our day in D.C.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
America IS great!
that set up the Underground Railroad. That "railroad" was a series of safe houses with secret places to hide blacks who were trying to escape slavery. If they could get out of the south and into the north, they just might find freedom from slavery - but they would still have to rely on their own two hands to build a life for themselves in the north. That they knew they could do, if they just had a chance. It was white people that gave them that chance. If you want to heal this land, lady, tell THAT story.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Brandy Station Battlefield
While most folks will be getting a three-day weekend, John gets four days off because it was his week to work Sunday through Thursday. For four days he decided it would be worth it to come back to Washington, D.C. We've taken a room outside of D.C. in Reston, Virginia and will catch the Metro into the city tomorrow morning.
On our way up, John has decided he wants to drop in on the Brandy Station Battlefield. On one of our other wanderings around Virginia he saw a highway sign for Brandy Station, but traffic wasn't conducive to his slamming on the brakes and making a hard left. Besides, he says I was sound asleep. (I do that a lot when I'm not driving. A doctor once said years ago that I have a vigilance problem. He suggested that if I was ever on a cattle drive I should probably pass on being a night rider. Does that give you even the tiniest clue as to how old I am???)
So we are heading for the Brandy Station Battlefield only to discover that there really wasn't a battle there. Brandy Station is the name of the train station at the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in Brandy.
The battle mostly happened on Fleetwood Hill about a quarter-mile away.
Just a few days from now, 150 years ago, almost 10,000 Rebel cavalrymen and their mounts under the command of General J.E.B. Stuart gathered here to protect the quietly arriving foot soldiers of General Robert E. Lee on their way to Gettysburg. Stuart was somewhat of a showoff showman and wanted to put on a display of his cavalry for Lee. (Notice the spelling of that word, c-a-v-a-l-r-y. So-o-o many people mispronounce that word, and it just makes me nuts. It is not cal-vary; it's cav-alry.) (Now that I've gotten THAT off my chest...)
First, close your eyes and visualize 10,000 horses all in one place at one time!! Even MY imagination isn't that big!! 10,000 horses, 10,000 riders, add in Lee's infantry - that's a lotta livin', breathin', poopin' lives! (Yes, poopin!)
So, Stuart wants to rehearse his little show. He marches his 10,000 horses and men down the pike, turns them around and has them run full tilt across one poor farmers corn field back toward Brandy Station. Not satisfied with what he saw, he marches them BACK down the road and orders them to run hell-bent-for-leather back across that cornfield yelling as only those Southern rebel-boys could yell. By the time all of that is accomplished his men and their mounts are hot, tired and dehydrated, but Lee himself wasn't due at Brandy Station until the next day, so no big deal.
Surprise! Here comes Lee right now! So Stuart starts to send his men back down the road to return for a THIRD time at a dead run. Lee, being the wiser of the two men, calls a time out and helps Stuart see the better part of wisdom. So as to not completely undermine his General, Lee suggests to Stuart that he might want to have them calmly parade for Lee to review. Even so, Stuart's shenanigans just might be the reason the Confederacy didn't outright win the battle that surprised them the very next day... (The poor ol' farmer's corn field lost for sure.)
Union Major General Joseph Hooker knew the Rebs were in the Culpeper County area, but Hooker didn't know that Lee's infantry had joined them. Hooker thought the Rebel cavalry was intent on raiding Union supply lines. Seems to me that Stuart should have had scouts out patrolling the area instead of thrashing around corn fields, because ol' J.E.B. didn't know the Union was anywhere near!
Guess what Hooker's force consisted of? (I know, I know: you shouldn't end a sentence in a preposition...) Guess what Hooker's force consisted of? Remember what I asked you to imagine a few minutes ago? How staggering a number that was? Now try this: Double it! That's right. Hooker had about 10,000 horses and riders, too, and 3,000 infantry. (How on EARTH two armies of cavalry don't know that they were on opposite sides of a lil' bitty hill I will never understand...)
What resulted the next day, June 9, 1863, was the largest predominantly cavalry battle ever to take place in the Western Hemisphere! The battle actually took place, principally, on Fleetwood Hill, but it seems there was also sporadic fighting at Beverly Ford, Kelly's Ford, St. James Church, Stevensburg, and Yew Ridge.
Hooker's men had quietly crossed the Rappahanock River and surprised the fool out of Stuart and Lee. It became the first battle of the Gettysburg Campaign.
