I’ll be speaking to the Loudoun County Civil War Roundtable on March 10, 2020. The subject will be on Irvin McDowell’s plan for First Bull Run. I’ve presented to this fine group before, back in 2011. They meet in Leesburg, Va., in the Thomas Balch Library. Hope to see you there!
On May 11, 2020, I’ll be giving a talk on First Bull Run in Charleston, SC, where the Ft. Sumter Civil War Round Table meets at The Citadel. Barring any other invite prior to that, this will mark the farthest I’ve travelled to speak, and my first sojourn to do so in the heart of Secessia, a state which partners with Virginia to bracket the Vale of Humility which is North Carolina. It should be a fun trip and I’m really looking forward to it. More as the date approaches.
This past anniversary of the First Battle of Bull Run was spent by me, for the first time, in Manassas. I was booked for two talks on Saturday and a bus tour on Sunday, the actual anniversary of the battle which, as you know, was fought on a Sunday. I’ve never really felt the attraction of anniversaries like some, maybe most, of you do – the earth just happens to be in a very similar position to one star in a vast, endless sea of stars as on the day of the actual event. I know, I have no soul. But the fact that this anniversary fell on a Sunday seemed to be a big deal, and lots of activities were planned by the NPS for the day. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.
Saturday started off hot and sultry, and the weekend kept that up through the end. My morning talk, for the Prince William County Historic Preservation Division (PWC), was scheduled for a tent outside historic Ben Lomond south of the battlefield, along the trace of the historic farm road that led from Manassas Junction to Liberia, past Ben Lomond, past Portici, to the Henry House and the Warrenton Turnpike. I’ll have more on Ben Lomond in a future post. Luckily for me and the 25 or so folks who attended, my talk on McDowell’s plan for the battle was moved indoors (it was 102 degrees Fahrenheit outside). The talk went well though I had to rush through the conclusion due to time constraints. Nobody threw anything at me. It was great to see some old friends and folks who have attended some of the Bull Runnings Battlefield Tours. I appreciate your continued support. Thanks to Rob Orrison and Kevin Pawlak for the invite. I completely forgot to take my usual pre-talk selfie, but here’s one courtesy of Rob.
Me talking about Johnny Caspar from Miller’s Crossing, who plays an integral role in explaining McDowell’s Plan.
After my talk, I was taken to lunch by Kim Brace of the Manassas Battlefield Trust (MBT), which was hosting my talk at the Manassas National Battlefield Park (MNBP) visitor’s center later that evening. After a change of clothes, I repaired to The Winery at Bull Run for a pleasant, if muggy, sit-down on the patio with Kim and my good friends Dan and Kathy Carson.
After yet another change of clothing, it was off to the visitor’s center, where the MBT had invited me to talk about Peter Conover Hains and his 1911 account of his experiences at First Bull Run. I saw a few familiar faces in the crowd, including former U. S. Army historian Kim Holien and MNBP museum specialist (and long-time Friend of Bull Runnings) Jim Burgess, who joined me for dinner afterwards. Again there were about 25 people in attendance. Not too many glitches, and I think everyone enjoyed the presentation and learned something (I know I did). Thanks to MBT and Christy Forman for the invite.
Pre-talk selfie. Sorry to those folks blocked by my big giant head.
Bright and early Sunday morning it was back to Ben Lomond for a bus tour of sites on and off the battlefield. This was a fundraiser for PWC and was led by Kevin Pawlak of that group and myself. We had ten people, including Civil War TImes Magazine’s editor Dana Shoaf and his media guru Melissa Wynn, and old friend and Licensed Antietam Battlefield Guide Jim Rosebrock (look, if you’re gonna hire someone to guide you about Antietam, hire an ALBG – it just makes sense). Yes, it was hot on Saturday, but it was hotter on Sunday, as my dusty dashboard attests.
One Hundred and Three Degrees!!!
It was in fact so hot that the NPS cancelled most of the events they had scheduled for the day. But we few, we happy but sweaty few, vowed to endeavor to persevere.
