The Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia

Not to be confused with the America Civil War Center also located in Richmond at Tredagar Ironworks, (see the post, "The Virginia Trapper," from October 2011), The Museum of the Confederacy is privately operated. It is the first piece of Civil War history we've seen that was done chronologically.  But to get to that, we have to get past the interesting things just outside the front door:

Now you know as much as we know about that fancy fish...  They also have the anchor off of the C.S.S Virginia.  An anchor is an anchor, so we won't trouble you with a photo of that.

This may be the fanciest saddle I've ever seen.  It belonged to Confederate Brigadier General John H. Morgan, veteran of the Mexican War and commander of the Lexington Rifles militia company before the Civil War.  During the war he was a colonel of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry and commanded a cavalry division in the Army of Tennessee.  It is what was called a "presentation saddle," so I don't know if it was ever put on a horse.  Seems like a lot of wasted saddle leather and silver to me...

This is more like it.  This he used every day.

In the recent post, "The Last Confederate Cemetery," I related the story of one of the men, Jesse H. Hutchins.  He enlisted only a few days after the firing on Ft. Sumter, and was killed in the last few hours before the Army of Northern Virginia was surrendered by Lee.  Below is the jacket of one Captain John Quincy Marr, organizer and officer of the Warrenton Rifles.  He became one of the first Confederates to die in battle.  You can see where the bullet went through to his heart, killing him instantly.

I don't know what to think about J.E.B. Stuart's saddle below:

All I can think of is "Ouch!" because that is NOT a padded leather seat - that's wood!

Someone has expressed to me that if I show pictures of what's in a museum others will believe they don't need to go there because they've already seen it all.  How can that be?  There are HUNDREDS of items in these museums.  I can't even begin to share all that we've seen in any particular one.   Besides, what is of interest to me may not be the thing you're interested in - and what I ignored may be THE thing you would want to see. We hope our blog posts encourage people to go to museums locally and when traveling.  there is always something new!

The White House of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia

It's a good thing we had Lil' Miss GPS, or we would have never found this place!

Now buried in the hospital district of downtown Richmond, Virginia we find the home that became known as the White House of the Confederacy.

Built in 1818 for the president of the Bank of Virginia, John Brockenbrough, this home changed hands many times before being purchased by the City of Richmond just prior to the Civil War.  The City then rented it to the Confederate government to be used as the Executive Mansion.  (Just like the United States' White House, it didn't get that moniker until many years later.)

Built in neoclassical style, it is still quite handsome.  Located in what was then the upscale Shockoe Hill area, owners had neighbors such as U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall, Aaron Burr, defense attorney John Wickham, and future U.S. Senator Benjamin Watkins Leigh.  The Virginia State Capitol was just two blocks south. 

In August, 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, wife Varnia, and children moved into the Executive Mansion and lived there until the evacuation of Richmond at the end of the war.  The rear entrance, or family entrance, seems to me to look more like the formal front entrance:

Due to President Davis' many health problems he worked out of the home - not unusual at the time.  This garden in the rear of the home would have been a wonderful place for him to retire to and muse over the problems of the day.

Within 12 hours of the Davis' abandoning the home and fleeing to Danville on April 2, 1865, Union Major General Godfrey Weitzel occupied this Executive Mansion, and Abraham Lincoln traveled the few miles up the James River to spend about three hours here in meetings.  He would not go upstairs, feeling that that was Davis' personal quarters, and it would be improper for someone to enter a man's "home" when that man was not present.


The headquarters for Military District Number One (Virginia) was located here during Reconstruction, and it was occasionally used as the residence of the commanding officer of the Department of Virginia.  Reconstruction in Virginia officially ended in October, 1870, and the building was then used as the first public school building in Virginia.  In 1890, the city of Richmond wanted to demolish the mansion in order to build a more modern school.   The Confederate Memorial Literary Society (CMLS) was formed with the sole purpose of saving the White House from destruction.

