Rode to Appomattox Today..

@Viper21 ,

Thanks for all the great pictures and the remembering.

I and my family visited there in the early 2000s, can't remember the exact date. Had the very great pleasure of getting a performance of a Confederate docent while at the McClean House.

I remember it being a very clear, sunny day, as I walked along the area where the surrender took place, quiet and peaceful. I wondered about all the men of both sides who did not survive coming to this place of peace.

Thank God for that quiet and peace.

Sincerely,
Unionblue
 
How are you weathering the storms there in Europe my friend?
How kind of you to ask!! I'm lucky, I'm living in the northern part of Germany. We have a pretty cold summer here this year, like your New England summers, but fortunately no flooding (yet). But in the southwest it's a catastrophe! You have the wirldfires, we have the flooding...
 
Was another beautiful summer day in the Old Dominion today. Some fellas & I, rode down to Appomattox. Here's a few pics of some of the sites:

View attachment 409269

View attachment 409270

First stop was the Confederate Cemetery:

View attachment 409271

There are 19 graves in this cemetery. Mostly unkowns....

View attachment 409272

View attachment 409273

@lelliott19 I took this picture of the Alabama Son, for you :wink:

View attachment 409274


The view outside the Confederate Cemetery:

View attachment 409275

View attachment 409276

View attachment 409277


Next stop:
View attachment 409278

View attachment 409279

View attachment 409280

View attachment 409281

View attachment 409282


After spending some time here, & checking out all the buildings, exhibits, etc... we rode down the road a couple miles to Lee's last HQ:

View attachment 409283

Lee's HQ was actually up in the woods, somewhat hidden from site. What a beautiful area. Was very easy on the eyes, that's for sure.

View attachment 409284

Not much commentary on this post, as most of the pictures speak for themselves. We didn't have a guided tour or anything today, we just visited, looked, & such, at our own pace. Was a very relaxing day, although pretty humid. Made us again, think of how tough our ancestors were, & what they had to endure back during this struggle.

There's a Confederate Veteran buried at my church down the road, who I researched quite a bit a few years ago. This fellar, like some of the other unlucky young men, was wounded a day or two before the surrender. He ended up losing a leg, & had to walk back to Rockbridge County on crutches. While Appomattox is just under 2 hours from my house, you're talking several (hard) days by foot. Couldn't imagine doing that on one leg. You have to go over a couple mountains to drop down in to Appomattox from my neck of the woods.

Thought some of y'all might enjoy the pics.
Wow!! Thanks for the pictures. Ride safely!!!
 
My sister and I were there a couple of years ago and it was amazingly beautiful and peaceful. She hadn’t wanted to go and I had to almost literally twist her arm because to her it would be “another battlefield.”

Then, when we got there and did the tour and just walked around, SHE was the one to burst into tears!

I visited the graveyard and felt so sorry for Hutchins. What a sad waste and so poignant. So close for all of them and yet so far from peace.

I saw the new museum and maybe I missed something with the flags but they had a lot of. CSA battle flags out. Many were scraps and in drawers under low light to look at but I looked at all of them (which drove my sister crazy, btw :cautious: ). Is that what you mean by being in storage?
 
Is that what you mean by being in storage?
No. The former museum in Richmond was moved, renamed, & redrawn. It's nowhere near what it was, as the former Museum of the Confederacy. The one in Appomattox is connected to it. I will admit I haven't been in it recently, but just assumed (perhaps wrongly), that it got the same treatment as the museum in Richmond.
 
