Re-Creation and Recreation
On the History Highway, Day 16
ARLINGTON, Virginia— Thrilled that cousin Pam was able to play with us today, we turned the tables on her when she asked what we wanted to see. Since she lives in the DC area, Pam frequently serves as the congenial local tour guide to family and friends who visit the nation's capitol. All too often, she probably sees the same sights over and over and cheerfully goes back when the next visitor wants to make the pilgrimage. Since our two-week stay will provide ample opportunity to see the popular spots, we asked Pam where she would like to go.
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Ken and Pam agree on a destination. |
Occurring in the third year of an increasingly bloody war, Chancellorsville was one of the deadliest battles of the Civil War. (Only Gettysburg and Chickamauga produced more casualties). In April, 1863, a Union army of 134,000 assembled around the inn to face Robert E. Lee's dwindling army of 60,000. Against an overwhelming Federal force, the Confederates counted on the audacity and military acumen of the fabled partnership between Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Though their daring strategies achieved Lee's greatest victory, Jackson was wounded by friendly fire in the chaos. Eight days later, when the general died of complications from pneumonia, Lee compared the loss to "losing my right arm," a portent proved accurate as Lee never again experienced military success at the same level.
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Stonewall Jackson Shrine |
A poignant exhibit at the National Park Service's Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitors Center relates a personal story to illustrate how battle casualties shattered the lives of average families. Married in 1859, Pennsylvanians John and Almira Patterson settled near Pittsburgh, where they had three children in the ensuing four years. An engineer by training, Patterson was a dutiful patriot who followed in the footsteps of ancestral Revolutionary War veterans and enlisted to fight for the preservation of the Union.
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John and Almira Patterson |
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Notice of house sale published by widow |
After absorbing all that history, we returned to the excellent Foode in Fredericksburg for lunch before heading out on a trail for some letterboxing. Though Pam bemoaned her lack of ability to follow the clues to a letterbox, we found her protestations a just bit disingenuous when she located four of the six boxes we found.
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Pam locates yet another box |
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"I found it!"
Pam, upon finding her first letterbox (and second, and third, etc.)
DAILY STATS:
Miles driven: 180
Weather: 48° to 64°, clear to partly cloudy
States today: 1 (VA)
Letterboxes found: 6
Letterboxes found by Pam: 4
Cannons in battlefield park: 27
Interpretive signs read: 166
Wild onions growing in fields: 152,367
More Photos from Today
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Colonel Patterson's original headboard marker |
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Stamping in |
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Peeking in (at Stonewall Jackson Shrine) |