Charles City & New Kent Counties - VA Civil War & Emancipation

11/16/2017

20 Questions to Test Your Civil War Knowledge.

The Civil War was a defining moment in American history, its end result determining what kind of nation we would be. How well do you know the facts?

08/01/2017

Gettysburg 50th Anniversary (July, 1913)
More than 50,000 former soldiers attended the event, where, as President Woodrow Wilson said in his address, “We have found one another again as brothers and comrades in arms, enemies no longer.”

From June 29 to July 6, 1913, the Union and Confederate flags flew side by side when more than 50,000 Civil War veterans convened in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of one of the most pivotal battles in American history. Here’s a closer look at the Great Reunion.

02/29/2016

April 1861

The view from the rooftops. Citizens came out on the rooftops to see if Anderson would surrender - praying the battle would never begin and believing it would end quickly. Many women began to sob when the fighting began.

http://americancivilwar.com/authors/Joseph_Ryan/150-Year-Anniversary/April-1861/What-Happened-in-April-1861.html

02/29/2016

This article was published April 15, 1865 in the The Daily Dispatch:

Edmund Ruffin

On April 15 the Richmond Daily Dispatch published this anecdote about the fire-eater Edmund Ruffin. Ruffin is often said to have fired the first shot at Sumter; although this is apparently not the case, he did fire at least one of the guns during the bombardment.

Edmund Ruffin.
We know not a more impressive incident since the beginning of the present troubles, than that described by our Charleston correspondent, the aged and distinguished Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, with musket and knapsack on, his long and venerable locks floating above his shoulders, marching with the Charleston volunteers to the defence their homes and firesides. And as he passed, there went up three thundering cheers for Old Virginia! Yea, the Virginians of the olden time are not yet all dead. There is one who deserves to have lived in a better era than this, one who would have been in the front rank at Yorktown, and whom Washington would have hugged to his heart as a brother and a true man. How rare such single minded, genuine, heroic characters in this degenerate age ! So rare that to those who have no capacity of elevation and generosity of character they appear incredible, and they cannot believe in them because they do not believe in themselves.

02/29/2016

Article attached was published April 15, 1864 in The Daily Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia.

Edmund Ruffin

On April 15 the Richmond Daily Dispatch published this anecdote about the fire-eater Edmund Ruffin. Ruffin is often said to have fired the first shot at Sumter; although this is apparently not the case, he did fire at least one of the guns during the bombardment.

Edmund Ruffin.
We know not a more impressive incident since the beginning of the present troubles, than that described by our Charleston correspondent, the aged and distinguished Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, with musket and knapsack on, his long and venerable locks floating above his shoulders, marching with the Charleston volunteers to the defence their homes and firesides. And as he passed, there went up three thundering cheers for Old Virginia! Yea, the Virginians of the olden time are not yet all dead. There is one who deserves to have lived in a better era than this, one who would have been in the front rank at Yorktown, and whom Washington would have hugged to his heart as a brother and a true man. How rare such single minded, genuine, heroic characters in this degenerate age ! So rare that to those who have no capacity of elevation and generosity of character they appear incredible, and they cannot believe in them because they do not believe in themselves.

10/12/2015

Good book on Robert E. Lee is Making Sense of Robert E. Lee.
Read the Smithsonian Magazine article along with some excerpts from the book.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/making-sense-of-robert-e-lee-85017563/

10/12/2015

Well written article.

Social engineers have a knack for destroying history, then self-servingly reshaping it to align with political agendas for consumption by the masses.

10/17/2014

A day in our history: On October 18, 1859, years prior to the Civil War and prior to Robert E. Lee giving up his command of federal forces and being appointed to lead Confederate forces, Lee led a command of United States Marines to capture John Brown and his cohorts at Harpers Ferry.

John Brown(May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was anabolitionistwho used violent actions to fight slavery in the United States.[1]During 1856 inKansas, Brown commanded forces at theBattle of Black Jackand theBattle of Osawatomie.[1]Brown's followers also killedfive pro-slavery supportersatPottawatomie....

07/19/2013

150 years ago - July 18th - a handful of Charles City slaves of Shirley Plantation swam to a Union ship in the James River to enlist in the Union Navy and claim their right to freedom!

A Charles City County man recently learned that his great-great-grandfather was one of at least 20 slaves who took a daring swim in the James River to enlist in the Union Navy.

03/07/2013

Vimeo is the home for high-quality videos and the people who love them.

03/07/2013

April 1862 - ....likely the largest single exodus of slaves in America up to that time.

Follow the route of more than 10,000 slaves' journey to freedom through Fredericksburg and Stafford, Virginia in 1862.

03/07/2013

Isle of Wight County, Virginia
near Smithfield
March 16, 2013
10AM – 12 Noon

Tour of Fort Huger

Visit this Civil War fort and learn the significance of this gateway to the Confederate capital.

Fort Huger is a strategic Civil War fort located on a bluff overlooking the James River. This fort, along with Fort Boykin, was established to block the approach by land and river to the Confederate...