Statues of Stonewall: Clarksburg, WV

Sixth in a series Stonewall Jackson looks as determined as I’ve ever seen him, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, his eyes focused on the road well ahead of him as he gallops through a courtyard in downtown Clarksburg, West Virginia, the town of his birth. He wears no kepi, blown off, perhaps, because of his horse’s […]

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Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot . . .

Christmas during the nineteenth century was much different from what it is now. It was not even the main holiday of the season until late in the century. Originally, Christmas was a religious holiday, and the first day of a celebration which lasted until January 6, or Twelfth Night. The actual day of December 25 […]

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Statues of Stonewall: Monument Avenue, Richmond

Fifth in a series Richmond is a city that refuses to give up its ghosts. Instead, it has cast them in bronze and set them along the city’s most picturesque street: Monument Avenue.

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Statues of Stonewall: Virginia State Capitol Grounds, Richmond

Fourth in a series When Stonewall Jackson, seventeen feet high and cast in bronze, arrived on the Virginia capitol grounds, he was ahead of his time. The date: October 26, 1875.

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A Forbidden Light

A large, bright ball of light crested the wooded horizon, over-spilling light into the fields below. No, this wasn’t the beginning of morning but rather of night. The moon was making its debut for the night. Technically, it is illegal to be inside the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP battlefields after dusk. But on this night, […]

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Statues of Stonewall: Lexington, Virginia

Third in a series Stonewall Jackson, having been returned to Lexington across the Maury River, was laid to rest under the shade of the trees in the Lexington town cemetery. Today, trees still offer shade to visitors who visit the gravesite.

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CVBT: A Look Back and a Look Ahead

Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2011 and I’d like to review what we’ve done this year and what’s in store for the immediate future:

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Statues of Stonewall: The Virginia Military Institute

Second in a series From his perch high atop a granite pedestal at the head of the Virginia Military Institute’s parade grounds in Lexington, Virginia, Stonewall Jackson watches the sunset every day.

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Statues of Stonewall: Manassas

First in a series The dawn of a legend: “There stands Jackson like a stone wall…”

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