On our way up, John has decided he wants to drop in on the Brandy Station Battlefield. On one of our other wanderings around Virginia he saw a highway sign for Brandy Station, but traffic wasn't conducive to his slamming on the brakes and making a hard left. Besides, he says I was sound asleep. (I do that a lot when I'm not driving. A doctor once said years ago that I have a vigilance problem. He suggested that if I was ever on a cattle drive I should probably pass on being a night rider. Does that give you even the tiniest clue as to how old I am???)
So we are heading for the Brandy Station Battlefield only to discover that there really wasn't a battle there. Brandy Station is the name of the train station at the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in Brandy.
The battle mostly happened on Fleetwood Hill about a quarter-mile away.
Just a few days from now, 150 years ago, almost 10,000 Rebel cavalrymen and their mounts under the command of General J.E.B. Stuart gathered here to protect the quietly arriving foot soldiers of General Robert E. Lee on their way to Gettysburg. Stuart was somewhat of a showoff showman and wanted to put on a display of his cavalry for Lee. (Notice the spelling of that word, c-a-v-a-l-r-y. So-o-o many people mispronounce that word, and it just makes me nuts. It is not cal-vary; it's cav-alry.) (Now that I've gotten THAT off my chest...)
First, close your eyes and visualize 10,000 horses all in one place at one time!! Even MY imagination isn't that big!! 10,000 horses, 10,000 riders, add in Lee's infantry - that's a lotta livin', breathin', poopin' lives! (Yes, poopin!)
So, Stuart wants to rehearse his little show. He marches his 10,000 horses and men down the pike, turns them around and has them run full tilt across one poor farmers corn field back toward Brandy Station. Not satisfied with what he saw, he marches them BACK down the road and orders them to run hell-bent-for-leather back across that cornfield yelling as only those Southern rebel-boys could yell. By the time all of that is accomplished his men and their mounts are hot, tired and dehydrated, but Lee himself wasn't due at Brandy Station until the next day, so no big deal.
Surprise! Here comes Lee right now! So Stuart starts to send his men back down the road to return for a THIRD time at a dead run. Lee, being the wiser of the two men, calls a time out and helps Stuart see the better part of wisdom. So as to not completely undermine his General, Lee suggests to Stuart that he might want to have them calmly parade for Lee to review. Even so, Stuart's shenanigans just might be the reason the Confederacy didn't outright win the battle that surprised them the very next day... (The poor ol' farmer's corn field lost for sure.)
Union Major General Joseph Hooker knew the Rebs were in the Culpeper County area, but Hooker didn't know that Lee's infantry had joined them. Hooker thought the Rebel cavalry was intent on raiding Union supply lines. Seems to me that Stuart should have had scouts out patrolling the area instead of thrashing around corn fields, because ol' J.E.B. didn't know the Union was anywhere near!
Guess what Hooker's force consisted of? (I know, I know: you shouldn't end a sentence in a preposition...) Guess what Hooker's force consisted of? Remember what I asked you to imagine a few minutes ago? How staggering a number that was? Now try this: Double it! That's right. Hooker had about 10,000 horses and riders, too, and 3,000 infantry. (How on EARTH two armies of cavalry don't know that they were on opposite sides of a lil' bitty hill I will never understand...)
What resulted the next day, June 9, 1863, was the largest predominantly cavalry battle ever to take place in the Western Hemisphere! The battle actually took place, principally, on Fleetwood Hill, but it seems there was also sporadic fighting at Beverly Ford, Kelly's Ford, St. James Church, Stevensburg, and Yew Ridge.
Hooker's men had quietly crossed the Rappahanock River and surprised the fool out of Stuart and Lee. It became the first battle of the Gettysburg Campaign.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Posting
When I write up a new post, I try to be informative, positive, encouraging, funny... Sometimes I don't feel any of those things, though. No one wants to hear a whiner or a sob story, and I don't want to put my troubles onto someone else. But, you know, after I find all those good things to say and hit the "Publish" button, I feel pretty good. There's a lesson there...
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Visitors To Our Lil' Farmhouse
It's never boring around here. Every 15 - 20 minutes I'm up checking the windows all around the house to see who's come a callin'.
The "beard" tells me he's a Tom turkey
This is a Canadian Goose - with a Plover apparently (but not really :) sitting on his back.
No beard, so she's a hen
These white-tailed deer are always hanging around - but not as much as the last time we contracted here because a neighbor cleared some land and they don't have as much cover.
Who knew chipmunks lived here? Not the landowner! She's lived here most of her life and never seen one before.
 |
| Bob White Quail |
Ever watchful ground hog. We call him Danville Danny.