No picture taking was allowed inside the White House.  Most of the furnishings were sold off after the surrender, but a concerted effort by the CMLS has brought about 60% of the furnishings back.  The front entry hall has large niches holding sculptures.  These pieces never sold and so have not left their original pedestals in almost 200 years.  The most interesting thing about the entry hall is it's oval shape.  Imagine that.  Both White Houses have an oval room!

A New Museum of the Confederacy

Yes, it's brand new ... and very nice.

We're still in Appomattox.  The Museum of the Confederacy located next to the Southern White House in Richmond, Virginia, has opened this branch about a mile from Appomattox Court House where Lee surrendered to Grant.

One of their major collections is flags of the Confederacy.  They seem to be originals - some battle flags, some Southern national flags, some unit flags from different battalions or states - there are stories with each one.  There were two in particular that I liked:

The photograph on the right of this square battle flag is of little Tad Lincoln.  Seems he somehow acquired a Confederate flag and used to wave it out the second floor window of the Washington, D.C. White House.  The interpretive sign speculates that this was - might have been - Tad's flag.  He must have been a real rascal!

The second flag with a unique story looks practically new.

That's because it is.  Seems that the donor carried it on board the submarine, USS Gurnard, in 1990 when it was on a training mission to the North Pole.  His submarine met another sub, the USS Seahorse, and the two crews brought out this flag declaring the entire earth a "Southern Planet."  Sounds reasonable to me!

Flags used to be very important during wartime battles.  They would mark the frontline of opposing forces, stand high above the fray and mark a rallying point for troops, and were so important that the flag bearer would be surrounded by others charged with protecting the one carrying the flag, and they committed to dropping their own rifles to take up the flag should the bearer be shot down.

If you read our earlier post, "Official Confederate Flags," from January, then you know designing a flag can be pretty tricky - and the cost of a poorly designed flag could be deadly.  Here they have a cool computer program that lets you design your own flag, and then it rates your design.  Well, naturally, after learning of the SNAFU the Confederates created in attempting to hurriedly design their national flag, I decided I should try my hand at it.

Seems I did a "Superior" job!  "Simple, distinctive, and significant."  If we ever need a national flag, family, I'm guessin' this will do:  Red, white, grey, and dark navy blue.  Whaddya think, kids?

The Last Civil War Cemetery

Well, I don't know if it was the absolute last, but for the troops in the Northern Army of Virginia it was.

Here, just outside of Appomattox Court House, are buried eighteen Confederate soldiers that died within 24 hours of the surrender.

Some of the soldiers are identified; some unknown.  

 
It was after this that the idea of dog tags came into being.  (Did you know why they wear two dog tags?  If a soldier dies, his buddies are supposed to take one of the tags with them and the other they are supposed to - eewww! - jam it between the front teeth of the dead buddy so that when someone comes to remove the dead bodies the soldier can be correctly identified.)

What's that?  A Union soldier?  Yes, he died in those last days of fighting, too.  He was found later and, as they had no way of knowing who he was in order to notify his family, it was decided to bury him here with the others.  There is a small stars and stripes flag on the other side of the headstone with a flower arrangement.

This is me workin' hard to bring you the story.

(Have you ever given thought to what happens after a battle?  The troops move on to fight other battles and leave their wounded and dead for whatever civilians will care for them.  Most able-bodied men were off fighting the war somewhere so guess who got to clean up the mess left behind.  Mmmm-hmmm. Women.  Clara Barton,  Florence Nightingale,  Daughters of the American Revolution, Ladies Memorial Association of Appomattox, etc.  Over the years I have come to believe that it is women that are the glue of civilization, women that hold things together, that bind the generations through efforts to honor the dead, restore architecture and save old buildings from being razed.)

It's a peaceful place.  There's a sign on the gate inviting you in to sit and contemplate, to honor these men and their sacrifice, to never forget...  It's a special place.

Lee's Last Headquarters

Just a tad closer to Richmond than Appomattox Court House we find the location of Robert E. Lee's last headquarters camp.  Just a short walk through the woods...

It's a beautiful, serene knoll from which we think we can see Appomattox.  We are here at almost the exact time of year that Lee and Grant were.  Flowering trees and greening leaves lend peace and a sense of rebirth to everything.

