SATURDAY JULY 31ST

We arrived at Richmond, Virginia late last night with Mark and Deone Ward. They have been planning a couple of days of sightseeing and have been keeping it all a secret. Torture!!!!

First stop, the Museum of the Confederacy. Ross, Mark and Deone are sitting on the propeller shaft from the ironclad ship the Merrimac.

This museum is incredible. The artifacts where donated shortly after the war so are in excellent condition and the collection of items is amazing. It includes personal belongings of Jeb Stuart, Stonewall Jackson and others. Items such as personal uniforms, saddles, tents, diaries, swords, etc.

Here is the jacket of Capt. John Marr. Bullet through the heart.



















This is the “half mourning jewelry” of a widow whose husband was killed at the Battle of Second Manassas. It is a lock of his hair in the brooch. Often a lock of hair was the only reminder of a loved one. Photographs were only for the wealthy.

There was very strict protocol about mourning. Widows were expected to spend at least a year wearing all black clothing and black jewelry, and she had to cover her face with a black veil if she was out in public. After a year she could add lace cuffs and collar. After that she was considered to be in “half mourning” and could wear plain grey dresses. The entire mourning time should take about 2 ½ years. I wonder what the proper mourning protocol was for a man? I’ll have to check that out at a museum if I get a chance.



This is a twisted rail. Otherwise known as “Sherman’s Necktie”. Wanting to cut off the supply line to the Confederacy, Sherman destroyed the railroad. He had soldiers heat the rails to red-hot over bonfires and then twist them around trees so they couldn’t be used to repair the rail lines.














Many of the soldiers wounded ended up having a limb amputated. Germs and bacteria where not known about at the time. If you survived the amputation, this is what you may end up with to get around. The wooden leg was strapped on through the carved holes.  This belonged to a Virginia Infantry man who was wounded at Gettysburg.

Many heart wrenching letters where on display. Written by soldiers to loved ones back home and pinned to their uniforms before going into battle. Or written by them while they lie dying. Some were stained with blood.

A bayonet that got stuck in trees and the tree continued to grow around them.

From the museum, we walked next door to the White House of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis was the President, and he and his family moved in for the 4 years of the war. The home is pretty much as it was back then, and furnished with 70% of the original furnishings. No photography was allowed. Bummer.

President Davis like to work from home, so many important people during the war came to discuss issues with him in his private office upstairs where the family lived. He had 5 kids, and they sound as if they were nothing short of hellions. The Davis family couldn’t keep a nanny for long before she’d quit.  The kids were known to burst in on their father during meetings and there was constant screaming in the house. The President didn’t mind, but everyone else did. These kids belonged to the Shock Hill Cats. A gang somewhat like the Little Rascals, but it was the wealthy kids. Down the hill lived the working class families who had their own gang. They were known as the Butcher Cats. Many a rock fight ensued between the two gangs.

A quick stop at the Tredegar Iron Works where they made over half the cannons for the Confederacy. Of the 900 workers, over 500 were slaves.

Not much here, really. But this was one of the twelve-pounder cannons made here. To adjust the sites, there is a big crank to raise and lower it.


















This is the firing pin for a cannon. Young women made them, as small flexible hands were needed to twist the wire. Somehow mercury was involved but I don’t remember just how. Deone and I wondered about the mercury affected these young gals.

They dropped the pin in a little hole in the cannon and pulled the pin out. It caused a spark which dropped down the tube and ignited the gunpowder. Kaboom.









 

Whew, time for a break. Lunch at the Capital Ale House.



















So many beers on tap they needed a menu. Lots of fun ordering different ones and sharing tastes.  Deone and I had the specialty, a pretzel Reuben sandwich. Sooo good! It was kraut, havarti cheese and kielbasa on a large soft pretzel.






After lunch it was on to Cold Harbor Battlefield. Located east of Richmond, this was the site of a battle later on in the war. Lee and Grant armies total around 180,000. Over the course of two weeks casualties were high and averaged about 2,000 per day.

The Confederates would fire cannons with grapeshot canisters at the Union soldiers as they marched forward. Where Ross stands in relation to the cannon is where the men would be when the cannons were fired. Described later by one of the Union soldiers who stated the cannon fire was “mowing down our lines as wheat falls before the reaper”.







Trench warfare began here. After digging the trenches there would be a “header log” place on the top and the men would fire underneath it.










Lee had the trenches dug along the top of this high ground and you can tell from the photo the low open area the Union soldiers would have to cross like sitting ducks.

The trenches stretched for miles. For two weeks thousands of men were crammed in the trenches in filth and not even enough room to lie down to sleep.






Our last stop of the day was the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

It is set on scenic rolling hills next to the James River. President James Monroe is buried here.

















Also President John Tyler.

















This is the one, and only, President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis’ gravesite.

Jeb Stuart’s grave site. He was 31 years old and died from a gunshot wound received at Yellow Tavern, six miles north of Richmond.














Our tails were dragging when we arrived at the motel so we decided to order in Chinese.