Two are Better Than One

 

When Mark and I plan these trips we try to be considerate of each other’s likes and dislikes in regard to activities and events. We share so many common interests that’s not difficult to do. Over the years, one area of interest I might have missed, without the influence of my traveling partner, are National Battlefields. These preserved sites are educational, dog friendly and almost always lightly attended. And as absurd as it sounds they are so often tranquil and peaceful; the complete contradiction of what the area must have been like during battle. Today, in its natural but hallowed state, it is quite impactful.

On this trip we managed to visit two major Civil War battlefields- Manassas and Petersburg. The battle at Manassas, or Bull Run, was the site where Union and Confederate troops clashed for the first time on July 21, 1861. The heavy fighting there swept away any notion of a quick war. Four years later, the battle at Petersburg- the longest siege in American warfare- ultimately cost the South the war. The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places. More than 3 million Americans fought in it and over 600,000 men - 2 percent of the population -died in it. It was surreal to visit the places where the war began and ended just 125 miles from each other.

PS: Make sure to read the caption on the statue where we “posed” our  dog, Jackson.