Tis a Black-capped Chickadee and a male Goldfinch.
This is a female and a male Goldfinch.
The deer are certainly more skittish this year than in the past - but they still come a callin'.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Zouaves
Zouaves. Specifically Duryee's Zouaves. From the 5th New York volunteer infantry.
No, not that old fat lady on the left! The fancy dressed dude in the middle. HE'S the Zouave.
(Funny how on the inside I appear to still have dark hair left, but out in the sun it all looks so white!)My goodness, I NEVER know where history will lead me! I've read about the Zouave's since I was a teenager and vaguely knew what they were about. But, as usual: surprise, surprise, surprise!
Seems America's Zouaves all began in Chicago. It's a great story! Ferocious shock troops, Zouave's originated with the French North African legions of Morocco and Algiers in the 1830's. They evolved from a fiercely independent Kabyli tribe living in the rocky hills of Algeria and Morocco.
Back in the day, the French Zouave were more famous than the French Foreign Legion. By the 1850's, Napoleon had four regiments of Zouave - one assigned to his Imperial Guard! They were all Frenchmen by then - no more Africans. In 1855, they won immortal renown for their efforts and sacrifice in taking the earthworks of the fortress city of Sebastopol, a port on the Crimean peninsula in the Ukraine. More than 500 Zouaves fell at Mamelon Vert taking the city by bayonet!
There was a young U.S. Army captain, George B. McClellan, who observed the colorful and exotic fighters in 1855, praised the Zouaves as "The finest light infantry that Europe can produce ... the beau-ideal of a soldier." Hmmm.
Zouaves of the Imperial Guard earned ten crosses of the Legion of Honor and fifty Military Medals in 1859 as France duked it out with Austria over control of northern Italy. There was even a woman who received a medal - the first ever in France.
In the 1860's France sent them over to Mexico. Seems America was a bit distracted by a certain Civil War, and France thought they just might make some inroads into Mexico...
In 1857, Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth, born in New York but now living in Chicago, happened to meet Charles Devilliers, a former member of the French Zouave. Ellsworth was beginning to make a name for himself in the Illinois state militia, and he began to ponder the advantages of putting together a Zouave unit of his own.
After a brief stint at studying law in a certain Springfield lawyers office (one Abraham Lincoln!) and establishing a life-long friendship with Lincoln, he began putting together his cadets. He hand-picked his men and, among other things, required them to be "morally upright," abstaining from alcohol and tobacco, and then subjected them to a strict regimen of physical training. By 1860 his U.S. Zouave Cadets of Chicago were being hailed as the finest militia unit in the Midwest. He decided to put them to the test! He created a drill competition, set out on a six-week tour that took him to twenty cities, and, when all was said and done, his Cadets knocked their socks off!
Newspapers described Ellsworth as "the most talked-of man in the country." The New York Times noted "Their bronzed features, sharp outlines, light, wiry forms, muscular developments and spirited, active movements, give them an appearance of dashing ferocity." The Herald hailed the Zouaves' "dashing confidence and elasticity, which we do not see in any of our own companies... Every movement of the company was so splendidly precise, that a new sensation indeed was experienced."
More importantly, Ellsworth and his men caused tons of imitators to set up their own Zouave units.
After riding with Lincoln on his inaugural train to Washington, D.C., Ellsworth went on to New York City and created a Zouave unit there. He had the bright idea of recruiting from New York fire departments, believing those men would already be in peak physical condition. Well, that was true, but they were a bit rough around the edges compared to Ellsworth's former cadets. Apparently it was like trying to herd cats - wild alley cats! Lincoln's Secretary, John Hay, described the Zouaves as "a jolly, gay set of blackguards," who "were in a pretty complete state of don't care a damn, modified by an affectionate and respectful deference to their Colonel."
The 11th New York Infantry was formed, however, and through his friendship with Lincoln, they were included in the Union's first invasion of Virginia.
On the early morning of May 24, 1861, Ellsworth and his men were searching for the Alexandria Virginia telegraph office (I guess to take down their lines of communication) when he saw a huge Secessionist banner fluttering atop a 30-foot pole on the roof of the Marshall House hotel. He decided a game of Capture the Flag was in order, climbed to the roof, and hauled the flag down. As they were headed back down the stairs (I always told our sons that going up was the easy part...) the innkeeper blocked their path, and shot Ellsworth through the heart.
