Vacation and Civil War visits – Part I

Posted by Notch

July 13, 2011

I am on vacation with my family this week visiting Tennessee, Virginia and Washington D.C. While here I have had the opportunity to visit a few Civil War related sites as well as a major battlefield so far. I’ll give my take on what I have sen so far.

First stop was in Lexington, VA. After breakfast we drove to the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. There are a lot of Civil War soldiers buried here among them is obviously Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. His remains as well as that of his family were moved from their original resting places to the spot where his monument now stands in the center. It is well kept as is the grounds but here is my complaint: many of the tombstones show serious signs of neglect, some are even broken. I know most Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War make it a practice to ensure that the Civil War veterans graves are maintained, so I found it disheartening that the same is not done for a Confederate cemetery. the SCVCW in the Lexington area need to step up to the plate and get this great place in better condition.

Next stop was the Stonewall Jackson House. Neat place but way too expensive for what you are seeing. I just took pictures of the outside and left it at that.

Next up was a visit to the Washington and Lee campus to visit Lee Chapel where Robert E. Lee and his family are laid to rest. Great place, informative tour, wonderful history and seeing the tomb of Lee is inspiring. However, they do not allow photographs at all. Period. I got a photo of the outside and of the spot where they moved his horse “Traveler” outside. I was disappointed in that. They explained that the flash can potentially harm the artifacts and that it also preserved it’s copyright on everything there. I guess I understand that, but not totally…Still disappointed.

And finally, as we made our way to DC we stopped at the Manassas Battlefield. It was VERY hot that day, and the whole family went with me so the visit wasn’t as thorough as I would have liked but enjoyable nonetheless. All in all its a great site. The landscape is kept up very well, the miles of fences are incredible. However, there are a few things that I found distracting. One is obviously the urban sprawl…. the site is surrounded by the hustle and bustle of modernization. Also, the driving tour is difficult because of this. The traffic is so thick, trying to stop or go slow is dangerous. The visitors center is also a bit on the small side. Not much there but the battle diorama is very good. Then there is the Stonewall statue. He is built like Superman. It’s weird. Impressive, but weird.

More to come as our vacation continues…

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