St. John's Episcopal Church + 1 more

We had another cemetery (and Declaration of Independence signer) to visit - this one had some very special history.

As tensions grew between the colonies and Great Britain in the 1770s, Virginia held a series of meetings to organize its protests against the mother country.  In March of 1775, the Second Virginia Convention was held at the church at what was then called Henrico Parish Church.  Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Peyton Randolph and other prominent Virginians were delegates to the convention.  Here, Patrick Henry embodied the spirit of the Revolution on March 23, 1775, with his famous words....."Give me liberty.....or give me death!"

St. John's Church is one of America's most important sites, where - swayed by Patrick Henry's powerful argument - the delegates made a decision that changed the course of history, lighting the spark of the War for Independence.

Oh no, the gate was closed - AND LOCKED!

We walked around the brick wall and couldn't find an opening so we could visit. But wait, what was this?

An elevator?  Okay, let's give it a try.

I'd say that's the first - and probably the last - that we've found the only way inside a cemetery and church is by elevator.  But it worked and we were there.

St. John's Episcopal Church, founded 1741

Patrick Henry gave his passionate speech here

First things first - find the grave of George Wythe.

George Wythe (1726-1806) was an American academic, scholar, and judge.  The first of the seven signers of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia, Wythe served as one of Virginia's representatives to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and served on a committee that established the convention's rules and procedures.  He left the convention before signing the Constitution to tend to his dying wife.  He was elected to the Virginia Ratifying Convention and helped ensure that his home state ratified the Constitution.  Wythe taught and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Henry Clay, and other men who became American leaders.

I just love wandering around historic cemeteries.

Eliza Poe (nee Elizabeth Arnold (1787-1811) was an English actress and the mother of Edgar Allan Poe who was born in London in the spring of 1787.  Her mother was a stage actress in London from 1791 to 1795 and it is thought that her father died in 1790.  In 1795, Eliza and her mother sailed from England to Boston arriving in January, 1796.  There Eliza debuted on stage at the age of nine only three months after her arrival in the United States.  This is not the exact burial site but the memorial marks the general area.

This was interesting.  I wish I knew the story as to why the wall looks to be just partially intact.

Alexander Whittaker was an English Anglican theologian who settled in Virginia in 1611 and established two churches near the Jamestown colony.  He was also known as "The Apostle of Virginia" by contemporaries.  He was a popular religious leader with both settlers and natives and was responsible for the baptism and conversion of Pochahontas two years after his arrival.  She took the baptismal name "Rebecca".  Whittaker accidentally drowned in c. 1616 while crossing the James River.

We had no idea there was a visitor center on the grounds.  Unfortunately, it was closed but we learned that guided tours depart from the center and take place inside the church and explore the events in Virginia leading up to the Second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry's famous speech, and his political career.  Sorry we missed it :-(

The grounds are so beautiful - I especially love this picture.

At the turn of the 20th century, hand-painted advertisement adorned barns and commercial buildings across the nation.  This ad for Uneeda Biscuit across the street from the church is one of the better preserved, and a great example of the craft from an advertising pioneer powerhouse.

Uneeda Biscuits were introduced in the 1890s as a product of the National Biscuit Company, now Nabisco.  In those days, crackers were packaged, shipped, and stored in, and sold directly from large cracker barrels, where they were exposed to air and went stale quickly.  Uneeda biscuits were lighter, flakier, and stayed crisper longer due to their packaging.  In 1896, National Biscuit Company spent $1 million in a branding campaign to compete with Cracker Jack, a competitor of Uneeda Biscuits.  The packaging featured a boy in a raincoat and has been considered one of the original consumer packaging concepts that did not rely on identity recognition.  The boy in the raincoat signified the way the packaging kept moisture out of the product by using interfolded wax paper and cardboard.  The Uneeda brand was discontinued by Nabisco in 2009.

But one more stop.

Since 1828, a small building currently known as the Jackson Death Site has stood south of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia.  The building was built not as a residence but as the office of the small farm of Fairfield.  As a slave labor farm, the building may have served as office space for slave overseers.

Fairfield's close proximity to Guinea Station, a stop along the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad, ensured a steady flow of activity in the surrounding area throughout the Civil War.  The wide variety of people who passed through this area sometimes refer to it under different names including Fairfield, Chandler Plantation, and Guinea Station.

Most famously, the Civil War brought Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson to Fairfield.  In the lead-up to the Battle of Fredericksburg, Jackson's command camped in the area for a short time.  But it was six months later, during the Battle of Chancellorsville, that Jackson would make the small office famous.  After his wounding in a friendly fire incident and the amputation of his left arm, the survivors worked quickly to carry Jackson into friendly territory, eventually reaching the field hospital near Wilderness Tavern.  Two days later an ambulance carried Jackson a distance of 27 miles to Guinea Station.  Doctors hoped that Jackson would gain strength at Guinea and then proceed to Richmond by rail.  However, Jackson developed symptoms of pneumonia and would never get on the train.  He died in the farm office eight days after his wounding on May 10, 1863.