Ellsworth became the first Union martyr of the Civil War. Lincoln was crushed and ordered that Ellsworth's body lie in state at the White House. "Avenge Ellsworth!" became a battle-cry and even more Zouave units were created, one of the finest being the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, "Duryee's Zouaves."
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Second Manassas
A year has passed, the winter of course spent in "winter quarters" with little or no fighting by either side. General George McClellan is now heading up the Union forces. In April, 1862, McClellan heads south of Washington, D.C. and east of Richmond, Virginia to launch an attack on the Confederate capital. He's pretty successful, getting to within spittin' distance, until Confederate General Joe Johnston is wounded, and Robert E. Lee takes his place at the head of the Army of Northern Virginia.
I think Lee must have invented the ol' football cheer of "Push 'em back, push 'em back, way back," because that's what he did to poor ol' McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Those Rebels crossed the Chickahominy River and pushed them all the way back to the James River!
Now, in the meantime, Union General John Pope is gathering up his forces around the Manassas area in northern Virginia. He's calling his guys the Army of Virginia. (Can they manage to confuse posterity any more? Army of Virginia, Army of Northern Virginia, First Battle of Manassas, First Battle of Bull Run, Second Battle of Manassas...)
As Pope is getting organized, Lee realizes McClellan is probably of little immediate threat to Richmond and sends ol' Stonewall Jackson hightailin' it back up toward the Manassas area to counter Pope. Then Lee discovers McClellan's army is tryin' to do a sneak-back-up-the-river move to link up with Pope, so Lee gathers up General James Longstreet and they head up north to support Stonewall.
Once up there, Lee sends Stonewall on a mad dash end run around Pope's right flank, and they capture Pope's supply base at Manassas Junction. (I told you those railroads were important.) Those Rebels have a super good time scarfin' down all that rich Yankee food and re-supplying themselves with anything and everything they need, then they burn everything else. ('T-would do no good for it to fall back into Yankee hands, ya' know.) There was a lot of burning of things back then, huh?
It's now August 28th, 1862. The Yankee's are marching up the Warrenton Turnpike. To get you reoriented, at First Manassas the combatants had to cross the Warrenton Turnpike to go from Bull Run to Henry Hill. They were catty-wampus from each other about a mile or so.
The Warrenton Turnpike was completed in 1828 and was one of the best hard-surfaced roads in Virginia. (Hmm. I wonder what was meant by "hard-surfaced" back in 1828??) If you were to stick to the road instead of taking off across the fields as the crow flies, you would have crossed the stone bridge over Bull Run, gone up to the Stone House where the Warrenton intersected the Sudley-Manassas and turned left to get up to Henry's Hill as the home was known.
It's still standing today thanks to the fact that "...the man who kept it was one of those two-faced farmers. Secessionist at heart, but always loyal to the winning side," as a British traveler put it in 1865.
If you look just a little above my head to the right of the door you will see a cannonball embedded in the mortar between the stones. I studied it a bit and wondered aloud why there was no fracturing of the rocks around the impact point. The volunteer watching over the house sheepishly said that that was manually added after the war by a later proprietor trying to capitalize on the battles that took place around here. (The internet is not the only thing one shouldn't trust...)
Looking out the front windows you have a terrific view of the Henry's hill across the Turnpike.
Why didn't the armies do battle around the Stone House? Geography. It's not on high ground - and whoever holds the high ground usually wins the war. That's not to say it was completely exempt. During the battles a red flag flew from here indicating the Stone House was a refuge for the wounded. Some even left their initials on the upstairs floorboards - and they are still there today!
But back to the Second Battle of Manassas...
On August 28th serious, fierce fighting took place farther down the Turnpike from the Stone House at the Brawner's farm. In just two hours, more than 7,000 casualties occurred. Over the next two days fighting raged up and down the Warrenton Turnpike. Over those three days, 3,300 men were killed. The Rebels won the day and were at the peak of their power to succeed. Lee's maneuvering has been called "bold and brilliant." His leadership here opened the door for a Rebel invasion of the north (Gettysburg in July of 1863) and an opportunity for the South to make overtures to European nations to recognize them as a new nation.
I think Lee must have invented the ol' football cheer of "Push 'em back, push 'em back, way back," because that's what he did to poor ol' McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Those Rebels crossed the Chickahominy River and pushed them all the way back to the James River!
Now, in the meantime, Union General John Pope is gathering up his forces around the Manassas area in northern Virginia. He's calling his guys the Army of Virginia. (Can they manage to confuse posterity any more? Army of Virginia, Army of Northern Virginia, First Battle of Manassas, First Battle of Bull Run, Second Battle of Manassas...)
