Day 51 - Ashland (Richmond) to Charlottesville, Virginia

Wow! We finally found a KOA that isn't located on a major Interstate where the truck traffic sounds so close it's like you're sitting in the cab with the drivers. Though we managed to "squeak" into the Ashland KOA last night without reservations, we couldn't wait to get out of there. Just too noisy.

On the other hand, tonight we found a tranquil little KOA off Virginia Route 20 that's so quiet and secluded you'd have to call it wilderness. Even better, the site is completely level so I don't have to use the drive-up blocks, which always makes my life easier. They put us on the edge of some forest land, just feet away from a small gully, and the setting is just about perfect (photo left).

Today was just a darn nice day in northern Virginia. Last night we camped about an hour south of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and so we had to endure some time on the Interstate this morning as we headed north. But after we exited onto Route 1, just south of Fredericksburg, things got better fast. We'd only been on Route 1 a few minutes when we saw the sign for the Fredericksburg battlefield site, and just a few minutes after that we had pulled up in the parking lot of the visitor center and were watching the very informative video about the town and associated battle.

The resounding defeat of the Union army at Fredericksburg was a tremendous black eye for the northern government in December of 1862 when not much had been going right. Robert E. Lee's presence 50 odd miles south of Washington D.C., with an army of 85,000 men, was certainly a thorn in President Lincoln's side. It's no wonder that Lincoln and his generals wanted Lee gone. General Ambrose Burnside, George McClellan's replacement, and the 120,000 men of the army of the Potomac, were nominated to push Lee south again.

But the Confederate Army was very firmly in possession of the high ground west of the town of Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock River. They'd arranged their cannon on the top of Marye's Hill so that they could shoot down on anyone trying to move across the river, through the town, and up the hill towards them.

Below the crest of the hill ran a road that was "fenced" on both sides with a stone wall. The eastern part of this stone wall formed an excellent bit of protection for Lee's riflemen and they would take full advantage of it (photo lower left).

Much blood was shed as Burnside and his huge army tried building bridges across the Rappahannock so they could cross to Lee's side. This proved to be a deadly undertaking when Confederate snipers on the west side of the river peppered the bridge builders mercilessly. Eventually, it is surmised, General Lee decided to allow the Federals to cross the river. Figuring to draw the Union army into his carefully laid trap, he withdrew his troops up Marye's Hill and waited for Burnside's army to cross the river and enter the town.

But when the boys in blue tried to move out of Fredericksburg, across the hundreds of yards of open fields, and then up Marye's Hill, the Confederates created a living Hell of cannon and rifle fire that killed wave after wave of the Union troops. Over the three day battle, the Union army suffered 12,653 casualties (1,284 killed, 9,600 wounded, 1,769 captured/missing). Two Union generals were mortally wounded: Brig. Gens. George D. Bayard and Conrad F. Jackson. The Confederate army lost 5,377 (608 killed, 4,116 wounded, 653 captured/missing).

Nowadays you can walk the stone-lined road where the Confederates held back the Union advance and listen to the birds singing. You can climb the grassy hill that overlooks the battlefield where Lee's Cannons once rained deadly shrapnel down upon the lines of blue to such murderous effect, and nothing but gentle breezes and stillness are there to greet you. There are some 15,000 boys buried beneath the grass up there, only 3,000 of whom are identified. As with so many battlefields we have visited, from General Custer's Little Big Horn, to Fredericksburg here in Virginia, we found ourselves gazing at the headstones of the fallen and wondering if man will ever quit going to war. We don't think he will.

Our next objective, after visiting the Fredericksburg battlefield, was Thomas Jefferson's home of Monticello in the town of Charlottesville, Virginia. In the same fashion that your humble scribe has been just over the moon about finally getting to see long dreamed of historic places like Fort Sumter and Fredericksburg, Concetta has wanted to see the house and gardens of Monticello. Fortunately, I worked the logistics out earlier so that there was only an hour's drive or so between Fredericksburg and Charlottesville. This made it easy to get here after spending the morning at the battlefield. Tomorrow Monticello opens at 9:00 a.m., and believe me, we're going to be waiting at the gate when that happens. From our guide book it looks like the price is pretty stiff, but how many times do you get to visit with Thomas Jefferson, one of the most important and well-known fathers of our country.

After Monticello, assuming that we can tear ourselves away in any timely fashion, we're going to visit yet another of the country's most historic places: Appomattox Court House. I thought that since we visited the spot where the Civil War began -- Fort Sumter -- it would only be fitting to visit the place where it ended. That place where the Confederate army threw down their rifles and swords and set out to walk home after four disastrous years of conflict, most of it taking place in their own home states and towns.