In the 1900s, private citizens sought to preserve the building in which Jackson died.  The efforts served a larger goal to memorialize Confederates and control the story of the Civil War.

We stepped inside where a guide was explaining things to a small group of visitors.  

Unfortunately, most of the original artifacts had been removed for the season due to the extreme heat.  

Sadly, no bed in the room.  :-(

This is the room used as a conference room and, later, a waiting room.

This marker is one of 10 similar small rectangular stone monuments commonly referred to as the Smith Markers because of the role that one of Jackson's former staff officers, James Power Smith, played in their placement.  The markers identify important sites related to Robert E. Lee, his generals, and their actions from 1862-1864.

The effort to place these stones began in 1902 when Samuel B. Woods suggested the formation of a committee to mark important places on the battlefield.  It was later described that the purpose was not to mark battlefields, or lines of battles, but certain points or locations that would be of lasting historic interest.  

Smith directed the placement of the markers, including this one next to the farm office where Stonewall Jackson died.  Placement was completed in 1903.  Originally the marker was west of the house, near the rail line, so that it could be readily seen by train passengers.  The National Park Service moved it to its current location in the 1960s.  The Park Service added the last two lines of the inscription to prevent the misconception that the monument marked Jackson's grave.

Manassas and Winchester

We took a day to visit a couple of other sites.  

Visitor Center

The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas by Confederate forces, was the first major battle of the American Civil War.  The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, just north of what is now the city of Manassas and about 35 miles west-southwest of Washington D.C.  The Union Army was slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail.  Each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops.  The battle was a Confederate victory and was followed by a disorganized post-battle retreat of the Union forces.

The name of the battle has caused controversy since 1861.  The Union Army frequently named battles after significant rivers and creeks that played a role in the fighting; the Confederates generally used the names of nearby towns or farms.  The U.S. National Park Services uses the Confederate name for its national battlefield park, but the Union name (Bull Run) is used by many.

At the First Battle of Manassas, the terms Blue and Gray were hardly synonyms for North and South.  Soldiers fought in more than 200 different "uniforms".  The Stars and Stripes of the Union flag were stitched in red, white, and blue - but so was the Confederate First National Flag.  When the flags hung limply on a windless day, or in the dust and smoke of battle, they were almost indistinguishable. 

Spring Hill Farm - known now simply as Henry Hill - lay fallow and overgrown in the summer of 1861.  Inside the home, 84 year old Judith Henry remained bedridden, too old to work the land that had been in her family for more than a century.  She shared the home with her daughter, Ellen, and a hired teenage slave, Lucy Griffin, who assisted with domestic chores.

The Battle of Bull Run culminated on the Henry property.  Unaware of civilians inside, Federal artillery fired on the dwelling to drive away Confederate sharpshooters.  The cannon fire crashed through the house, mortally wounding Mrs. Henry, the battle's only known civilian fatality.  By day's end the family matriarch was dead, the house in ruins, and the surrounding landscape forever defined by the events of the day.

Following the war, the Henry family constructed a new home near the site of the original war time structure.  Built in 1870, with an addition in 1884, the current structure remained in the Henry family until the early 1920s.  The house then served as the first museum and visitor center at Manassas Battlefield.  

Outside the house, you can see the grave of Judith Henry and others who were killed nearby.  

Judith's headstone (in the middle) reads:

"Killed near this spot by the explosion of shells in her dwelling during the Battle of the 21st of July, 1861.  When killed she was in her 85th year and confined to her bed by the infirmities of age.  Her husband Dr. Isaac Henry was a Surgeon in the United States Navy on board the frigate Constellation, Commanded by Com. Truxton, one of the six Captains appointed by Washington in the organization of the Navy, 1794.  Our Mother through her long life, thirty five years of which were spent at this place, was greatly loved and esteemed for her kind, gentle Christian spirit."

One of the earliest endeavors to remember the fallen occurred soon after the war concluded.  Union troops, stationed at nearby Fairfax Court House, many of whom had recently served on burial duty at the battlefield, recognized the need for a fitting memorial to the Federal dead at First Manassas.  With the approval of their officers and the authorization of the government, and in one of their final acts before discharge, the soldiers erected the Bull Run (AKA Patriots) monument.  Construction took nearly three weeks and was completed in June, 1865.  It remains one of the oldest monuments on any Civil War battlefield. 

The large bronze equestrian statue of Brigadier General Thomas Jonathan Jackson commemorates his role in the Confederate victory at First Bull Run/Manassas.  It was here on the plateau of Henry Hill where Jackson received his famous nickname "Stonewall" as his brigade of Virginians made a determined stand against the Union advance which proved critical to the Confederate victory later in the day.

The idea for the monument came out of preparations for the 75th anniversary of the battle in 1936, and the General Assembly of Virginia appropriated $25,000 for the purpose of erecting a monument to Jackson.  The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was commissioned to conduct a national sculpture competition for the design of the statue.  The Jackson monument was unveiled and dedicated in 1940.