Did you encounter any bears like @luinrina

Thats a beautiful area and fairly quiet which really adds to the visit there
No, but have seen several at my house in the last few weeks :cool: Came face to face with one about 9:30 pm one night. I opened my front door, & there was literally a bear on my porch sniffing my chair :laugh: He was startled, & took off immediately. My super brave dog, didn't utter a peep....lol. She looked like she had a mohawk, as she got behind me. :biggrin:


Edit: Here's one I captured on film last month, behind my house. This spot is a couple hundred yards, in the woods. Pretty big Mama Bear. That's a cub with her :wink:

enhance.jpg
 
The one in Appomattox is connected to it. I will admit I haven't been in it recently, but just assumed (perhaps wrongly), that it got the same treatment as the museum in Richmond.
I was never in the one in Richmond because I didn’t ever know about it so I can’t compare it. But I posted a lot of pictures of my trip to the one in Appomattox a couple of years ago. I have to say that I thought it was very Confederate and didn’t think it was put in a way that told me how to think. They had a simply magnificent uniform of Lee and his presentation sword all set up. He was quite a tall man! They had many, many battle flags of the Confederacy. Some identified, some unknown and some unknown and just no bigger than your hand because that’s all that is left. A lot of them are in low light viewing conditions but they are all there. There were, to me, vast sections of Lee’s staff and uniforms and photos.

I even asked them, because of some discussion or another going on in CWT if they had stopped selling souvenir Confederate flags at the gift shop. The ladies there said, “no, that’s the rumor” but they showed me buckets full at the time.

So I don’t know what was/is wrong with it. I thought it was well-labeled and I really, really like that. I really liked the preservation going on with the flags and very fragile uniforms, etc.

All I can say is, go in and judge for yourself and have an open mind about the displays. Maybe some of the newer way of displays are better for the preservation of the artifact itself.
 
I was never in the one in Richmond because I didn’t ever know about it so I can’t compare it. But I posted a lot of pictures of my trip to the one in Appomattox a couple of years ago. I have to say that I thought it was very Confederate and didn’t think it was put in a way that told me how to think. They had a simply magnificent uniform of Lee and his presentation sword all set up. He was quite a tall man! They had many, many battle flags of the Confederacy. Some identified, some unknown and some unknown and just no bigger than your hand because that’s all that is left. A lot of them are in low light viewing conditions but they are all there. There were, to me, vast sections of Lee’s staff and uniforms and photos.

I even asked them, because of some discussion or another going on in CWT if they had stopped selling souvenir Confederate flags at the gift shop. The ladies there said, “no, that’s the rumor” but they showed me buckets full at the time.

So I don’t know what was/is wrong with it. I thought it was well-labeled and I really, really like that. I really liked the preservation going on with the flags and very fragile uniforms, etc.

All I can say is, go in and judge for yourself and have an open mind about the displays. Maybe some of the newer way of displays are better for the preservation of the artifact itself.
It's a fairly recent change. The Museum of the Confederacy (Richmond) closed Sept 30th 2018. It was "combined" with the museum at Tredegar & became, The American Civil War Museum, reopening in 2019 as a completely new & very different museum. I wanna say the one in Appomattox changed names in 2017.
 
Thats a beautiful area and fairly quiet which really adds to the visit there
I was rereading this thread this morning over my 1st cup of coffee.... Your comment stood out. Obviously I'm biased, but we really live in a beautiful & unique state. The landscape is really easy on the eyes (outside the bigger cities). Pretty amazing the contrast at times. I mean, within a couple hours you can be at the ocean, or in the mountains. Crossing the countryside, or very urban. Whenever I've had friends from out west visit, they always comment on how many trees, & how green it is.

The last time I was in Jamestown (number of years ago), I remember commenting that, it's so easy to understand why our ancestors fell in love with this place. As I ride near my residence, & through the Shenandoah Valley, I find that my comment transcends most of the state. It's easy to live somewhere & take it for granted. I'm consciously trying to appreciate it these days...
 
I get so melancholy when I visit there. My father felt the same way years ago when he visited. Guess its a Southern thing.
I don't think that it is. I am a Yankee as were my ancestors who fought and died in the Civil War and I would very much feel the same way. Just viewing these beautiful images evokes those feeling in me. I believe the melancholy comes from the knowledge this war was a very serious and deadly time in our history. Even the two men at the head of this capitulation felt as we do today. The surrender was a time of great sadness and of great hope which I think we all share today.

Appomattox is on my bucket list. I wept like a baby visiting the Vietnam memorial in DC a few years back and felt overwhelming sadness when visiting the Museum of the Confederacy back in '99. I expect it will be a similar response when I visit this solemn site.
 
