Manasass National Battlefield Part 2

We next went to the living history encampments, stopping first to speak with the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers. They told me a lot about how there Colonel (Slocum) was killed early in the battle and he later had a fort in Washington DC named for him during the war (Fort Slocum). They also said that a Private Elisha Hunt Rhodes fought here, and continued in all major battles until Appomatox (and he became a 23 Lt Colonel of the Regiment). They recommended his book "All For The Union" which has his letter and diary entries.

I moved along to the encampment of the 27th Virginia, Company G, "Shriver's Grays" of the Stonewall brigade. They showed me how the soldier would have lived in the field in their shelter tent, or the officer's in an A tent.

The 27th Virginia fellow took me on a walk to the big monument to General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. They were really nice to me and even held me for the photos. You'll see that about four of them are wearing a white cover to their hats. They called these "Havelock" and they were meant to protect them from the sun. Many soldiers at 1st Bull Run had these covers but they got rid of them soon because the created even more heat and sweat underneath.

Manasass National Battlefield Part 1

Welcome to the Manasass National Battlefield Park. I visited this park on 19 July 2009 while they were having the annual commemoration of First Manassas or Bull Run for 148th Anniversary of July 21, 1861 battle. They had living history encampments of Union and Confederate troops; musket and artillery firing demonstrations; and Park Ranger tours of battlefield to describe phases of battle over Matthews Hill, Henry Hill, and Chinn Ridge.

I started the tour by the visitor's center and was surprised at how large an area of land out there. I think the park is a 5,000 acre classroom with miles of walking trails, many farm houses, monuments, and two visitor centers. I was really worried about walking around this huge place.

Well, I didn't have to do too much walking as I received an escort from the Prince William County Police, Mounted Patrol. Thanks for saving my paws!

From the main visitor center (Henry Hill), we went to Judith Henry's house, but first looked at the location of the Captain Rickett's Union Artillery Battery during 1st Bull Run.

We next stopped at the house of Judith Carter Henry on top of Henry Hill. A really big part of the battle happened on Henry Hill, so Mrs. Henry was in the middle of it. She was 84 or 85 years old and bedridden, refused to leave her bedroom during the battle. Confederate soldiers hide behind her house so Union artillery fired at the house with on shell hitting poor Mrs. Henry. Her grave is just outside the house (on my right).

On the other side of Mrs Hill's house is the first monument put up by Union veterans in 1865.

Until Next time...

NECC 2009

Hi! Sallie here,

I just wanted to tell everyone about my trip to Washington D.C. for the National Education Computing Conference. I had a great experience and learned many different things. I learned that many different countries also learn about the American Civil War. I shocked because different countries lean about something that happened in the United States.

My friend Sarah and I did NECC Unplugged and the Student Showcase. My friend Sarah was interviewed on ISTE Connects during the Student Showcase. Now, you can follow ISTE Connects on Twitter, they are @ISTECONNECTS.

I also got to meet a pig from Ireland on Sunday during the International Reception. I may get to go there because there was an Irish Brigade in the Battle of Gettysburg. I would also like to thank everyone who came to my booth during the Student Showcase. I also met people that use a lot of technology and are now following me on Twitter.

Here are some of the people I met while I was there:

Here I am with Kevin Honeycutt from Kansas

Here I am with Wil Richardson from Weblogg-Ed

Here I am with Jim Gatesat the PAECT Reception.

He is a great technology integrator from Pa

Here I am with Jimbo Lamb a great math teacher from Pennsylvania

Here I am Chris Lehman from the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia

Here I am with Adam Fry who runs Wikispaces

Did you know my homepage is built using wikispaces?

It's a great tool for teachers.

To see more photos of me at NECC, you can go to my Flickr page. I also want to introduce someone special to me. I want you to meet my stunt double, Sallie. She is the one who travels with my friend, Sarah and her family.

All in all, I had a great time at NECC and I hope to present next year in Denver.

Sallie

John F. Reynolds

Yesterday I visited a statue of General John Reynolds outside of Philadelphia's city hall.