Kevin and I conducted the tour kind of like a sporting event broadcast – at each stop, Kevin laid out the action, rather, the play-by-play, and I provided the color. We had to cut out a couple of stops due to time. I’ll lay out the route of the tour in photos:
First Stop: Old Stone Church in Centreville, where we talked about the Confederate dispositions, the Federal approach, and some after-battle incidents. Kevin Pawlak in dark blue.
Quick stop in Centreville McDonalds to pay respects to the Centreville Six. Someone will do an Abbey Road take on this. But not us.
Blackburn’s Ford
Blackburn’s Ford – View south
Panoramic view south at Blackburn’s Ford
Signal Hill monument
Kim Brace (white beard, red shirt) provided a little more info on E. Porter Alexander
Kevin saying something worthwhile at the Stone Bridge.
Me – in white hat – trying to think of something worthwhile to say at the Stone Bridge. Photo by Rob Orrison.
Group shot at Reynolds’s guns on Matthews Hill. A couple folks did not make the trek from the bus at this stop.
View south from Matthews Hill
Reynolds’s guns (James rifles). There were only six Federal smoothbores, all howitzers, that crossed Bull Run that day. The other 20 were rifles.
Me, on Matthews Hill, pointing. Others, looking. Photo by Rob Orrison.
Dana Shoaf and me, trying to figure out what direction we’re facing, on Chinn Ridge, our final stop.
Kevin Pawlak wrapping things up on Chinn Ridge.
Afterwards, upstairs at air-conditioned Ben Lomond, Dana and Melissa introduced me to Facebook Live. Enjoy Dana, Rob, Kevin, and me in all our technicolor glory.
Behind the scenes: Videographer Melissa Winn, Dana Shoaf, and Kevin Pawlak
Afterwards, Rob, Kevin, and I enjoyed a couple of cold ones at the 2 Silos Brewing Co. in Manassas. A cool place, check it out.
Rob Orrison and Kevin Pawlak show the way to the 2 Silos complex.
My apologies. I know last week I mentioned I had a lot to post “in the days ahead.” Well, those days have yet to arrive. I have two talks and one tour to recap, dozens of letters to transcribe, and this stack of books to preview:
As always, though, life has a nasty habit of getting in the way of things. When I get my head above water, I’ll write up my recaps and previews, and will be most likely transcribing when I shuffle of this mortal coil, but right now I’ll take just a moment to thank a few people who helped make this a great May:
Saturday’s Bull Runnings Battlefield Tour was pretty great, with the weather holding out almost to the end. We had about 50 folks, and the round trip was about 5 miles (though my Fitbit says I walked 9.5 miles total).
It’s been a hectic month, but I will try this week to put up a post about the tour, as well as ones on my past two talks, a number of book previews, and upcoming events (I will be very busy in the Manassas area on July 20 & 21). Keep an eye out. Oh, and welcome to all the new followers.
Real life is cramping my style right about now, so while I have this chance I’ll remind you that I have two speaking engagements this month. You can find them and any other of my engagements by following the Book Me, Danno! link in the banner above, but briefly I’ll be at the GAR Hall in Peninsula, OH, on Thursday evening, April 25, and at the Carnegie Free Library (which also has a GAR hall, coincidentally) in Carnegie, PA, on the following Saturday, April 27.
Don’t feel any pressure to attend both of these events – I’ll be presenting essentially the same program at both, with a little more emphasis on blogging at the second. This is a program – The Future of Civil War History – I’ve given a couple of times before, but it’s a very, umm, organic program and won’t ever be the same twice.
Capt. Thomas Espy Post 153, Memorial Day 1904
On April 27, 2019, I will be presenting at the annual Andrew Carnegie Fee Library and Music Hall Civil War Symposium, in Carnegie, PA. I’ll be giving a mutation of my Future of Civil War History From a Slightly Different Point of View talk. Also on the schedule is Rich Condon of the Civil War Pittsburgh Facebook page (soon to be website, I am told), and Craig Swain of To the Sound of the Guns. Check out the brochure. There’s a theme.
If you plan to attend, set aside some time to check out the library, it’s almost complete collection of Abraham Lincoln photographs, and the finely restored Capt. Thomas Espy GAR Post 153. Plan to dine post-symposium in Carnegie – if you haven’t been there recently, it’s booming.
Capt. Thomas Espy GAR Post 143 Today
Harry Smeltzer
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