| s/y Nine of Cups Manassas National Historic Battlefield - Virginia August 2012 |
| Don't forget to check out: National Parks & Monuments? American Odyssey...Part I? (Las Vegas to Denver) American Odyssey...Part II? (Denver to Boston) American Odyssey...Part III? (Boston to Vegas) Birds of North America? Wildflowers of North America? |
| Where Southern Victories Tested Northern Resolve On July 21, 1861, two armies clashed for the first time on the fields overlooking Bull Run. Heavy fighting swept away any notion of a quick war. In August 1862, Union and Confederate armies converged for a second time on the plains of Manassas. The Confederates won a solid victory bringing them to the height of their power. This is the National Parks Service banner and introduction to Manassas National Battlefield. |
| On these grounds, bloody battles were fought in hand to hand combat...family against family, brother against brother. It is a sad place. |
| We have crossed the Mason-Dixon Line. The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. This demarcation symbolized the cultural boundary between the Northeastern United States and the Southern United States (Dixie) and during the Civil War, the legality of slavery. Note that many Southerners still refer to the War Between the States as the War of Northern Aggression. This entire area is rife with remnants of Civil War battlefields and the history of a war in which more American men were killed than all subsequent wars combined. |
| Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson is immortalized in bronze here. |
| The battlefields were once farms and pasture land, now soaked with the blood of our countrymen. The iconic, beautiful stackpole fences are everywhere. |
| Battlecry of Freedom by James M. McPherson is the crew's choice for reading about the American Civil War. |
| The air-conditioned Visitor's Center was a popular place and offered a film and several exhibits about the battles fought here as well as diaramas of battlefield strategies. The Union Army was so sure of a victory, that spectators from Washington, DC set up a picnic area to watch the anticipated rout. So much for hubris! There's a lot of ground to cover here if you're so inclined. Outside, the temps soared to 100F and the humidity was high. After roaming around the battlefield area for a half-hour, we opted to move on. |
| The Visitor's Center was quite stately. |
Once theory is that the Southern term
"Dixie" was derived from "Dixon" line.
"Dixie" was derived from "Dixon" line.