Yesterday marked the 159th anniversary of the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)—the first major engagement of the American Civil War. For the soldiers and civilians who fought or witnessed the battle, it was the moment everything changed.
Continue readingThis week at work I was doing some extra research on the Stonewall Brigade. While reading through John O. Casler’s book of reminiscences, Four Years In The Stonewall Brigade, I came across an account from the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. The image of the soldiers in the hidden hole and their experience echoed with parts of my life and prompted some spiritual and scriptural reflections. I’ve decided to open up and share those with you and I hope you’ll find it encouraging in this challenging time.
Let’s start with the historical scene…
Continue readingTo be honest, my Fourth of July weekend was weird. I’m choosing to remember and be grateful for the good parts. Buying fireworks for the first time. Ordering donuts for pick up at my favorite shop. Watching Hamilton for the very first time! And taking a trip to Cold Harbor and Gaines Mill battlefields near Richmond.
One of my colleagues at Emerging Civil War offered to meet at a Richmond battlefield and hit some trails. He’s an expert on those battlefields and a volunteer at Richmond National Battlefields. Anyway, I had Friday off, and we decided to go battlefielding early in the day.
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So…I got swept away in a whirlwind of research. In other words, I’ve spent weeks working on a series, trying to put Gone With The Wind as a movie in some context. The results appeared on Emerging Civil War blog originally and here are the links.
Gone With The Wind: Some Thoughts, Part 1 – the introduction and readable thesis statement
Gone With The Wind: Some Thoughts, Part 2 – Hattie McDaniel’s life and movie role
Gone With The Wind: Some Thoughts, Part 3 – the movie in 1930’s & 1940’s Hollywood and society
Gone With The Wind: Some Thoughts, Part 4 – feelings associated with the movie over the decades
Gone With The Wind: Some Thoughts, Part 5 – thinking about the movie as a form of art
Happy reading?
Sarah
Just wanted to jump on the blog and say that my full series on Gone With The Wind over at Emerging Civil War is wrapping up this week and I will post it here on Friday with all the links! Hopefully, then, there were be some resemblance of “normal” and a posting schedule around here.
Now for a little Wednesday Wandering… People are talking about history in ways that I’ve never seen before. There’s a lot of curiosity. There’s a lot of good information, but misinformation is also a problem.
One thing that really, really bugs me is when the Declaration of Independence is quoted as the U.S. Constitution…and unfortunately, I’ve seen it multiple times recently. So…here’s your history tip the week before Fourth of July:
Continue readingIt’s about 8 miles from Brock Road to Marye’s Heights. Today, Route 208 runs the distance, eventually turning into Lafayette Blvd at Four Mile Fork in Fredericksburg. In 1864, the road was not paved and simply called Fredericksburg Road which became Telegraph Road much closer to town. Why’s this matter? Well, it’s a route that the Union Army of the Potomac used for supplies and medical evacuations during the two week long Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.
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Gazette665 