It's amazing to John and I that we can go to the exact spot where famous men or women stood while making decisions that literally changed the world.  Some say, after reading our blog - or any writing or pictorial representation of historical people and places - that there is no reason for them to travel there.  OH, SO VERY NOT SO!!!  There is an air about the place, a feeling of immensity, of timelessness.  Some places, like the Alamo in Texas, cause a hush to descend on the crowds as they move through and tears to form as eyes see the reality of hundreds of years ago.  Reading about something puts thoughts and ideas into our heads, but BEING here...  Enormous events took place here and now, because we came, we are somehow literally a part of that. 

Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia came so close, so very close to escaping Grant, reaching Danville, resupplying and joining up with another Confederate army in North Carolina.  So close.  It probably wouldn't have changed the outcome of the Civil War, merely prolonged it.  But still...

Grant drove his men hard when leaving Petersburg in order to flank Lee and block his path to freedom.  Lee tried to burn all his bridges, literally.  But Grant's army succeeded in its maneuvers.  Some of Lee's officers suggested Lee have all of his men - some 30,000 - scatter, fight as guerrillas, and rejoin somewhere else.  Lee saw the inevitability of defeat.  He issued General Order No. 4:

Yes, this is only the Army of Northern Virginia surrendering.  There are other armies fighting all over the Southern states.  But this is Lee's army.  News will travel south soon.  All of the others will see just as clearly the inevitability of surrender when their turn comes.  For all intents and purposes the war is over.

Return to Appomattox

Well, it's April, and that's when Lee surrendered to Grant in 1865, so John wants to go back to Appomattox.  Besides, they just opened a branch of the Museum of the Confederacy, and John wants to be one of the first to visit.  We have learned that, as meticulous as we are when we visit these places, we ALWAYS learn more the next time we visit - and the next - and the next.  If nothing else, the tour guides are different and so get a different spiel. 

So off we go to Appomattox.  Then we'll spend the night in Richmond and drop down about 15 miles to Petersburg on Saturday.  We have an appointment with the Centre Hill curator; she has given us permission to photograph a list of unique items we saw the first time we came!

We arrive by the stage road (well, almost) that runs from Lynchburg through Appomattox to Richmond. 

We decide to by-pass the Visitor Center and start at the little bookstore where you get your National Parks passport stamped.  (That's a fun little thing John started years ago, and it's proven to have been a good idea.  The stamp shows the date and location of your visit to all the different National Parks around the nation.  The little book is getting a bit battered - but it is amazing to see how many years we've spent roaming around the country checking out it's history!)  We're the only ones in the book store besides staff, and so we chat a bit and have fun.  It's amazing the things one learns if one treats people as friends from the get-go.  John gets a small something to remember the visit by, and we mosey outside.

The building next door was a tavern.  Remembering how shocked Granny Beth was that we'd consider taking her to a tavern to eat, and not having been able to go inside this one the last time we were in Appomattox, we decide to check out the Clover Hill Tavern.

This is John being funny.  He took this picture of me bending over taking a picture of the interpretive sign.  He told a visitor standing next to him that he was going to show the picture to the kids and tell them I had just come out of the tavern and was throwing up!  Tacky-tacky!  And me actually workin'! for the blog.  Ah, well.  At least he's having a good time...

Notice the words "Court House" and "courthouse."  The first actually indicates a village or town; the second means a structure or building.  If you'll remember our first blog post on Appomattox I explained that asking Lil' Miss GPS to give directions to Appomattox courthouse will take you to a different location - the new courthouse a few miles from here.  The spelling is what makes a difference.

So, anyway, back to the Clover Hill Tavern. 

These are not the actual printing presses used by Grant's men to print up paroles for Confederate soldiers, but they are period pieces and are placed just as they might have been in 1865.  Within a week almost 30,000 rebel troops had parole papers in hand and were headed home.  In the room across the hall there are showcases with original documents:

Usually, when one army surrenders to another, they give up all that they have - and sometimes even themselves.  Lincoln wanted to unite the nation - that was the bottom line with him.  Don't dissolve these United States!!  He told Grant to give the most generous surrender terms probably ever given at a surrender.  These "paroles" spelled out what the rebels could leave with.  Some of the passes said "...Carriers and mounted men of the artillery and cavalry where horses are men's own private property will be allowed to retain them...."  Also, "Besides allowing a Confederate soldier safe passage home, his parole could also be used to obtain free transportation on any Federal run railroad, packet boat, stage or wagon.  Bringing his parole into any Federal installation on his way home, a soldier could also obtain rations."

