The Center of it All

When it comes to Civil War trips, Virginia is the motherlode since sixty percent of the fighting in the war took place there. Indeed, the starred Civil War sites on our Virginia map spread out like the Milky Way. So we knew that when we got to the Richmond/Petersburg area we had our work cut out for us.

One surprise in Richmond had nothing to do with the Civil War though. After dealing with road congestion in Seattle for years, we were astonished and delighted with Richmond traffic, or lack thereof. No matter what time of day or what part of the city, traffic was a breeze--no backups, no bumper-to-bumper lines. Richmond got major bonus points from us for all those wide open freeways which made it easier to hopscotch around between battlegrounds and sites. In addition to having  great traffic, Richmond is a charming city. I particularly liked the  pedestrian path lined with art that ran along the James River especially when I saw the huge sculpture of chairs forming one giant chair.

Me with Nutsy--the Squirrels' mascot

We drove down street after street of graceful old houses, from large brick mansions to small frame homes. Seeing all those structures it's hard to remember that much of Richmond was burned when the Confederate government abandoned the city, leaving blocks of gutted  or collapsed buildings. While we were in Richmond we took in a AA baseball game and saw the home team  Richmond Flying Squirrels. The Squirrels won that night but there were no veggie dogs to be had so I subsisted on peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

Our first Civil War discovery was that the swath of land in and around Richmond had been almost constantly populated by troops from both armies for most of the four years of war, either during battles or winter encampments. Some areas had been the sites of devastating battles in multiple years which made keeping track of dates and places a real challenge for me. Luckily, the National Park Service has a center in downtown Richmond that provides information and maps for all the surrounding areas so that's where we started.  Learning about the Civil War in Richmond begins as soon as you drive up to the Richmond National Battlefield Park Visitors Center, which is housed in the old Tredegar Ironworks building. Tredegar was the main foundry for Confederate artillery and was a prime target for the Union Army.  

Richmond National Battlefield Visitors Center at Tredegar

Window at Tredegar

It was a huge complex at the time of the war although only one building and some ruins remain today. We got a sense of how massive the buildings were by seeing that the walls were as thick as four feet in some places. The American Civil War Center, in the 1861 Gun Foundry right next door to Tredegar, is a new interpretive center which gives a whole different perspective on why the war took place and how different populations were affected. As we finished our visit there, we were asked to participate in a survey about the exhibits. That poor guy didn't know what he was getting into since, as usual, we had plenty of opinions that we were happy to share with him.

Robert E. Lee's Camp Tent

As the city that was capital of the Confederacy, Richmond is chock full of Civil War sites other than those connected with the battles themselves. We visited most of those sites like the  Hollywood Cemetery where many notable Confederates are buried, the old Confederate hospital site at Chimborazo, and  the statues along Monument Row. One of the most impressive places we visited was the Museum of the Confederacy which is currently right next door to the White House of the Confederacy.  

We had visited the Appomattox branch of the Museum where we saw Robert E. Lee's uniform and saber. Both branches of the Museum have an amazing collection of personal items--uniforms, letters and photographs--as well as field equipment like Robert  E. Lee's items for his camp tent and a special exhibit of all the Confederate battle  flags captured at Gettysburg. I didn't realize until this trip that the most dangerous position in either army during the Civil War was that of color bearer or that the unit battle flags were such an important emotional element for the troops.

On a pedestrian bridge on the James River in downtown Richmond

Who knew Richmond has its own Statue of Liberty?

Russ walking by murals on the pedestrian path by the James River

Richmond had plenty to offer in terms of history and entertainment but it was just our starting point so full tank of gas and GPS set, we took off to cover as much ground as we could in the next couple of weeks.