Monument Monday, July 22, 2019

James N.

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Since yesterday was the anniversary of the first major battle of the war, the July 21, 1861 First Manassas/Bull Run I thought I would feature one of the very first monuments erected to commemorate a Civil War battle. This was erected on Henry House Hill in the summer of 1865 by Federal troops stationed in the Northern Virginia area around Washington, D. C. and is one of a pair. (The other very similar monument is at the area of the Deep Cut and was intended to commemorate the second battle fought in August, 1962.) Note the placement of large artillery shells on the top and at the corners as part of the design.

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The photo on the sign at right was taken during the dedication ceremonies in 1865. As can be seen in the photo below, the monument was built adjacent to the site of the wartime Henry House which had been damaged during the battle and dismantled during the winter of 1661-62 for building materials, though it was rebuilt postwar.

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The monument at Deep Cut for the second battle:

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One of the participants of the ranger guided walk I did asked why the corner was broken away. The ranger told us there's a rumor that someone dug for a time capsule that was believed to be in the monument. One participant thought something might have been found since whoever dug at the monument eventually stopped doing so.

I might not remember that correctly but I think the ranger also said that there used to be artillery shells at the corners and on top like there are at the monument for the first battle on Henry Hill, but that they were always stolen so they were removed.
 
Years ago that monument was over grown with trees and not even visible from Featherbed Lane. I drove that way from the Sudley Road on my way to the Groveton house intersection at 29-211 a few months ago. The road is washboarded pretty bad and very dusty. But now it's visible from the parking area at the Deep Cut. If the NPS had its way, they would clear all the forests away from the battlefield property to make it appear the way it did in 1861.
 
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The monument at Deep Cut for the second battle:

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One of the participants of the ranger guided walk I did asked why the corner was broken away. The ranger told us there's a rumor that someone dug for a time capsule that was believed to be in the monument. One participant thought something might have been found since whoever dug at the monument eventually stopped doing so.

I might not remember that correctly but I think the ranger also said that there used to be artillery shells at the corners and on top like there are at the monument for the first battle on Henry Hill, but that they were always stolen so they were removed.
Years ago that monument was over grown with trees and not even visible from Featherbed Lane. I drove that way from the Sudley Road on my way to the Groveton house intersection at 29-211 a few months ago. The road is washboarded pretty bad and very dusty. But now it's visible from the parking area at the Deep Cut. If the NPS had its way, they would clear all the forests away from the battlefield property to make it appear the way it did in 1861.
When I visited in 2017, things were beginning to grow back up from a general clearing in the Deep Cut area performed for the Sesquicentennial of Second Manassas in 2012. According to photos posted more recently in the forums, it continues to grow, but at least so far nothing like it was on my very first visit back in 1964 when as you say it was deep in the woods and accessible only by a park trail, no doubt the reason it became a target for thieves and vandals!

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Those are some great images @Kurt G !

This was also the date General James McPherson was killed I believe (just as an aside).
thanks . Just proves that if you take enough pictures some are going to turn out . BTW there was some kind of a photo shoot going on around the Henry house at the time . That explains the guys with the cameras .

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BTW there was some kind of a photo shoot going on around the Henry house at the time . That explains the guys with the cameras .
:laugh: Looks like some kind of modelling shoot! They do find the strangest places :confused: All part of the creativity, I guess.
And I'd say you've got some of the makings of a very good photographer, too :thumbsup: They were also creative!
 
:laugh: Looks like some kind of modelling shoot! They do find the strangest places :confused: All part of the creativity, I guess.
And I'd say you've got some of the makings of a very good photographer, too :thumbsup: They were also creative!

My granddaughter, who started her own photography business in high school, used her best friend as the first model--in the middle of the Guadalupe River near Georgetown, after three days of the coldest January weather we'd had in Texas for a hundred years, in a skimpy little dress. The photos are gorgeous. We all teased them about having to edit out the chill bumps...
 
My granddaughter, who started her own photography business in high school, used her best friend as the first model--in the middle of the Guadalupe River near Georgetown, after three days of the coldest January weather we'd had in Texas for a hundred years, in a skimpy little dress. The photos are gorgeous. We all teased them about having to edit out the chill bumps...
:bounce:

We all teased them about having to edit out the chill bumps...
And I'll bet there were a few :cold:
 
It was a hard day, right? @Jim Klag's daily post listed a Confederate General killed the same day as McPherson.
@Buckeye Bill has a thread posted about it today. Walker was the Confederate General, I believe.

I actually hadn't realized the dates for the the battle of First Manassas, so I'm glad James N. has featured it today.

It also being the battle where Jackson earned his nickname - Stonewall.
 
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