Now, John read somewhere about a rebel from Texas walking all the way back to Texas from Appomattox and very nearly starving to death before he got home.  I suspect word didn't travel too quickly in 1865.  If this soldier tried walking into a Federal installation, what guarantee was there that those Union troops had gotten the word of surrender?  What guarantee was there that the reb wouldn't be shot dead on sight?  Yeah, I think I would have walked and darn near starved before I'd go traipsin' into a Federal installation lookin' for a handout.

One of the National Park people that had been in the bookstore appears, and we continue our banter with him.  He began showing us things that aren't normally shown on tours.  Apparently the benches on the front porch had the unique feature of being able to switch the back rest from one side of the bench to the other.  This nifty feature was so one wouldn't have to pick up the entire bench and turn it around just to sit and see in the opposite direction.  Pretty cool.

Then, behind one of the benches he showed us a child's footprint in the slave-made brick of the tavern wall.  Unfortunately there was no inscription to go with it, but its touching nonetheless.  Elsewhere on the house (I'm not telling where :-), he unlatches a shutter and shows us what's hiding behind it:

It's a BAT!  Look at those tiny back toes and knobby knees!  She is apparently a permanent guest here at the tavern.  Once, when she had babies, one of the babies dropped down onto the shoulder of a lady tourist.  The ranger in attendance was sure all kinds of screaming was fixin' to take place, but, no.  The lady just brushed it off her shoulder and never batted (no pun intended) an eyelash.

Yes, return trips to these places always seem to pay off in unexpected bonuses!  Never fear, curators, WE will always return again and again!  It is so very worth it!

The Groundhog is Back! and a Wascally Wabbit!

For his size, I think he's got claws that would rival a grizzly bear!

Now, you may not think this is a very good picture compared to the groundhog's, even if there are drops of dew visible on the tips of the grass, but look at how far away I really WAS when I took the picture!

See that stack of pallets next to the tobacco barn?  There is a little dot on the ground at the corner of those pallets.  THAT'S the rabbit!  John's Christmas camera is pretty good, huh?

Blandford Church and Cemetery, Petersburg, VA.

Actor Joseph Cotton is buried here.  The earliest headstone is dated 1702 (Richard Yarborough.)  There is even a BRITISH Revolutionary War officer buried here!  There is a monument to the Petersburg soldiers that gained fame during the war of 1812.  It was during that war that Petersburg got the moniker of  "the Cockade City."

Anyone know what flag this is?  It might be a trick question.

There are three Civil War Generals and 30,000 of their troops.  The very first Memorial Day was celebrated here in June, 1866.  

There are two Virginia governors buried here and a couple of dogs (no, real dogs, not politicians...)  However, all has not been peaceful here at Blandford Cemetery.  A couple of dudes fought an old-fashioned duel here over love, and the cemetery was shelled during the Civil War siege of Petersburg.  All seems quiet now, though.

You might think it kind of strange that folks make a cemetery part of their itinerary, but the Blandford Church inside the cemetery has something totally unique:  10 or 12 huge stained lead glass windows made by Louis Comfort Tiffany.  Oh, my goodness, they are gorgeous!  From the outside you can't hardly tell anything about them, so you have to take the $5 tour.

Tiffany accepted the commission on the condition that he have full reign on the content.  Each window was bought by a different state in the Confederacy to honor the 30,000 soldiers buried here - and this church which survived the siege.  There is an amazing story behind each and every window.  I don't know if photos are available on line, but I PROMISE you that they wouldn't do justice to the real thing.  A couple of the windows are even three dimensional.  It's only $5 for the tour - almost anyone can afford that.  Look at the interior construction of the building, too.  It's a work of art itself.

