Thornberry House

For more on the Thornberry House, see here.

For more on the Thornberrys, see here.

For the recollections of one of the Thornberry children, see here.

This house is most likely the place where Sullivan Ballou died, and he was buried nearby. For more on what happened to his body, see here, here, and here.

Congressman Alfred Ely

For more on Ely, his capture, and his captor, go here.

Henry House ca 1900

Then & Now: Henry Hill Graves

First Bull Run 50th Anniversary

Stone House Attic

Omaha Beach: Seventy Years Ago Today

The 116th Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division spearheaded the division’s assault on Omaha Beach seventy rears ago today, and suffered 341 casualties, including Co. A which lost over 90% of its men within ten minutes of landing. The 116th was – and is today – a Virginia National Guard unit. It’s also known as The Stonewall Brigade, and claims lineage from that as-of-then un-monikered command that gathered on the reverse slope of Henry Hill on July 21, 1861. The above is the regiment’s former shoulder patch. Does it remind you of anything?

 

You can read about the men of Company A in The Bedford Boys. And below, some vets of the assault talk about it:

Preview: “Manassas: A Battlefield Guide”

The University of Nebraska Press battlefield guide series, This Hallowed Ground, is familiar to most seasoned battlefield stompers. Their covers are recognizable from a distance – a blue background with a red sun in the lower right hand corner. The most recent entry in the series is Ethan Rafuse’s Manassas: A Battlefield Guide. Both the 1861 and 1862 battles are included here, and of course you’d expect me to be a little disappointed that the first battle was deemed unworthy of a Fuller Monty. And you’d be right. However, it is what it is, and what it is is a compact, tight guide to both battles in classic staff ride format. First Bull Run gets 51 pages, while Second Manassas (see what I did there?) gets 166. Maps are by Erin Greb (plentiful and clear), illustrations are mostly from Battles and Leaders. Stops are set up with directions and orientation, synopsis of action, vignette (first person account), and analysis.

This is a tough little book, with heavy-stock cover, and it will hold up well in your backpack. And that’s exactly where this one belongs, out in the field with you. Good stuff.