Richmond, Capital of Virginia

Monday, October 28: we are staying three nights at the Jefferson Hotel, outstanding classic and historic.

These are the stairs used in the film, Gone With the Wind.

 

Today we leave at 8:30 to drive to the state capital of Virginia which was designed by Thomas Jefferson. He was influenced by the Maison Caree in Nimes, France, which he visited during the five years he was our ambassador to France. In 2007 an addition was added to the Capital and it was covered with a jacket for some kind of work. Here is a model of the Capital as it was designed and built. This is the way we saw it in 1985.

This statue called, The Brothers, signifies the fact that often brothers fought against each other in the Civil War. Note the sole of one brother's shoe...worn out and part of his foot is exposed.

State historian Mark Greenough told us the story of Virginia's decision to secede. At first she had no intention of seceding. The majority of her legislators were for staying on the Union. Their opinions changed after Lincoln called for troops to put down the rebellion of the initial attack on Fort Sumter. Virginia citizens reversed their decision wanting to support the Southern cause. Int was some time before she joined the Confederate States of America. The preponderance of voters still wanting to stay in the Union came from western Virginia, which will become its own state in two years

We go upstairs to the main building and there is a wondeful statue of George Washington created by the French sculptor, Houdon. The Confederates believed that they were continuing the Revolution in the manner of George Washington, as they too fought against an oppresive country....they felt the U. S. was forcing them to change their economy and lifestyle against their will. The South called it The War of Northern Agression.

We go into the main building to the legislative chamber to hear more from the historian who is outstanding.

 

Robert E. Lee, after declining Lincoln's offer of leading the Union Army, found it neceaary to resign from the U.S. Army. He then accepted the commision of leading the Army of Northern Virginia. Joseph Johnston was leading the army of the Confederacy. Later when Johnston was wounded, Lee became the man in charge of the Confederate Army.

Above statue of Lee shows him standing in the exact spot where he accepted the commission to lead the Army of Northern Virginia.

Bust of J.E.B. Stuart, flamboyant general of the Confederacy who was killed in action at age 31. Liz is very distantly related to him. He is her great grandmother's 4th cousin, or in other words her 4th cousin, 4 times removed. Stuart, a cavalry commander, was mortally wounded at The Battle of Yellow Tavern in 1864 and died in Richmond. Robert E. Lee was saddened, stating that he lost the "eyes" of his army.

Next stop, the White House of the Confederacy and the Museum of the Confederacy. The White House was also the home of Jefferson Davis. No photos inside. It was a lovely, livable home with generous rooms, decorated in thoical upper class Victorian style. The Davises had six children; one died before they moved here and the others grew up here. Only one grew to adulthood and there are descendants, but they do not live in the area. There was a painting of George Washington in the room that served as Davis's office, again reinforcing the fact that the South felt they were continuing his revolution.

Top photo shows the side we entered in and the lower photo shows the street side.

The museum shows Lee's Headquarters tent...looks pretty basic...you can imagine how the enlisted men lived.

Lunch in the Shockoe Slip district at the Tobacco Company Restaurant...today lunch is on our own...we eat with two couples from Burlingame, CA. The son and daughter-in-law of one couple are neighbors of our niece and her family. Small world! We have she-crab soup with half a chicken salad sandwich and cole slaw...delicious!

The bar is downstairs; we ate on the second floor. Very interesting building.

After lunch we visit the historic Tredegar Iron Works where they made cannons, artillery, firearms and contributed to the iron on the Merremac, all for the Confederacy. They had an interesting museum with film strips about the causes of the War, among other subjects.

We also learned about supply and demand during the war, what was scarce and what was abundant. Demand was abundant, raw materials were between scarce and abundant and supplies, infrastructure, transportation and manpower were scarce.

Lincoln with his son, Tad, visited Richmond a few days after it fell.

Today Tredegar by the James River with modern Richmond in the background

After the War, Lee taught at Washington University and became president. The name was later changed to Washington and Lee. He always taught and preached that the people on both sides must forgive and work together to preserve the peace and the Union.

That evening we have our final party on the tour. Our friends from Burlingame with our outstanding tour director, Stuart Warren, from Portland, OR

Below are our other friends from Burlingame with our excellent driver, Danny DeRosa.

Bob and Mollie Custer from Albuquerque have an award for the two ladies from Big Bear.

They also present Brian Pitts with a stovepipe hat and beard as Brian created an extensive quiz on the Civil War based on our lectures and experiences. Brian is the chaplain at Samford University in Alabama. He is traveling with his father.

 

 

A musicologist entertains us as he explains how American music is based on slave music as well as music from the Appalachians.

It was a fabulous tour and we are very fortunate to have been able to participate.

 

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