It is a definite must see!

Chief Piamingo of the Chickasaw Indians

We're back in Petersburg and up the river from the old Peter Jones Trading Post.

There's at least a couple of dozen things that happened in this general area that are pretty interesting, and the Appomattox River Heritage Trail has been created to help us experience some of them.  One piece of information is on an interpretive sign regarding Chief Piamingo of the Chickasaw:

In 1646, the Appomattox Indians were, by treaty, relocated to land along this stream, now called Rohoic Creek.

Another interpretive sign lists a bunch of other things.  Things like Sturgeon Dam.  It is Virginia's largest and most intact weir fish dam.  (In North America, fishing weirs are constructed using wooden stakes woven together to create a barrier that traps fish while letting water pass through. The pattern of wooden stakes depends on the location and nature of the waters being fished.)  Sturgeon Dam was used by the Indians who, in turn, taught early colonists how to operate it.

In 1752, a storied bridge, Pocahontas Bridge, was built here.  It was used until 1909 when a diversion channel was constructed. That year (1909) Union Station was constructed and continued in use until the late 1970's.

In 1768, Colonel John Banister constructed a fine Palladian villa, Battersea, as a retreat from the burgeoning town of Petersburg.

In 1784, folks in four small towns (Pocahontas, Blandford, Petersburg and Ravenscroft) where three counties (Chesterfield, Prince George, and Dinwiddie) came together decided to join forces, and they incorporated into what is now known as Petersburg.  It soon became home to a large population of free blacks.  1784, and there is a large population of FREE blacks (here and all over the East coast.)


By 1864, the South Side Railroad was Robert E. Lee's last remaining supply line.  On the evening of April 2, 1865, part of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia retreated across Campbell's Bridge (#11) here.  Other columns crossed the Appomattox River on nearby bridges (#3, #7).  Lee ordered the bridges burned after all his troops had crossed so that the Yankee's couldn't easily follow.

The South Side Depot is the oldest railroad station remaining in the Confederate South.

Petersburg is never boring!  And there are even MORE stories to share with you from Petersburg, Virginia!

He Arose!

Christ is alive!

He died for me, so, I choose to live for Him!  If I am alive in Christ, I am no longer in rebellion against Him.  The world and its ways are no longer attractive to me - no longer control me.  Satan's only strength is what I yield (give over) to him.

You are in control of your eternity insomuch as you choose Christ - or, by not choosing Him, you choose Satan.

If you SAY you've chosen Christ, but live and enjoy the world's ways, there is very little evidence that you gave Him your heart.  The Bible says we will know you by your fruits (growing evidence of your becoming more Christ-like.)  If you've behaved in a way that has your friends conscious of their language around you, if they come and ask you questions about the Bible, if you spend more time worrying about others rather than worrying about all of your own problems, then your spiritual fruit is evident to others.  If no one else has noticed your relationship with Christ - well, it's probably not much of a relationship.

Whaddya gonna do now?

Yes? or No?

Was Christ resurrected from death?

Either you believe in the super-natural, or not. 

 It all comes down to faith, because the supernatural, by definition is beyond science.

Do you believe?

"Good" Friday

Were you there when they crucified our Lord?

Where are you now?

Maundy Thursday

All of our years of being faithful Christians, attending Sunday School and virtually all church services offered, John and I had never heard of Maundy Thursday.  Apparently at our church here in Virginia, Maundy Thursday is a big deal - so I figured I had better find out what it is all about.

"Maundy" is derived from the Latin word mandatum, meaning "commandment," Maundy refers to the commands that Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper:  to love   with humility    by serving one another   and to remember His sacrifice.  (christianity.about.com)

Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus' coming into Jerusalem the Sunday before Easter.  Lots of things happen during that week.  It's often referred to as Passion Week and was the culmination of His ministry on earth, the fulfillment of His mission.

Thursday was the Last Supper, Good Friday was the day of His crucifixion, (I always thought THAT was strange - but it was Good News for us, not so good for Jesus), and Easter Sunday was the day of His resurrection.  That was followed by the 40 days and finally His Ascension from the Mount of Olives.  It wasn't until after the Pentecost, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit, that they began to fulfill His Great Commission, and go tell Jews and Gentiles the Good News of Christ.