As Pope is getting organized, Lee realizes McClellan is probably of little immediate threat to Richmond and sends ol' Stonewall Jackson hightailin' it back up toward the Manassas area to counter Pope. Then Lee discovers McClellan's army is tryin' to do a sneak-back-up-the-river move to link up with Pope, so Lee gathers up General James Longstreet and they head up north to support Stonewall.
Once up there, Lee sends Stonewall on a mad dash end run around Pope's right flank, and they capture Pope's supply base at Manassas Junction. (I told you those railroads were important.) Those Rebels have a super good time scarfin' down all that rich Yankee food and re-supplying themselves with anything and everything they need, then they burn everything else. ('T-would do no good for it to fall back into Yankee hands, ya' know.) There was a lot of burning of things back then, huh?
It's now August 28th, 1862. The Yankee's are marching up the Warrenton Turnpike. To get you reoriented, at First Manassas the combatants had to cross the Warrenton Turnpike to go from Bull Run to Henry Hill. They were catty-wampus from each other about a mile or so.
The Warrenton Turnpike was completed in 1828 and was one of the best hard-surfaced roads in Virginia. (Hmm. I wonder what was meant by "hard-surfaced" back in 1828??) If you were to stick to the road instead of taking off across the fields as the crow flies, you would have crossed the stone bridge over Bull Run, gone up to the Stone House where the Warrenton intersected the Sudley-Manassas and turned left to get up to Henry's Hill as the home was known.
It's still standing today thanks to the fact that "...the man who kept it was one of those two-faced farmers. Secessionist at heart, but always loyal to the winning side," as a British traveler put it in 1865.
If you look just a little above my head to the right of the door you will see a cannonball embedded in the mortar between the stones. I studied it a bit and wondered aloud why there was no fracturing of the rocks around the impact point. The volunteer watching over the house sheepishly said that that was manually added after the war by a later proprietor trying to capitalize on the battles that took place around here. (The internet is not the only thing one shouldn't trust...)
Looking out the front windows you have a terrific view of the Henry's hill across the Turnpike.
Why didn't the armies do battle around the Stone House? Geography. It's not on high ground - and whoever holds the high ground usually wins the war. That's not to say it was completely exempt. During the battles a red flag flew from here indicating the Stone House was a refuge for the wounded. Some even left their initials on the upstairs floorboards - and they are still there today!
But back to the Second Battle of Manassas...
On August 28th serious, fierce fighting took place farther down the Turnpike from the Stone House at the Brawner's farm. In just two hours, more than 7,000 casualties occurred. Over the next two days fighting raged up and down the Warrenton Turnpike. Over those three days, 3,300 men were killed. The Rebels won the day and were at the peak of their power to succeed. Lee's maneuvering has been called "bold and brilliant." His leadership here opened the door for a Rebel invasion of the north (Gettysburg in July of 1863) and an opportunity for the South to make overtures to European nations to recognize them as a new nation.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
First Manassas
Yup. There were two battles at Manassas, a year apart. Now, Manassas is what the Rebels called the battles because they named their battles after towns. The Union called them the battles of Bull Run because the Yankees named their battles after rivers.
Why Manassas? Well, geography mainly. Manassas was halfway between D.C. and the Confederate capital of Richmond. That, and the railroad junction there making it possible to supply troops was a must-have for both sides.
In April, 1861, the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. That produced 90-day wonders volunteering to get a little glory. Why 90 days? Why, that's all the time BOTH sides thought it would take to whip the other side! Au contrair, mon ami!
Union General McDowell spent the first couple of months drilling and parading these guys around Washington. Spit 'n polish, chest out, shoulders back, head up! That's the kind of military man McDowell was. It's now July, and time to move his troops out. It was party time, and I mean that that was how everyone felt about this first battle only twenty-five miles from D.C. The volunteers moseyed down the road stopping to pick blackberries and fill their canteens with fresh, cool water from lazy streams by the roadside. But they were fixin' (as we say in Texas) to run slap-dab (as we say in Texas) into 22,000 not-so-lazy Rebels!
The civilians (and Congressmen) from Washington thought this was a grand time for a picnic while they watched those Southerners get what was coming to them, so they got all decked out in their pretty picnic clothes, packed fine baskets of yummy morsels, and joined the troops on the road. (I have to say, the Southern ladies weren't so gauche.)
