Leaving the Jefferson and visiting the Library of Virginia

October 29 and 30: Tuesday, after our last luxurious breakfast at the Jefferson, we take photos and then their driver takes us to the Marriott. We stay at the Marriott because it is only three blocks from the Library of Virginia. My breakfast yesterday in TJ's, the more casual dining room downstairs, was Bene Bene, smoked salmon, egg whites and salsa on an English muffin. Today I try the shrimp and grits with sunny side up eggs.....yummy, but cannot eat it all (fortunately). Below shows the dining room. Lemaire, at the Jefferson, where we have breakfast today and where we had a wonderful dinner a few nights ago.

Below is the Palm Court with the statue of Thomas Jefferson. This is where there used to be fountains where the alligators lived, but the last one died in 1948.

The alligator by the autum display outside the front door

An alligator in the fountain by the motor court

The Jefferson Hotel

After we check into the Marriott, we walk down the street to the Library of Virginia. It is huge, takes up a full city block. The staff cannot be more courteous, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. We are here to do some genealogical research. Unfortunately in spite of the staff's tremendous help, we do not break down any brick walls. Nevertheless we thoroughly enjoy this library and we learn there are no easy answers to our questions and perhaps there will not be answers!

A funny thing happened on the way to the blog...we took a great picture of the interior of the two story library and when I tried to insert it in the blog, a message said that I needed a password from the library. In lieu of that, just picture a huge first floor with a dramatic wide staircase going up to the second floor which has stacks and stacks of bookcases on either side of a central open area. On one side there are state of the art viewers of microfilm and microfiche. The other side is filled with books. Behind these are rooms of map books, one room dedicated to Virginia authors, and other rooms for archives. I remember having to hand turn a viewer at the Mormon library in Los Angeles...in this library the viewers are all computerized. We have not recently been to the LA Library, so perhaps their viewers are also computerized.

The library has a very nice cafe, pretty simple, but we have had our share of fine dining and this works for us. At the hotel, we have our breakfast in the executive lounge and in the evening their snacks (pasta, lamb chops, fresh veggies, fresh fruit, cheese cubes, etc. and later cookies...and tonight, the 30th, tiramisu!) certainly more than suffice for dinner. We play Mexican gin, write our blog, and enjoy the "snacks".

Thursday, October 31, Halloween, we fly home, Richmond to Dallas to Los Angeles! Hopefully no tricks! It has been a wonderful trip.

I am flying out of Richmond in the future. We left the Marriott at 9:30, 20 minutes to the airport, maybe 5 minutes to walk into the airport, 5 minutes to check our bags, 5 minutes to walk to security and 5 minutes to go through security. At 10:10 we are at our gate with two hours to boarding time. Also there is free wi-fi in the airport, for economy passengers, for everyone! We have a lot of reading material with us to while away the next two hours.

Our flight home was uneventful, as flights should be. Since it is Halloween, many people are in costume, both employees and travelers adding to the merriment of the day. Actually with some, we are not sure if they are in costume or always look and dress that way! First we flew to DFW, three hour layover in Dallas where we had lunch-dinner at TGIFriday's, then flew to LAX arriving at 7. Our driver, Edward, met us and brought us home. Always good to be home. Our daughter, Caroline, welcomes us. She has done a terrific job of taking care of our home while we were away.

Thanks to the person at the Mayflower in DC who pulled out the handle of my suitcase (which the airline broke en route to Washington) so we could roll it, thanks to Danny, our Tauck driver, who took care of it on our tour, and thanks to my husband who carried it when necessary, I managed to get through the trip without having to buy a new suitcase. Now I can see about fixing it, if possible, or choosing a new piece at my leisure after researching the options.

