Virginia and the Civil War's first battle

Steven examines an 1861 Union cannon at Bull Run 

Steven is in the DC area for business this weekend, and I got to tag along.  Today we visited the scene of the first battle of the Civil War, commonly known as the battle of Bull Run.  The battle took place on warm July day in 1861, on a series of hills in Manassas, Virginia.  Many of the soldiers were shipped in by train from nearby Washington, D.C. and followed the noise to the battlefield.  No one had a clue how bloody or long the Civil War would be, and the battle attracted civilian spectators who brought picnic lunches.  By the end of the day however, 900 soldiers had died on these hills.

Betsy examines a Confederate cannon.  (The South had way more artillery.) 

In 2018, 157 years later, the 5,000 acre park is serene pastureland.  The place is now a popular spot for taking family photos.  We took the Henry Hill loop, an easy one mile trail that identifies the positions of Federal and Confederate troops with cannons from the battle. The Union soldiers, most fresh volunteers, did not fare well against the Confederates, and in fact, were routed again the following year for a second, and even bloodier battle at the same site.

The memorial built by hand in 1865 by soldiers who survived the battle.
Note the artillery shells used to decorate the memorial.  

Judith Henry's tombstone is in the center, on Henry Hill 

The site also contains the grave of Judith Carter Henry, the only civilian casualty (the picknickers kept their distance). The soldiers fired at her farm house, unaware the 84 year old bedridden widow was still inside.  Her home was rebuilt in 1870, and now is a backdrop used by professional photographers.  It stands across from a memorial to the fallen soldiers, built in 1865 by those who had survived the battle. 

General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson earned his nickname
during the first battle of Bull Run for his steadfastness under assault.
  "There stands Jackson like a stone wall!"