The first shots were fired at the Stone Bridge crossing of the Bull Run. ("Run" means river.)
But it was only McDowell trying to pull a diversionary tactic, and Rebel Colonel Nathan Evans very quickly figured that out. (No dummy was he!) So he left a few dudes at the Stone Bridge, and lit out for a blocking action on Matthews Hill.
Splitting his forces didn't give him a lot of firepower, but soon a couple of brigades joined in the effort. Still, not enough! Retreat! Retreat to Henry's Hill!
(Imagine a passel of rebels rushing up the hill behind the Henry house.) These Rebs find Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson and his troops already there. “There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!” shouts the retreating General Barnard Bee. Jackson will forever after be known as "Stonewall" Jackson.
Union General McDowell grinds his army to a halt and takes time to reorganize rather than pressing the issue. This gives the Rebels a chance to reorganize, too, though. The rest of the afternoon the two armies play King of the Mountain.
About 4 p.m., fresh Confederate troops show up, and those 90-day wonders of McDowell's run out of steam. They start a tidy little retreat back to D.C., but it turns into something more like hightailing it - along with those hoity-toidy civilians that came to the picnic.
Over 60,000 men engaged in this little turf war, almost 5,000 remained - forever... McDowell was a good officer, but he wasn't a very good general. Abraham Lincoln fired McDowell and replaced him with General George McClellan. Now the war would begin in earnest.
Why Manassas? Well, geography mainly. Manassas was halfway between D.C. and the Confederate capital of Richmond. That, and the railroad junction there making it possible to supply troops was a must-have for both sides.
In April, 1861, the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. That produced 90-day wonders volunteering to get a little glory. Why 90 days? Why, that's all the time BOTH sides thought it would take to whip the other side! Au contrair, mon ami!
Union General McDowell spent the first couple of months drilling and parading these guys around Washington. Spit 'n polish, chest out, shoulders back, head up! That's the kind of military man McDowell was. It's now July, and time to move his troops out. It was party time, and I mean that that was how everyone felt about this first battle only twenty-five miles from D.C. The volunteers moseyed down the road stopping to pick blackberries and fill their canteens with fresh, cool water from lazy streams by the roadside. But they were fixin' (as we say in Texas) to run slap-dab (as we say in Texas) into 22,000 not-so-lazy Rebels!
The civilians (and Congressmen) from Washington thought this was a grand time for a picnic while they watched those Southerners get what was coming to them, so they got all decked out in their pretty picnic clothes, packed fine baskets of yummy morsels, and joined the troops on the road. (I have to say, the Southern ladies weren't so gauche.)
The first shots were fired at the Stone Bridge crossing of the Bull Run. ("Run" means river.)
But it was only McDowell trying to pull a diversionary tactic, and Rebel Colonel Nathan Evans very quickly figured that out. (No dummy was he!) So he left a few dudes at the Stone Bridge, and lit out for a blocking action on Matthews Hill.
Splitting his forces didn't give him a lot of firepower, but soon a couple of brigades joined in the effort. Still, not enough! Retreat! Retreat to Henry's Hill!
(Imagine a passel of rebels rushing up the hill behind the Henry house.) These Rebs find Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson and his troops already there. “There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!” shouts the retreating General Barnard Bee. Jackson will forever after be known as "Stonewall" Jackson.
Union General McDowell grinds his army to a halt and takes time to reorganize rather than pressing the issue. This gives the Rebels a chance to reorganize, too, though. The rest of the afternoon the two armies play King of the Mountain.
About 4 p.m., fresh Confederate troops show up, and those 90-day wonders of McDowell's run out of steam. They start a tidy little retreat back to D.C., but it turns into something more like hightailing it - along with those hoity-toidy civilians that came to the picnic.
Over 60,000 men engaged in this little turf war, almost 5,000 remained - forever... McDowell was a good officer, but he wasn't a very good general. Abraham Lincoln fired McDowell and replaced him with General George McClellan. Now the war would begin in earnest.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Skyline Drive
I'm suffering from allergies just now. I don't feel real energized, so we've decided to take the lazy way today and drive for our entertainment.
Skyline Drive is 105 miles of possible wildlife viewing: white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoons, opossum, skunk, birds, red and gray fox, beaver, river otter, mink, weasel, woodchuck, rabbit, squirrel and chipmunks and as many as 200 species of local and migratory birds. There are overlooks and turnouts and facilities you can stop at, pull out binoculars, and look to your hearts content! There are waterfalls large and small, too.