My final words - our tour director, Stu Warren, was outstanding. His knowledge of the area and of the Civil War is terrific. His sense of humor was delightful. Our driver, Danny, was excellent. The coach was always immaculate. He and Stu worked together extremely well. The 36 people on our tour were a great group to travel with, all very bright, and most importantly, compatible, caring and cooperative. Tauck does an excellent job of putting together a tour and, in this case, they worked with Ken Burns to create a marvelous and meaningful tour of the Civil War and of showing our country and its struggles between Northern industry and Southern plantation life raising necessary raw materials, as well as the moral question of slavery. The Ken Burns vignettes we saw on our coach rides added tremendously to our knowledge of the times. The lecturers and local guides are all extraordinary in their knowledge and presentation, each giving a different aspect of the serious questions that tore our country apart one hundred and fifty years ago, and kept it together.

Our very comfortable coach

 

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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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Petersburg and the Breakthrough

October 27, Sunday, we leave at 8:45 and drive to the Petersburg National Battlefield. General Grant has to capture Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, but he has been stopped several times. Will he succeed in Petersburg? Petersburg was a railroad junction leading into Richmond. It was crucial to cut off the supplies so that General Lee could not feed his army.

The flag of the 200th Pennsylvania Infantry had 19 bullet holes in its last battle. This unit was one of the first from the Union to enter Petersburg on April 3.

The Confederate flag of the 12th Virginia Infantry was shot in half and had 75 bullet holes before it was repaired. This flag was surrendered at Appomatox.

The troops advanced up both of these roads, four abreast. These were typical roads at that time. The monument honors the "colored troops" who fought here.

National Park Service Ramdy Watkins, wearing a Comfederate uniform, explains the battle to us. The little building in the right background would have sheltered forty men. It looks big enough for four men. The chimneys were made of wood and often caught fire.

Bundles of horizontal sticks across the top of the barrier are called fascines. Vertical bundles (on the left) that look like wicker are called gabions.

A fence of slanted slats around a dugout area or wide ditch is called a frise, or cheval de frise to keep out the cavalry.

A similar fortification is called an abatis. It consists of branches of trees laid in a row with the sharpened tops pointed outwards towards the enemy. Sometimes the branches are laced with wire. This is a forerunner of barbed wire. It was used in Roman Imperial times and up to the American Civil War.

At the Battle of the Crater, a unit of Pennsylvania coalminers tunneled under the Confederate troops, filled the tunnel with gunpowder and lit it. They had to relight it. Then it exploded causing trmendous damage, but somehow the Union men instead of attacking around the crater created by the explosion, rushed straight ahead and were easy targets by the Confederate riflemen. It was called a Stupendous Failure. Grant said "it was the saddest affair of the war". July 30, 1864 Why did the Union soldiers rush ahead instead of going around the crater? The most likely explanation is that they heard enemy fire and went into the crater for protection.

Now off to Pamplin Historical Park, a wonderful museum and property including a crucial battlefield and a plantation, among other things. First we had a catered lunch of pulled pork, fried chicken, baked beans,potato salad, corn bread, biscuits, cole slaw and peach cobbler. A very typical Southern meal! The Pamplin Museum was created by Robert Pamplin who became wealthy as the CEO of Georgia Pacific. This property was his family's home.

The museum here is unique. Wonderful displays of army life, but the distinction here is that you assume the role of a soldier...there are about twelve to choose from. I chose Sgt. William Jeffrey Bull from Missouri. As I went through the museum, my audio device would tell me about Sgt. Bull's reasons for enlisting, how he joined, spent his days waiting for battle and how he fared in the battle. Bob selected a soldier from North Carolina and learned about his time in the war. You could easily send 2-3 hours here, but we had 40 minutes. You could also choose whether you wanted to go down the road where there was gunfire, or go around it. We each chose the road where there was fighting, and we could feel the shaking of the ground under our feet as the cannons fired.

