Showing results for "North Anna"
The Fox House at the North Anna River
On May 23, 1864–155 years ago today–Robert E. Lee sat on the porch of Rev. Thomas Fox’s home, drinking a glass of buttermilk, when Federals appeared on the north bank of the North Anna River a half a mile to the north and opened an artillery barrage. (Read more about that day in this Dec. […]
Read more...At the Heart of North Anna Battlefield
The Civil War Trust announced this week an opportunity to preserve 126 acres of the North Anna Battlefield, including the key site of the historic Fox House. U.S. 1 South descends in a smooth, straight line from the north bank of the North Anna before bridging the river in a flash and ascending the far […]
Read more...Chris Mackowski: Revisiting the North Anna River
So, I’m speaking at the Fourth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge in August, where we’re focusing on “Great Defenses of the Civil War,” and my topic is the Confederate defense along the North Anna River. I’m supposed to come up with a blog post that somehow relates to my talk as a […]
Read more...The Turnabout at North Anna
I think about the Army of the Potomac waking up on this day in 1864, ready to follow up on its successes of the previous day along the banks of the North Anna River, tentatively extending its reach southward only to discover nothing. “My skirmishers are pushing out, and find no enemy so far,” V […]
Read more...A(nother) Word on Behalf of Preservation from the Banks of the North Anna River
The battlefield along the North Anna River remains one of the most beautiful gems in Virginia. Had I not known better, though, a recent stop on the battlefield might have made me think the war had only recently swept through. For its April 2017 issue, Civil War Times invited me to help readers explore the […]
Read more...A Word on Behalf of Preservation from the Banks of the North Anna
On the evening of May 26, the Army of the Potomac pulled away from the North Anna River. With a feint to the west, the army juked back east and swung across the Pamunkey toward the Totopotomoy. Before we leave the North Anna, it’s worth taking one last look around.
Read more...The North Anna River, Today
The day was quiet and the water high along the North Anna River today. One hundred and fifty two years ago, Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps was coming to grief as it tried to advance down the Telegraph Road and the IX Corps was coming to grief dashing itself impotently against Ox Ford. A thunderstorm […]
Read more...Thomas Nast from the North Anna River: “On to Richmond”
One of my favorite images of the Civil War comes from the June 18, 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly. The image, by Thomas Nast, is titled “The Campaign in Virginia—“On to Richmond!” and it accompanied the paper’s coverage of the North Anna phase of the Overland Campaign. By that point, the armies had already moved […]
Read more...Blink and You’ll Miss It: Crossing the North Anna River Today
I hate travelling on Virginia interstates. Drive one mile and you’ve driven them all. You would have no idea about the state’s richness in natural beauty and history from driving on I-64 near Williamsburg or Charlottesville or anywhere along I-95. Drop a lifelong resident of the Commonwealth on most miles of these tree-lined corridors and […]
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