Skyline Drive meanders through the peaks of Shenandoah National Park, which has one of the densest populations of black bears documented within the U.S. They pretty well stay in the hollows and meadows of the park though.
There is very little traffic on Skyline Drive because it has very little access from adjacent roadways, and it's pretty much a highway to nowhere. If you are a bicyclist it is absolutely perfect, and if you're a mountain biker you can take the easy, smooth, high-road for awhile and then link back up with the Appalachian Trail for more rustic scenery.
Granpa's thrilled that he's finding Dogwood trees scattered frequently throughout the roadside. His hometown has a Dogwood celebration and parade every year, but because of all our travels he's missed it for several years in a row. Up here on the Skyline it is just now warming up enough for the Dogwoods to bloom. The Dogwood, of course, is both a tree and a flower, and it is the state tree of Virginia, but we love it in Texas, too.
This is the kind of view you get looking left or looking right for mile after mile after mile. They are absolutely splendid! In the fall, you have this panorama of greens and yellows and reds in blazing glory, through the blue haze, crowned with wonderful white clouds.
The land acquisition and road construction for Shenandoah National Park and Skyline are stories in themselves. There is still hard feeling about some of the land-taking, and the Visitor's Centers address this in an open and honest manner. Be sure you stop and mosey through the history they present. It's good stuff.
Mary's Rock Tunnel (I like that name!) is maybe one of the most notable features of the road - but it, too, has its controversy. It took three months to blast through the 600 feet of solid granite rock and 1,000 pounds of dynamite a day. But was it an engineering necessity? or just for show? Regardless, almost before the last roar of dynamite drifted away cars began to pass through this tunnel.
Skyline Drive is 105 miles of possible wildlife viewing: white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoons, opossum, skunk, birds, red and gray fox, beaver, river otter, mink, weasel, woodchuck, rabbit, squirrel and chipmunks and as many as 200 species of local and migratory birds. There are overlooks and turnouts and facilities you can stop at, pull out binoculars, and look to your hearts content! There are waterfalls large and small, too.
Skyline Drive meanders through the peaks of Shenandoah National Park, which has one of the densest populations of black bears documented within the U.S. They pretty well stay in the hollows and meadows of the park though.
There is very little traffic on Skyline Drive because it has very little access from adjacent roadways, and it's pretty much a highway to nowhere. If you are a bicyclist it is absolutely perfect, and if you're a mountain biker you can take the easy, smooth, high-road for awhile and then link back up with the Appalachian Trail for more rustic scenery.
Granpa's thrilled that he's finding Dogwood trees scattered frequently throughout the roadside. His hometown has a Dogwood celebration and parade every year, but because of all our travels he's missed it for several years in a row. Up here on the Skyline it is just now warming up enough for the Dogwoods to bloom. The Dogwood, of course, is both a tree and a flower, and it is the state tree of Virginia, but we love it in Texas, too.
This is the kind of view you get looking left or looking right for mile after mile after mile. They are absolutely splendid! In the fall, you have this panorama of greens and yellows and reds in blazing glory, through the blue haze, crowned with wonderful white clouds.
The land acquisition and road construction for Shenandoah National Park and Skyline are stories in themselves. There is still hard feeling about some of the land-taking, and the Visitor's Centers address this in an open and honest manner. Be sure you stop and mosey through the history they present. It's good stuff.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Blue Ridge Mountains, Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail
Skyline Drive is closed during the winter due to the elevation resulting in frequent snow and ice. Some of the Blue Ridge peaks of the Appalachian chain of mountains are about 5,000 feet above sea level. They are no Rocky Mountains, but they are certainly tall enough!
Can you imagine being Daniel Boone and being the very first white man to walk through these mountains? He was born in Pennsylvania in 1734, moved with his folks to North Carolina when he was 15, and in 1769 discovered a path to the west through the Appalachian's where the now-states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia converge. These woods and mountains were full of black bear back then, and there are still quite a few in them now. (Our little farmhouse is just east of these mountains and remember we saw a black bear in our own "back yard" about 100 yards from the house.)
The Appalachian's run from the Canadian border in Maine down into Alabama. Part of these mountains have Skyline Drive and to the south it's called the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Lying Fallow
When we got back to Danville, Virginia this time the fields around our little farmhouse were lying fallow. A couple of weeks later they were plowed as you see them here.
