A Downpour and Determination Battling at Manassas

My kayaking event had been canceled Friday night due to bad weather storming in to plague the weekend so I needed to find something to do on Saturday. The 157th Anniversary of The First Battle of Manassas was being celebrated at the Battlefields with living history demonstrations and walking tours, so joining a Meetup group I met at the parking lot early.

 Our group and the general public made for a sizeable number of attendees, and despite the horrendous weather heading our way, a large number, myself included, were defiantly optimistic and only wore a t-shirt. The sensible people wore rain jackets or carried umbrellas. The only protection I had was a small plastic carrier bag for my small Canon camera. I was positive we'd be back at our cars before the watery onslaught. The park ranger who was heading our tour informed us the 'hike' would be about a mile. I would have preferred longer but with my dizzy head, (4th week of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) and the rain, I counted myself lucky to at least be outdoors enjoying some fresh air while learning local history. I actually know the history of this particular battle but it's always nice to here the story again, new facts always pop up.

 We walked down to the newly refurbished Stone Bridge. The sky was a gun metal grey, the air dense with moisture. I was glad I had bare arms, even though I suspected I wouldn't make it back to the car unscathed. The ranger chatted about the battle, how the Union soldiers possessed better rifles, hoping to outgun and overwhelm the Confederates. The majority of the soldiers had no previous knowledge of battle, they hadn't even fired a gun before. I tried to imagine how it must have felt standing in their shoes, it must have been terrifying despite their bravery and courage.
Stone Bridge was destroyed after the war. The confederates blew it up, not wanting any traces of the battle remaining, It had originally been built in 1825 and after its destruction a wooden bridge was erected in 1862. The present design was built in the 1880's with traffic still using it until the 1920's. It has now been restored to perfection, the erosion damage and missing stones repaired and replaced using the original building techniques from the 1880's.
We walked along the river, the heavy clouds getting darker and hanging lower, occasional gusts of wind threatening a storm. Then as we walked under the canopy of leaves, splats of rain made their way through the cover and plopped heavily onto my head and arms. They felt refreshingly cool but I knew their growing intensity would mean a soaking. People pulled out umbrellas and jackets while a handful of us with no protection stood grinning ruefully at each other, and then once we left the shelter of the trees and stood on the edge of a field, the ranger stopped to explain the battle further. I packed the Canon into its plastic bag and resigned myself to a thorough soaking.

 Aesthetically, the best part of the walk for me were the beautiful blue flowers of chicory, also known as blue sailors, wild succory, coffeeweed, or cornflower. Their sturdy stems seeming to be made of wood. while the roots can be ground into a coffee substitute,  extracts from the roots and leaves can be used as a laxative or de-wormer for farm animals. Their bright blooms pop out of the greenery, delicate flowers swaying gently along footpaths and roadsides. They are my favorite summer flower and thankfully I can enjoy them from July until October.
About two thirds of the way through the hike, people began walking faster towards the parking lot and as the rain fell harder the tour was abandoned. Striding ahead I was back inside Stanley within a few minutes, wiping the rivulets of rain from my face and arms, my wet shirt clinging to me. But I wasn't going home. I drove to the visitors center to see if the living demonstrations were still on the schedule.

 In the distance I could see Henry House with Civil War style shelter tents erected and people in period outfits. It looked so authentic from where I stood, it was as though I'd stepped back in time. I was glad to see them, especially after last year's event being canceled due to worries of violence, another PC problem. I tire of this nonsense, there's no need to take sides. These events are simply re-enacting history, as accurately as possible, and history should not be forgotten, however tragic it may be. There was not a large public turnout and I wondered if this was for PC reasons or due to the weather. For purely selfish reasons I was glad of the low numbers, it meant I would get better photos, but I did feel sympathetic towards the reenactors, who stood in groups sheltering under the trees or beneath their tents. Yet they were all smiles if anyone approached with questions and it was evident that despite the weather the show would go on.

 The rebuilt Henry House and the small family graveyard, including Judith Henry, the first civilian casualty of the war.

Today the battlefields were a bright emerald green, and silent. So very different from how they must have appeared when men fought, yelling war cries with the constant thunder of cannons and rifle fire ricocheting across the valley. Only a few people were hiking the trails on this anniversary, and as I trudged through the grass, the blades heavy with water droplets from the unrelenting rain, I tried to imagine how it must have felt, trapped in that house, surrounded by bloody fighting on a hot and sultry day, and I failed. How could I realistically picture that, having had no experience even remotely close to a war? I wondered also if  the lush greenery I was walking across could have been the actual spot where a fallen soldier had once lain. It somehow seemed wrong to walkover this hallowed ground.

My favorite photo of the day, the grey skies with visible rain falling and grim determined faces of men as though going into battle. These men were marching to the field for a firing display. I had been concerned that they would cancel this because of the rain damping the gunpowder but was assured that their powder was dry for this event and shots would be fired. Excellent!

They were very considerate of us poor public who had been patiently waiting in the rain and set to their task with little delay. I was having serious problems trying to use the manual settings on my camera, focus the lens and hold my umbrella so the Sony wouldn't gt wet, so most of my photos were taken one handed. Unfortunately I became so engrossed in the action that my umbrella kept swaying then dipping to one side so I was constantly having to wipe my lens, but I still managed to press my shutter just as they pulled their triggers. The burned aroma of gunpowder drifted across to me as I hung over the split rail fencing. This style of fencing is commonly used in the parks and I asked if it had been used 150 years ago. I was told that landowners back then didn't have the time or resources to style this kind of railing and would simply have used thin saplings that didn't need splitting or cutting to form their fences.

After the small platoon had finished firing, there was a short break until they fired the cannon. I wasn't in a good position and didn't have a long enough lens to capture this adequately so I began to walk across the field towards the Stonewall Jackson monument. I managed to quickly spin round and photo the smoke as the cannon fired behind me, then with the rain pummeling my face I looked up at the gorgeous bronze statue looming above me. It had been daubed with paint just over a month ago but thankfully, no evidence of that desecration remained today. With all the political correctness currently in the world and many of the Confederate statues and memorials being taken down, I learned that they will stay, regardless, in all government parks. I was relieved to hear this. History cannot be eradicated and these monuments weren't erected to insult anyone. This particular monument is one of my favorites. I wouldn't care what side of the battle it represented. To me it represents human strength, loyalty and courage. And it's an incredible work of art. A magnificent, almost imposing example of art deco style, it was erected in 1940. Astride his horse, Little Sorrel, Stonewall Jackson towered above me, assertive and dauntless, as he stared across the battlefield, as though daring the enemy troops to approach. Close by is a stone pillar marking the spot where General Bernard Elliott Bee of South Carolina was killed. Just before he died he rallied his scattered troops by commanding them, "Form, form, there stands Jackson, like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians.”

 I shall return to photograph this powerful monument on another day when I don't have to juggle a camera and an umbrella against a monsoon. I packed up and walked the short distance to my dry car, grateful to the reenactors and park rangers who had made a dreary rainy day into one to remember.