The first four books of the Bible's New Testament are individual eye-witness accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John's time and with Jesus.  Regarding His final week, you can go to these books and read for yourself what they each saw and heard:

Matthew, chapters 21 - 28 (one-third of his entire book)
Mark, chapters 11 - 16 (about half of his entire book)
Luke, chapters 19 - 24 (about 20% of his entire book - but he also wrote the book of Acts)
John, chapters 12 - 21 (one-third of his entire book)

On Thursday evening, Jesus calls His disciples together for a last supper, knowing it will be His last supper!  He keeps the disciples confused by what He's saying and by His mood.  The week had started so joyously, so triumphantly, but it was now taking a darker turn.  It's during this meal that Jesus looks at Judas, hands him a piece of bread and tells him, "What you do, do quickly."  When Judas receives the bread, the Gospel Book of John says, "Satan entered him."  Then Judas leaves the supper and tells the Romans where Jesus can later be found and arrested.  Ultimately he is tried, sentenced, crucified, buried for three days, arises, remains on earth visiting, sharing meals, and after forty days, ascends into heaven with all eyes watching.

Maundy Thursday is also known by different names, usually associated with different Christian religions:

Holy Thursday
Covenant Thursday
Great and Holy Thursday
Sheer Thursday
Thursday of Mysteries

But they are all in acknowledgement of the commandments given during Jesus' last supper with His disciples.  A lot of the observances include the washing of feet by one another just as Jesus washed the feet of His disciples as they arrived to share the last supper.  John says in Chapter 13 verse 1 that in doing this Jesus "showed them the full extent of his love," showing how Christians are to love one another through humble service.  One might say that humility is one of the hallmarks of being a Christian - which is why those who's sin is pridefullness have such a hard time understanding Christianity.

Now I know what Maundy Thursday (and the five other names for it) is all about - and so do you!

The Michie Tavern, Charlottesville, Virginia

Now we're hungry!  There was this tavern on the roadside just as we were turning into Monticello.  It looked as though it had been there since colonial times - and was probably therefore expensive - but, what the heck, it's Granny Beth's vacation.  So, I suggest we go grab something to eat there.

Oh, how I wish I had a photograph of Granny Beth's face when I said the word, "tavern."  You would have thought I had said "brothel!"  Well, I'm gratified that she was shocked at me for suggesting it - means she trusts that I would never go to a bar...  I was so engrossed in clearing up the misunderstanding that I forgot all about photos!

"No, no!" I told her.  "It's not THAT kind of tavern!  Back during colonial times a tavern was a one-stop does all place.  You ate there, you got rooms there, you could probably even buy goods there - along with the mugs of ale and whiskey.  But, trust me, we won't be buying any whiskey!!"

She looked a bit relieved, but I knew she would bolt back to the car if it turned out to be any different than what I had said.

When we pulled up, John's sister-in-law, Sharon, hopped out to kind of get a feel for the price and menu.  She spoke with someone in period costume, checked the posted menu, and waved us in.  "The Ordinary," on the right-hand side of the tavern, is where the "Keeping Hall" is.  I suppose it got it's name because that's where one goes to keep from starving to death and "keep" body and soul together ?

This is John's nephew, and no, the doorway wasn't that short, it's just that his nephew is that tall!

From the outside, the tavern looks pretty modern, but once you're inside it's easy to tell it's been around for a long, long time - since 1784.  (Now, I know for our international readers that that date isn't so very old - but for us in the U.S., it is!)

The meal was all you can eat, absolutely delicious, served on pewter plates, and drinks were served in pewter mugs, with hot peach cobbler for desert - all for about $15 per person.  Even Granny Beth was pleased.  (Whew!)

Once outside there's a whole little village of things to see - at no cost!  There is a metal smith, a clothier's, the General Store, and the ever-present museum shop...  Definitely worth the stop!

It was a fun little bonus to our trip to Monticello.

The Flowers (and snakes) of Monticello