I love plowed fields. The smell is marvelous after a rain or in the warming sunshine. They are acres of hope. I say hope, because farmers are the biggest gamblers there are. They hope for enough rain - but not too much. They hope for sunshine - but not too much. They hope for a long growing season - maybe long enough for a bumper crop. They hope for the market price to be right when they finally harvest. It's all a gamble. Farmers are brave men and women.
Next, along came parade of vehicles and a tractor.
What is that he's pulling behind the tractor? Whatever it is, it's a new one on me...
Okay. I guess what I'm seeing are baby tobacco plants being hand fed into those "cups," and I'm assuming they are then mechanically planted into the ground, then the wheels tuck the soil safely around the roots. Who even thinks of these things? How does one make a metal monster that will handle fragile roots, stems and leaves leaving behind neatly packed rows of crops?
I'm sure they use this same type of equipment to plant a myriad of crops that are started in hot houses. Isn't technology amazing? I love it. My grandfather would love it, for sure!!
I love plowed fields. The smell is marvelous after a rain or in the warming sunshine. They are acres of hope. I say hope, because farmers are the biggest gamblers there are. They hope for enough rain - but not too much. They hope for sunshine - but not too much. They hope for a long growing season - maybe long enough for a bumper crop. They hope for the market price to be right when they finally harvest. It's all a gamble. Farmers are brave men and women.
Next, along came parade of vehicles and a tractor.
What is that he's pulling behind the tractor? Whatever it is, it's a new one on me...
Okay. I guess what I'm seeing are baby tobacco plants being hand fed into those "cups," and I'm assuming they are then mechanically planted into the ground, then the wheels tuck the soil safely around the roots. Who even thinks of these things? How does one make a metal monster that will handle fragile roots, stems and leaves leaving behind neatly packed rows of crops?
I'm sure they use this same type of equipment to plant a myriad of crops that are started in hot houses. Isn't technology amazing? I love it. My grandfather would love it, for sure!!
Monday, May 13, 2013
Adieu, Mr. President
This is a way cool piece of artwork. I think it shows how honorable a man George Washington was. I think that's what's missing in the world today - the importance of a personal sense of honor. Now everyone seems to abide by the "as long as I don't get caught" sense of honor. "It's my intentions, not my actions, that count." Godlessness causes that because if you believe in God you know that He is omnipotent and omnipresent. If you believe in God, you know you're "caught" before you even do it - which goes a long way to keeping you from doing it.
Well, that's my sermon for the day...
I'll end this with "A Brief Chronology" of the Washington timeline:
1674 John Washington, great-grandfather of George, is granted land on the upper Potomac, between Little Hunting Creek and Dogue Run, which will become the Mount Vernon homesite.
1726 Augustine Washington, father of George, acquires Little Hunting Creek Plantation from his sister Mildred.
1732 George, first child of Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington, is born at Pope's Creek Plantation on the Potomac River in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
1735-38 and 1741 Augustine Washington is in residence at Little Hunting Creek Plantation with his young family.
1742 Augustine Washington dies. Lawrence Washington, George's elder half brother, marries and settles at the plantation changing its name to Mount Vernon in honor of his commanding officer, Admiral Edward Vernon.
1752 Lawrence Washington dies at Mount Vernon
1754 George acquires Mount Vernon by leases from Lawrence's widow
1759 George marries Martha Dandridge Custis, widow of Daniel Parke Custis, and they settle at Mount Vernon with her two young children, John Parke and Martha Parke Custis.
1775 Washington is appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental forces. Except for brief stops at Mount Vernon on his way to and from Yorktown in 1781, he will not be at Mount Vernon again for eight years.
1781 John Parke Custis dies; George and Martha raise her two youngest grandchildren, Eleanor Parke and George Washington Parke Custis, as their own.
1783 George resigns his military commission to Congress and retires to Mount Vernon
1787 George presides over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
1789-97 George Washington serves as first President of the United States of America. During this time he visits Mount Vernon 15 times. (Remember, there was no Washington, D.C. at this time. The government was based in New York and.)
1799 George dies and is entombed at Mount Vernon in the old family vault (Old Tomb)
1802 Martha dies and is entombed beside her husband in the old family vault (Old Tomb). Mount Vernon passes to George's nephew, Bushrod Washington.
1829 Bushrod Washington dies, leaving Mount Vernon to his nephew, John Augustine Washington.
1831 Honoring George's Last Will and Testament, the New Tomb is constructed. Washington, his wife Martha, and other relatives buried in the Old Tomb are re-interred in the New Tomb.
1858 The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association receives its charter from Virginia and purchases Mount Vernon from John A. Washington, Jr.
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