Another example of a frise surrounding a trench

After that we visited a campfire and a man told us about the food and living conditions there. The food was hard tack, either bread or salt pork that had been compressed to preserve it. If it had mold on it, you scraped it off; if it had worms, you dipped it in your coffee and the worms float to the top and you skim them off. You had to learn to load and fire your musket rifle in 20 seconds, and it was about a four step process... First Biting the paper around the minie ball and gunpowder, which is why you had to have four front teeth...if you didn't, you were marked 4F and could not join the army. You put the ammunition in the gun, pulled the ram rod by the side of the gun, turned it around and rammed the bullet down into the rifle. Then you cocked the gun. But you did not want to go off half-cocked, you finished cocking, then you were ready to aim and shoot.

Now for the Breakthrough, April 2, 1865: The ditch or trench would have been much deeper. Also there were no trees here during the Civil War. These trees are about 70 years old.

The battle fought here, called the Breakthrough, was a Union victory, allowing the troops to create an opening in the Confederate defensive lines, forcing the Confederates to retreat from their fortifications. This allowed the Union to cut off the railroads and the supplies going to Richmond, thus requiring evacuation of the Confederate capital. Lee retreated towards Appomattox hoping to connect with Johnston's Army of Tennessee coming from North Carolina, but Grant defeated Lee. The surrender was signed in Appomatox.

A hero of this battle was Captain Charles Gould of the 5th Vermont, the first man over the fortification, who received a bayonet through his cheeks. He pulled it out, then was slashed on his head. Eventually he was drsgged, bleeding, by his troopsback to his camp. He lived to be in his 80's!

It was not totally the end of the war. A few more battles were fought on other fronts.

Back to our hotel via Monument Avenue with its beautiful antebellum homes and dramatic statues. We try to find the one where we stayed in 1985, but it has been 28 years and we are not sure which one was our Bed and Breakfast. On to the hotel...dinner is on our own tonight. After many meals of fine dining, we opt to go to the hotel bar for a light supper. The bar is actually part of the wonderful Lemaire restaurant, somewhat like a sunroom with deep rose banquettes and large windows with views of people coming and going on the street. Still pretty sumptuous.

 

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Appomattox

Saturday, October 26, and this morning we are at leisure...do not have to be on the coach until 8:45! We drive to Appomattox Court House, Virginia...that is the name of the town where Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on Palm Sinday, April 9, 1865.

Where did they sign the surrender? In the McLean home, pictured above. McLean lived at Manassas and the war started by his home there. He moved south, not only to be away from the battles, but he moved near a railroad as he was going to become a sugar speculator. This was a thriving town at the beginnng of the war, but by 1865, it had seen too many hard times.

The table in the left photo is similar to the one where the generals signed the surrender. The original was given to General Custer's wife and is now in the Smithsonian. Right photo shows the other side of the room.

The kitchen is in a separate building.

Slaves' quarters

Kitchen on the left; slaves' quarters on the right.

This is the road that Lee came down. McLean was out in front and invited him in.

A Confederate soldier visits with us.

The courthouse

A nearby cemetery where one Union soldier is buried.

He and a couple of the Confederate soldiers are unknown. The rest have names on the stones.

Lunch at a Bed and Breakfast, Historic Babcock House

We eat with Doug Spotswood, descendant of Governor Spotswood of Williamsburg, and Sandra. Doug is also a fraternity brother of our good friend, Pete Palermo, both alums of Occidental College.

We drive to Richmond and check into The Jefferson Hotel, a magnificent hotel. In the evening we dine in the hotel restaurant, Lemaire, with Dave and Joan Stephenson and Bill and Joni McDonald. The food and service are outstanding, but we mostly enjoy good camaraderie, visiting and sharing experiences. After dinner, Bob hurries to the room to watch Missouri play South Carolina. Going into the 4th quarter the score is 17 to 0, but South Carolina wins, much to Bob's dismay!

 

Statue of Thomas Jefferson, Governor of Virginia...

of course he later became third president of The United States

Bob pets the alligator by the stairs...there used to be a fountain and people brought small alligators from Florida and left them in the fountain. The fountain is no longer here and the alligators are not real...but the fascination of the alligators continues.

Bob and Liz ready to go to dinner in Lemaire

An alligator rests on the mantel of this sumptuous dining room near our table.

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