I don't think that it is. I am a Yankee as were my ancestors who fought and died in the Civil War and I would very much feel the same way. Just viewing these beautiful images evokes those feeling in me. I believe the melancholy comes from the knowledge this war was a very serious and deadly time in our history. Even the two men at the head of this capitulation felt as we do today. The surrender was a time of great sadness and of great hope which I think we all share today.

Appomattox is on my bucket list. I wept like a baby visiting the Vietnam memorial in DC a few years back and felt overwhelming sadness when visiting the Museum of the Confederacy back in '99. I expect it will be a similar response when I visit this solemn site.
Your reply summed up exactly what I felt. It was a time of great sadness because of the knowledge of what it all cost. It wasn’t about feeling victorious because I’m a Union gal. It was the loss of life on both sides and how we got to that place in the first place - that’s what made me sad and I think what made my sister burst into tears.

I had NO feeling of victory. Just unutterable melancholy at Appomattox. And it was very beautiful. I felt such sadness and poignancy at the graveyards.
 
Your reply summed up exactly what I felt. It was a time of great sadness because of the knowledge of what it all cost. It wasn’t about feeling victorious because I’m a Union gal. It was the loss of life on both sides and how we got to that place in the first place - that’s what made me sad and I think what made my sister burst into tears.

I had NO feeling of victory. Just unutterable melancholy at Appomattox. And it was very beautiful. I felt such sadness and poignancy at the graveyards.
If you haven't been to Gettysburg or the Cold Harbor Cemeteries they too evoke the same sense of great sadness. The sheer number of stones took my breath away. I have never felt glory and martial patriotism in these places.
 
No. The former museum in Richmond was moved, renamed, & redrawn. It's nowhere near what it was, as the former Museum of the Confederacy. The one in Appomattox is connected to it. I will admit I haven't been in it recently, but just assumed (perhaps wrongly), that it got the same treatment as the museum in Richmond.
Happily, not so - at least when I visited in April, 2018:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/upcoming-april-2018-civil-war-excursion.144537/post-1796043

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/upcoming-april-2018-civil-war-excursion.144537/post-1796064

1627407953202.png


The real irony which I discussed at length with one of the volunteers there is that for what is supposedly now the Virginia Civil War Museum there is virtually NOTHING Union in it! He said that's because since the collection is from the former MOTC they don't as yet have Federal materials to exhibit!
 
Happily, not so - at least when I visited in April, 2018:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/upcoming-april-2018-civil-war-excursion.144537/post-1796043

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/upcoming-april-2018-civil-war-excursion.144537/post-1796064

View attachment 409389

The real irony which I discussed at length with one of the volunteers there is that for what is supposedly now the Virginia Civil War Museum there is virtually NOTHING Union in it! He said that's because since the collection is from the former MOTC they don't as yet have Federal materials to exhibit!
Awesome...! Glad to hear. Have you been to the new museum in Richmond..? American Civil War Museum at Tredegar
 
Happily, not so - at least when I visited in April, 2018:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/upcoming-april-2018-civil-war-excursion.144537/post-1796043

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/upcoming-april-2018-civil-war-excursion.144537/post-1796064

View attachment 409389

The real irony which I discussed at length with one of the volunteers there is that for what is supposedly now the Virginia Civil War Museum there is virtually NOTHING Union in it! He said that's because since the collection is from the former MOTC they don't as yet have Federal materials to exhibit!
That’s where I was in 2019 and you are right, they didn’t have any Federal stuff out yet.
 
Awesome...! Glad to hear. Have you been to the new museum in Richmond..? American Civil War Museum at Tredegar
No, but it's been discussed (and cussed!:D) recently here on the forums. Because of the descriptions as being mainly a Politically Correct venue I have absolutely no interest in seeing it either. I believe most of the physical artifacts, etc. were transferred to Appomattox other than a few largely symbolic items to go into the Tredegar location which happily appears to rely mainly on touchy-feely electronic BS to appeal to modern ADHD-afflicted visitors.
 
Back
Top