General Reynolds was from Lancaster County Pennsylvania, located to the west of Philadelphia, and was killed on July 1st, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. He is regarded as a hero throughout Pennsylvania.

Children's Crisis Treatment Center

Today I visited members of Philadelphia's Children's Crisis Treatment Center and watched a presentation on what life was like as a Union soldier. I learned lots of cool facts. Did you know that soldiers would use their bayonets as candle holders and as tent pegs? Also soldiers ate a type of bread called hardtack. It was almost as hard as a rock and sometimes had bugs living in it!

Photos

Hello! Sallie here,

Just wanted to say that photos from my recent visit to Washington D.C. are up on Flickr. It was nice meeting you all at NECC.

Check out the following sets at photos.civilwarsallie.com:

• Clara Barton in D.C.
• Ford's Theatre
• NECC 2009

Also be sure to check out my visit to Ford's Theatre.

NECC Interviews of me and my friend Sarah

Hi,

During our presentation at NECC, my friend Sarah and I were interviewed by @ISTECONNECTS (aka Joe Corbett) and I thought I would share them with you.

And here is another video of me at the very end of NECC:

Had a great time at NECC. See you next year in Denver!

Ford's Theatre

Hello! Sallie here.

I just came back from a busy few days at the National Education Computing Conference in Washington D.C.

While there, me, my friend Sarah, and her family went t0 Ford's Theatre and we listened to Liz Hogan a volunteer who talked about the theater and President Lincoln.

Here is what I learned during Ms. Hogan's speech.

I learned that a lot of the buildings in Washington D.C. were used as hospitals during the war. There were times when Washington D.C. looked like it was on fire because of all the candles in the windows. John Wilkes Booth, who was from Maryland, attended President Lincoln's 2nd Inauguration speech and decided that he was going to capture President Lincoln and exchange him for Confederate prisoners of war.

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln's son Tad did not go to the play with his parents because he was at a different play called "Aladdin" or "His Wonderful Lamp" at Grover's Theatre. On that night, President Lincoln arrived at Ford's Theatre around 8:30 and the play had already started. When President Lincoln arrived, the play stopped and band played Hail to the Chief and the people in the theater gave him a standing ovation.

President and Mrs. Lincoln were accompanied that night by Major Rathbone and Miss Clara Harris. Booth arrived at Ford's Theatre around 9pm but then left to get a few drinks of whiskey. Booth then returned to the theater and walked toward the Presidential Box. Booth did not need a ticket to get in because he was a actor at the theater and according to Ms. Hogan he was the most handsome man on the stag. Booth snuck into the box where the President sat and waited till the funniest line in the play to shoot him. He chose that line because the laughing, hooting, and hollering would cover up a gun shot.

It was 10:15pm when Booth shot the President. After shooting the president, Booth jumped 12 feet to the stage and raised bloody knife (from stabbing Major Rathbone) and shouted Sic Semper Tyrannis (which means Thus Ever to Tyrants). When Booth jumped from the box to the stage, Major Rathbone shouted "Stop that man".

Mrs. Lincoln was screaming that her husband was dead. Miss. Laura Keene rushed up to the box with a pitcher of water and she held the the President Lincoln's head and her sleeve became stained with the blood from the Presidents wounded head. Soldiers that were in the theatre carried Lincoln across the street to the Petersen House. President Lincoln arrived at the Peterson House around 10:30 and he lived 9 hours in that house.

Booth had rented a horse and kept it outside the back stage door. This was not his personal "one eyed horse" from Dr. Mudd but another one. From there he rode out of town and was finally captured and shot at Garrett farm in Virginia and was paralized from the neck down. He lived for two hours his last words were "Useless" referring to his hands.

As part of my visit, I got go up in the booth that Lincoln sat in and get my picture taken. My friend, Sarah came up with me and got to look in the booth too.

Here I am with Miss Allison walking toward the famous box.

What a great view of the stage. I have chills from being in this historic spot.

This is Miss Allison who was kind enough to give me the tour talking about the contents of the famous box.

Be sure to follow Ford's Theater on Twitter they are @fordstheatre