Day 3 Bull Run

Woke up to snow covered campground, 32°F outside the van and 36°F inside, but our down bags really kept us warm.  I turned on the engine and ran the heater for a few minutes quickly bringing the temp into the 50’s.  After showering in a heated bathroom, we returned to Gettysburg for coffee and pastries and by 9:45 we were rolling toward the Manassas National Battlefield Park, about 100 miles to the south.  

Along the way we finally saw some flowering trees once we crossed into Virginia, and the sun was shining, so we really felt let we had finally escaped winter!

We arrived at the National Park visitors center just in time to catch the noon showing of a movie about the two battles that took place here.  Southerners refer to the battles as Manassas 1 & 2, after the nearby town, and Northerners refer to them as Bull Run 1 & 2, after the creek that flows through the middle of this countryside.   The South decisively won both battles, the first of which took place in July of 1861, and the second in August of 1862.  

This creek is Bull Run

Manassas 1 was the first significant battle of the Civil War.  Both sides included lots of new recruits, some who had enlisted only 3 weeks prior to the battle, and many of whom had only signed on for a 90 day hitch. Both sides thought the war would end quickly, but after Manassas 1, they knew different.  For the first battle, which took place on a Sunday, many wealthy families from Washington picnicked on a nearby hill, treating the event like an amusement.  For the first battle, which lasted only one day, the casualties were relatively light, around 4700 dead, whereas for the 2^ndbattle deaths were 22,700.  Hard not to think war is senseless when you see such numbers

The grave of Judith Henry, an 80 year old woman who refused to leave her home during the battle.  She was the only civilian casualty.

After the movie in the visitors’ center, we picnicked on Joni’s meatball fresh bread from the Gettysburg Baking Company, before taking a self guided walking tour around the battlefield of Manassas 1.  The scenery is so serene & peaceful, hard to imagine that such brutal fighting took place right where we walked.  After the walking tour, he took a driving tour of Manassas 2, listening to a very informative CD that narrated the various key spots for this battle.  Joni and I both agreed Manassas was very reminiscent of Antietam, which took place in December of 1863, also in northern Virginia. 

Leaving Manassas around 4:30, we had a short drive to our campground which is at the northern end of Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah River State Park.  Compared to last night, the weather was much better; blue skies, no wind, and temps in the 50’s.  The campground is incredible; very private sites, very clean, mountains on all sides, and the Shenandoah River right below us. 

For dinner we bought take out at a Thai restaurant in Front Royal and ate in our van at our campsite.  The campsite was picture worthy, but the food wasn’t.