I wondered if today would seem anticlimactic after visiting Gettysburg. Today we were going to visit Manassas and Fredericksburg, but because of the older boys not feeling well, we canceled Fredericksburg.
We were very confused by Manassas. First of all for those who might not know (I didn’t until recently), Manassas and Bull Run are the same battles. The South called it by Manassas (the name of the city) and the North called it Bull Run (after a creek). Then there are two battles, 1st Manassas and 2nd Manassas. 1st Manassas we knew was here, it made sense that 2nd Manassas would be here also, or why the same name? But the reenactment we are going to this weekend is 45 minutes away. So we were slightly confused.
So now that we have it straightened out, I will explain it. They both happened here. As a matter of fact, parts of each battle happened
The Stone House at the Battle of Bull Run. It was used as a hospital site, and inside some Civil War soldiers carved their names in the floor.
on almost the exact same ground. The 1st Battle of Bull Run was the first battle of the Civil War. The 2nd Battle of Bull Run (or 2nd Manassas) was about one year later. So coming to this park, you can learn about 2 significant battles in one stop.
The reason we were told the reenactment is not here, is because the Park Services will not allow reenactments on these battle fields. Which, after thinking about, I very much agree with. I am not sure I would appreciate people pretending war, on top of the spot where my son died, even for educational purposes. So this weekend we will go to another park that allows reenactments. But for today we learned about the two battles.
Their significance… I didn’t understand until we arrived here. The 1st Battle of Manassas was significant, because it was the reality check for both sides. Nobody realized what we were about to endeavor before this. Most of the North believed that we were going to come down here, beat the South, and bring them to the reality that this would not work. The war would be over in one battle.
Both sides thought it interesting enough that the citizens of local towns were up on hills having picnics watching the battle. The reality of death and war was not understood by most people. The revolutionary war was almost 90 years earlier, far enough away that most didn’t understand the toll war would take.
Boys, my sons’ age, were writing home about how exciting this was, how cool their uniforms were, and how fun this was going to be. Photos were being taken with men together excited for this adventure. But before the day was done, the demeanor of all of these men would be very different.
The 2nd Battle of Manassas was a very bloody battle. At one point they were shooting each other standing only 100 yards away looking at each others faces point blank while killing each other.
Another thing that impacted me at Gettysburg, but again here, was how the men were organized. In my ignorance, I just thought that they mixed everyone up (the way the do today). I thought a man from Texas was fighting next to a man from Arkansas. But that’s not quite how this happened. These battles were literally states fighting states…an infantry from South Carolina fighting an infantry from New York…an infantry from Texas fighting an infantry from Ohio.
A handful of states sent infantries to both sides, can you imagine? So Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas sent infantries to both the North and the South. This war was literally tearing our country to pieces. And you can’t believe how many times in the war brothers were shooting at brothers or uncles were shooting at nephews. People were literally killing their friends.
There was a battle here at Manassas where brothers were fighting on opposite sides. The one brother was shot dead. His brother on the other side heard about it, but had to wait for 3 days to be able to come out with a flag or truce to look for his brother’s body.
Gettysburg Park and Bull Run Park have different strengths. There are so many stories at Gettysburg, and the battle was all over, the tour was really intense. And the view was very telling of the story. Everything they told us could be visualized very clearly.
I think the strength of Bull Run was their video. Sounds silly? But it was an excellent movie. It did such a great job at telling the story. I was brought to tears watching it, just thinking about the whole situation. Do not miss the video at Bull Run, it was so well done. It’s name…Manassas, the End of Innocence.
This park is also very inexpensive to visit as opposed to Gettysburg. To get in cost $3 per adult, and this was the one place on the whole trip our teenagers did not count as adults. After that, all the tours are free. I believe they had about 5 tours. We went to the one at Brawner’s Farm, and it was so well done, we didn’t feel like we needed to go to any other tours. In 45 minutes he covered why both battles happened here, what lead up to them, and walked us through the battle at Brawner’s Farm. He also discussed some of the other battles. So I cannot tell you what happens at the other tours, but we felt between that tour and the tour on CD we had from TravelBrains, we were covered.
After the park tour, we got in our motor home and drove to all the stops the park has, and listened to the tour on CD. It explained the 2nd Battle of Manassas. The battles are so large, that you are driving around a city passing people homes, and then pulling over at a stop the park owns where a battle took place. Then you get back in the car, and drive through another part with people living there, until you get to the next spot a battle took place. I can’t imagine owning those home and knowing what probably happened on my land.
All of it was very good, but my favorite was the movie. I guess, not knowing much about the battles, it opened my eyes to what happened here. The impact for me happened in the movie theater.
Of course they also have the Junior Park Ranger Badges, so the kids earned that badge. The kids mentioned that the Park Ranger was one of the nicest ones they had met so far on this trip.
It was a very hot day, so after Bull Run we went back to our campground which has a water park. The water park lets guests of the campground come in for only $4. They have two large water slides and then smaller water slides all over the park for younger kids, a water playing area, and a sandbox. It was a great way to finish off a hot day.
Our boys have eaten only once in the last 48 hours, and that was the incredible chicken my cousin brought last night. But they haven’t eaten all day today because their throats are so swollen. They are starting to get slightly grumpy. I’m anxious for them to eat soon, so I don’t feel so bad eating in front of them. I think they are pretty anxious also.
Summary of Day 32
Drove: 36 miles (99064-99100)
Places we visited or saw: Battle of 1st and 2nd Bull Run (Manassas), andBull Run Regional Atlantis Water Park
godncountry 
I had a relative that fought in the Battle of Fredericksburg. His name was Conrad Feger Jackson. He was a Brigadier General in charge of a Brigade. He was also killed in that battle.
Yes, we are so bummed we missed Fredericksburg. The boys were so sick. Today is the first day they’ve really eaten for a couple of days. We have really enjoyed going to all the sites. I can’t believe how amazing it is to learn about those battles.
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