Patriot Paradox

One of the earliest monuments erected to the men who sacrificed during the American Civil War. Union veterans placed this monument on the fields of Manassas / Bull Run in 1865. The inscription reads simply, “In Memory of the Patriots who fell at Bull Run July 21 1861”. This view shows a portion on the monument as seen through one of the windows of the Judith Henry house.
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According to the current Cashtown Inn website, this witness to the events of 1863 was “Built circa 1797. The Cashtown Inn served as the first stagecoach stop west of Gettysburg.

During the Gettysburg campaign of 1863, the Inn served as Confederate headquarters for General A.P. Hill.”
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A rarely visited marker on the Gettysburg Battlefield noting the location where Colonel George Willard lost his life leading his brigade into the maelstrom wrought by General William Barksdale’s Mississippians. The marker reads,
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During a recent visit to Sharpsburg, I discovered a heavy, thick fog which lent an eerie feeling to the battlefield, as if the smoke of battle lingered still.
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The grave site of Judith Henry in front of her newly reconstructed home on Henry House Hill on the Manassas Battlefield. Judith was in her mid eighties when, during the battle of first Manassas, a Union shell tore off most of her foot. She died shortly there after.
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As we head towards the Thanksgiving weekend, and the biggest shopping day of the year on Black Friday, would you like to skip all the craziness of the mall, and get some special military-themed gifts from the comfort of your easy chair?

I’ve gone through Amazon.com and created a shopping list of specially-selected military-themed gifts that would be perfect for that military member or family on your shopping list. There are a number of categories, Read the rest of this entry »

The Bloody Angle in Spotsylvania where soldiers unleashed so ferocious a fire that the bullets themselves sawed down an oak tree 22 inches in diameter during the Battle of Spotsylvania.

Sincerely,

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Monument to the 24th Michigan Infantry
on McPherson’s Ridge at Gettysburg
Elsewhere on the field, along the southwestern edge of Culp’s Hill, a small marker notes the location where the remnants of the 24th Michigan dug in after a brutal first days fighting. The simple stone reads:
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St. Peter’s Catholic Church
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
St. Peter’s Church, erected in 1833, still stands on a ridge in beautiful Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The townspoeple carved the steps leading up to the church directly out of the hillside, composed almost entirely of shale. Despite Harpers Ferry changing hands nearly 14 times during the Civil War, the church survived the bombardments that damaged many of the structures throughout the rest of the town and served as a hospital for the casualties of both sides.
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