"No quarter!" United States Colored Troops battle cry at the Crater

What a great day! We woke up in Richmond and will be going to bed in Farmville. It was a whirlwind of a day, but amazing nonetheless!

We started our day in Hollywood Cemetery where we saw the final resting places of Confederate soldiers, George Pickett, Jefferson Davis, and Presidents Monroe and Tyler. In the Confederate section of the cemetery, we were interested by the sentiments expressed on the various headstones and monuments. The Lost Cause ideas propagated by some of the memorials reminded us that the war for the memory of the Civil War is still raging. One particular instance stands out as we look back on the day. While in the officer’s section, Caitlin found a piece of paper held against a marker for an unknown Confederate soldier. On it was written the war record for a soldier from Virginia who fought for the Confederacy. Underneath was scribbled “You are missed and not forgotten.” Such a message illustrates that the Civil War is still very much in the forefront of the minds of some of the American populace.

We continued our day at the Tredegar Ironworks. There, Dr. Norman taught us about the controversy surrounding the 2003 erection of the statue of Lincoln at Tredegar. He mentioned that protestors compared Lincoln to Attila the Hun as a conqueror in his captured country. Inside the visitor center, Dawn enjoyed seeing the full sized pontoon bridge on display on the first floor while Mattea and Caitlin wandered the Richmond exhibit on the third floor.

After a hurried lunch eaten on the run, we dashed to Petersburg for our tour with Ranger Emmanuel Dabney. Over the course of the afternoon, Emmanuel gave us a look into the lives of soldiers during the nine month siege of Petersburg. Abe in particular was excited about the earthworks within the park. In one section, the National Park Service recreated the types of fieldworks that would have been in place during the siege. The intricacies of the field works put us in mind of those that would be used during World War I.

One of the most sobering moments of the tour came at the Crater where Emmanuel interpreted the atrocities that took place during the battle on July 30, 1864. The amount and methods of violence against the United States Colored Troops during the battle were sickening. Emmanuel’s program was enlightening and gave us a closer look at one of the most atrocious moments of the 1864 campaign.

Tomorrow we’ll start our day with a tour of the High Bridge and then it’s off to Appomattox to revisit the final moments of the war, and then home to the Appleford. For now, it’s time for bed to prepare for another exciting day in Virginia.