In Virginia during the Civil War Richmond was always a focal point of conflict
being the capital of the Confederacy and home of Jefferson Davis who was
President of the Confederate States of America during the succession from the
Union. We discovered numerous battlefields within a thirty mile periphery
outside the city’s core to visit.
An afternoon was spent exploring civil war exhibits on three floors of the brick foundry at the Richmond Tredegar Iron Works which once formed a prominent part of the city’s industrial capability. It was the leading iron foundry in the South for manufacturing railroad steam engines, cannons, and artillery ammunition. The Iron Works played an important role in rebuilding the devastated South after 1865.
During winter in the Civil War most troops stopped their fighting for months on end. They built cabin huts, played cards, wrote letters home, and caught up on rest. Blood shed did not occur all year long as we are often lead to believe.
When the Union siege surrounded Richmond in 1865, we were also surprised to learn that under the authorization of the Confederate government the Confederates destroyed their own capital. Warehouses and factories along the James River were burned by evacuating Confederates in order to destroy ammunitions and supplies from falling into the hands of the Union armies.
As General Grant’s Union armies marched north from Petersburg to the charred ruins of Richmond, the remnants of General Lee’s Confederate troops were retreating west toward Appomattox. An armed battalion of workers blocked any attempt by mobs to destroy the foundry buildings.  |
| President John Tyler |
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| President James Madison |
campaigns at Petersburg strategically brought the Civil War to an end. Trench warfare tactics were used here
Totopotomoy Creek battlefield and Shelton House northeast of Richmond was officially
opening as the newest unit addition to the park.
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| Patrick Henry and Sarah Shelton wed at Shelton House in Rural Plains, Va |
An 1864 Union encampment with costumed re-enactors and artillery demonstrations gave us a chance to see some living Civil War history.
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| Artillery unit demonstrates loading the c |
Two surgeons had their instruments and medicine trunks open to treat the wounded. One explained that all staff sergeants carried vials of pain pills to administer to their men injured out on the battlefield. There was a shortage of trained military doctors, so butchers and undertakers were often recruited to assist as doctors because of their knowledge of anatomy.
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| Topographer |
Watching the regiment's field topographer making maps with his instruments was of interest.
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| Brothers taking opposite sides |
General Hancock stepped out of his tent to answer questions from us civilians. The primary goal for his Federal troops was finding a weak spot to break the Confederate lines defending the capital of Richmond. A bugler sounds the reveille call as seven soldiers take up position for loading and firing the cannon. 
The Union re-enactors continued portraying their roles authentically as we skedaddled back to reality. We couldn’t help but reflect upon how the Civil separated from us by 150 years so fundamentally reshaped American society and the meaning of liberty. All at the tragic cost of 630,000 lives sacrificed.
