I took a day off from my museum trek to take in some countryside in Northern Virginia.
My first stop was the Manassas National Battlefield Park. Two civil war battles were fought over the same ground, though the site was mostly coincidental, and following both battles, both sides retired from the battlefield. In both battles, Confederate General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson played a key role.
The first battle occurred in August 1861, and was the first major battle of the war. Jackson took up a position on the back of Henry Hill and held off the Union offensive until reinforcements under General Joe Johnston arrived and turned the battle into a Confederate rout.
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View of Henry Hill, First Manassas Battlefield
Looking South Toward the Confederate Position |
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Stone House at foot of Henry Hill
Used by Union forces as a Field Hospital
In Both Battles |
Stonewall turned the tide in the First Battle of Manassas and he started the Second Battle of Manassas, thirteen months later. A couple brigades of Union soldiers just happened to be marching back to Washington when they came within range of Stonewall's artillery. After he had them stopped, he led a charge. But the Union soldiers fought back, and the fighting ended at nightfall in a bloody draw. General Pope, the Union commander, spent the next two days underestimating the Confederate strength, sending waves of infantry against the rebel positions. But Stonewall wasn't alone, as Longstreet had arrived and was actively involved with his corps. The final day of battle involved an assault by 8,000 Union troops under General FitzHugh Porter, which ended in defeat to an overwhelming Confederate force at a place called Deep Cut. After the battle was over, General Pope looked around for a scapegoat, and had General Porter court martialled for insubordation, failure to obey orders, and dereliction of duty. Porter was convicted and drummed out of the Army. Porter spent the next twenty-six years trying to salvage his reputation, and he was finally reinstated in 1889.
My second stop was at Great Falls Park, which is on the Potomac River northwest of Washington. It is noted for its cascading waterfalls that drop the river 76 feet in about a half mile. A canal was built around the falls in 1785, and it operated until 1828, when it was replaced by the Chesapeake & Ohio canal. In 1906, a light rail system was laid from Georgetown to Great Falls, and an amusement park was built at the falls. Congress enacted a law establishing the George Washington Memorial Parkway in 1930. A provision of the law called for the eventual inclusion of Great Falls Park in the parkway. The National Park Service finally acquired the park in 1966. Here are pictures of the falls:
Herb, grab your kayak and get to work.
Mileage: 112. Cumulative mileage: 1,310