THERE STANDS JACKSON LIKE A STONE WALL

The First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas demonstrated that the war would not be won by one grand battle, and both sides began preparing for a long and bloody conflict.  The battle also showed the need for adequately trained and experienced officers and men.  One year later, many of the same soldiers who had fought at First Bull Run, now combat veterans, would have an opportunity to test their skills on the same battlefield at the Second Battle of Bull Run/Manassas.

A stop at Stone House.  Tax records and historical accounts do not specify exactly when the Stone House was built but rather provide pieces of information about structures built on or near the lot.  Earliest tax records show possible construction in 1828 by John Lee, however more recent investigations suggest that it was built in 1848 by Thomas Otway Clarke.

In July 1861, Confederate soldiers utilized the house for cover.  During the mid-day lull, skirmishing occurred in the vicinity of the house before shifting southward to Henry Hill.  As the battle progressed, the house filled with wounded soldiers.  Following the Federal retreat from the battlefield, pursuing Confederate soldiers captured many Federal soldiers in the house.  Following the battle, an assistant surgeon was permitted to treat the wounded.  The house operated as a field hospital for several days.

During the Battle of Second Manassas, Federal commander John Pope established his headquarters on nearby Buck Hill, just north of the house.  The house was again used as a place to care for wounded soldiers.  On the third day of the battle (August 30, 1862), the Stone House came under heavy fire from Confederate artillery nearby.

In addition to the damage caused by the battle, the soldiers left a unique mark on the house.  Two wounded soldiers of the 5th New York Infantry carved their names into the wood floor of an upstairs bedroom.

There was a guide there to answer questions.

And we looked around.

The Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike bridge over Bull Run, known simply as "the Stone Bridge" was originally built in 1825.  Its ability to carry traffic across the steep sided stream even at times of high water gave the Stone Bridge a key role during the Civil War.

The first shots of the First Battle of Manassas flew over the bridge but there was little more than heavy skirmishing in its vicinity on July 21, 1861.  On March 9, 1862, when the Confederate army evacuated their winter camps in Centreville and Manassas, the Stone Bridge was blown up to prevent its use by the Union forces that soon occupied the area.

Union Army engineers eventually constructed a temporary wooden span across Bull Run and after suffering another costly defeat at Second Manassas (August 28-30, 1862) Union forces used the bridge as their primary line of retreat.  In the early hours of August 31, the bridge was destroyed by the Union Army.

Photo by George Bernard, available through Library of Congress

By 1884, the Stone Bridge was fully rebuilt.  The new bridge, very similar to the original bridge, remained open to traffic until 1926.  In that year the road was realigned and a modern highway bridge constructed just downstream.  In 1959 the National Park Service acquired the Stone Bridge.

From there we drove to Winchester.

During the Revolutionary War, the Virginia House of Burgesses chose local resident and French and Indian War veteran Daniel Morgan to raise a company of militia to support General George Washington's efforts during the Siege of Boston.  He led the 96 men of "Morgan's Sharpshooters" from Winchester on July 14, 1775, and marched to Boston in 21 days.  During the Civil War, as the Confederate and Union armies strove to control that portion of the Shenandoah Valley; therefore Winchester and the surrounding areas were the site of numerous battles.  There is a lot of history in this little town.  But first - lunch!

Cork Street Tavern is located near the Old Town Mall in historic downtown.  The Tavern is housed in an 1830s structure that was shelled many times during the Civil War.  

After lunch we found a few points of interest.

Cannon used by George Washington in defence of Fort Louon 1758

George Washington's Office

George Washington

In March of 1748, George Washington, at age sixteen, arrived in Winchester, then called Frederick Town.  

During the next four years, he worked as a surveyor throughout the colonial Virginia frontier.

And then on to a Civil War site.

The Gothic Revival style house was built in 1854 by local dentist William Fuller, who named it "Alta Vista" for its scenic view over open hillsides facing east across Winchester.  In 1856, Fuller sold it to Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Tilghman Moore, commander of the 31st Virginia Militia.  Later, Moore offered his home to serve as headquarters for Major General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.  Jackson moved into the house in November 1861, shortly after taking command of the Valley District of the Department of Northern Virginia.  Jackson was joined by his wife, Mary Anna, in December, 1861.  From this house, Jackson planned his Shenandoah Valley defenses and campaign.  The Jacksons lived in the house until March 1862 when the General left Winchester to begin his Valley Campaign.

While living there, the Jacksons became very fond of the people and culture of Winchester and referred to it as their "winter home", hoping to settle there after the Civil War.  

In a letter to his wife shortly after he arrived, Jackson commented:

"The situation is beautiful, the building is of a cottage style and contains six rooms.  I have two rooms, one above the other.  The lower room, or office, has a matting on the floor, a large fine table, six chairs, and a piano.  The walls are papered with elegant gift paper.  I don't remember to have ever seen a more beautiful papering, and there are five paintings hanging on these walls....The upper room is neat, but not a full story and....remarkable for being heated in a peculiar manner, by a flue from the office below.  Through the blessing of our ever-king Heavenly Father, I am quite comfortable." Letter from Jackson to his wife, Anna, November 16, 1861.

Phew, that was a long day.