Thoughts on the beginning and the end

I've been thinking about poor Wilmer McLean. This man woke up one morning in 1861 and found the war in his front yard. He lived in Manassas, Va. I've been to Manassas exactly one time. I don't live all that far from it (maybe two hours) but have not been back because every time I head that way, I find someplace new to go to. The time that I was there, I found the battlefield to be very difficult to see. You see, I went in February....after a snow storm....and a warm day.....so there was mud everywhere. One of the things that I found about Manassas is that if you want to see anything, you have to park your car and walk. Now, I don't have a problem with that concept at all. I enjoy a nice walk. But when the paths are nothing but mud pits....well, its just not going to happen. One thing that I never found was Wilmer McLean's house.

I checked around on the internet (because as everyone knows....EVERYTHING you read on the internet is true) and discovered that Mr. McLean lived on a farm called the Yorkshire Plantation. I checked with the NPS website to see if they mention the farm. Not a word....not even about Mr. McLean. So I went elsewhere and this is what I found. There is a marker the talks about the McLean farm. Its on Centerville Road (VA Rt. 28) at Yorkshire Road. Here is what the marker says:

McLean Farm

(Yorkshire Plantation)

Part of an early 18th century plantation established

on Bullrun by Col. Richard Blackburn formerly of

Yorkshire, England. The land was acquired by Wilmer

McLean in 1854. The battle which opened 1st Manassas

raged across this farm July 18, 1861, with the house

and barn used as a headquarters and hospital by

Confederate troops. Following 1st Manassas, in an

attempt to escape the forefront of the war, McLean

moved his family to the tiny village of Appomattox

Court House. There four years later, the war would

come full circle to end in McLean's parlor with Lee's

surrender to Grant, April 9, 1865.

Next time that I'm down that way, I am going off looking for this marker.

As the marker said, the war ended in April of 1865, literally in the McLean's parlor. After the 1st Battle of Bull Run, Wilmer McLean decided that he needed to get his family away from the war. So he packed up his family and they moved to Appomattox Court House in southern Virginia. For a few years, everything was going well for the McLean's, they had their farm and they were away from the war....until 1865 when the war moved south....and ended up in his parlor.

Not only did the war end in their parlor, but many of the furnishings of that room were stolen right out from underneath them. Some of the generals involved in the surrender took pieces of furniture as a souvenir of that day. Here is what the marker at the McLean house in Appomattox Court House says:

At midday on April 9, 1865, General Robert E.

Lee rode into this yard, dismounted, and

disappeared into the McLean house. Grant,

surrounded by generals and staff officers, soon

followed. Dozens of officers, horses, and

onlookers waited outside. After 90 minutes,

Lee and Grant emerged. To the silent salutes

of Union officers, Lee rode back through the

village -- to his defeated army.

The home that hosted the surrender meeting

was one of the best in Appomattox. Built in

1848, it had since 1862 been owned by

businessman, Wilmer McLean. The house

became a sensation after the surrender. Union

officers took some mementos; and in 1893 it

was dismantled for display in Washington, D.C.

But that display never happened, and the

National Park Service reconstructed the building

on its original site in the 1940's.

Poor Wilmer McLean.....he found the Civil War in his front yard in 1861 and found it in his parlor in 1865. The beginning and the end. Kind of cool!

Stonewall Jackson

I had never been a big fan of Stonewall Jackson. I always thought he was lunatic who just happened to be a good general. Its not a bad thing, but I just never really liked him....until I happened to read a book about him. Suddenly all his weird idiosyncrasies made sense. The way that he was brought up explained the weird things that he did. After understanding him, I realized that maybe he wasn't so bad.

All this leads to some of my travels. About 3 years ago, I took a trip down to Manassas Battlefield. At that time, I didn't know much about the fighting that took place there, but it was a place that I really wanted to experience. I arrived at the Visitors Center on a cold windy day in February. There were about 3 cars in the parking lot, so I knew that I would have the battlefield to myself. I looked at the far end of the parking lot and just a few yards out (on Henry House Hill) I saw it.....my very first statue of Stonewall Jackson. Now, I didn't know much about this battle(s) and I certainly didn't know that Stonewall Jackson was there, but the minute I saw that statue, I KNEW it was him. Before I even headed into the VC, I walked right over to that statue. I got chills just standing and looking at this statue (and it wasn't because it was a blustery winter day either). This was THE Stonewall Jackson. He was HERE....right where I was standing. He fought here. And this was where he got his nickname.

A few months later, I took a trip down to Chancellorsville. This trip was a complete accident. I didn't feel like staying home and I just took off. I didn't know where I was going, I just went. Three hours later, I found myself at Brandy Station. Upon looking at a map I realized that I was really close to Chancellorsville. I thought, "Why not?" and off I went. I did know a bit about this battle. I KNEW that this was where Stonewall Jackson was shot by his men...but I also knew that he died about a week later at Guiney Station. So when I went into the VC I had a bit of a background on this battle.

I was talking to a park ranger about the battlefield when suggested that I take a little stroll around the building. He handed me a brochure and said, "If you have any interest at all in Jackson, this is something you MUST do." Ok....you don't have to tell me twice. So I headed off on my little tour around the VC. This walking tour is only a couple of hundred yards long. Its not much by way of ground, but the importance of this area is unreal. The first thing I noticed was a fairly large monument directly behind the VC so I went to check it out. This monument was dedicated to Gen. Jackson. Ooohhh....the chills I got. This monument claimed to be the spot where Gen. Jackson was shot by his men. Now, I can't explain the feeling that you get the first time you see something that you hadn't seen before, especially if its something that you want to see but didn't know it existed. The feeling was there. Then there is a big rock that was placed there by some of his men to commemorate the spot where he was shot. I've been back to Chancellorsville since and I didn't get the same feeling that I got the very first time I saw these spots. I found out later that on the old mountain road there is a wayside marker that claims that it was in that area that Stonewall Jackson was shot. Doesn't matter....the feeling from the first time seeing the spot still exists....deep down inside me.

I don't claim to be a Stonewall Jackson fanatic. I'm not his greatest admirer. But I do like him. He wasn't just a good general....he was great....despite all his idiosyncrasies. To stand in the same spots that Gen. Jackson stood was an experience that I would like to experience again....but I know that I will never feel that same way again. The next time I hit Antietam, I'm going to concentrate on Jackson so that I get a feel of where he was and what he did. I'm hoping to actually get to Guiney Station and the Jackson Shrine sometime in the near future. That should really give me the chills!