Framing the Past: Where Legends Stand

ECW is please to welcome back photographer Melissa A. Winn.

People often ask me, “What’s your favorite battlefield?” As an enthusiastic traveler, observer, and wanderer, it might surprise many to know that it’s the one closest to my home: Manassas National Battlefield Park. I’m so fortunate to live within 10 minutes of it in nearby Centreville, VA.

And because I do, my experiences with this battlefield are much more recurrent and often personal. Seeking respite from the cacophony of the Washington, D.C.-metro area, I’ve turned many times to the trails here and tucked myself away on a field or ridge to catch my breath. I’ve hiked the field’s 40 miles of trail too many times to count, often with battle maps in hand; given lectures; taken the family Xmas card photos here; watched my children sled Buck Hill; brought countless friends and relatives for afternoon leisure; trained for the Marine Corps Marathon running on its winding paths, and sometimes, when the sky on my drive home is too tempting in its beauty to ignore, I’ve passed home and driven straight to the battlefield to capture it on photo.

Such was the case with this image, when a recent night sky promised a possible glimpse of the Northern Lights in our neck of the woods, I parked atop Henry Hill and waited. The Aurora Borealis appeared so faintly in shades of green and purple, it felt like a bust for photo ops, until I glanced over and saw Jackson, “standing there like a stone wall.” The halo of the night sky delivered a perfect complement.

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Melissa A. Winn is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Previously, she was the Marketing Manager for the American Battlefield Trust and Director of Photography for HistoryNet, publisher of nine history-related magazines, including America’s Civil War,American History, and Civil War Times. She’s a Senior Editor for Military Images magazine; Editor of Shavingsthe member newsletter of the Early American Industries Association, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Civil War Roundtable Congress; and President of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table.



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