GoinHome to 'ol Virginny

When finished, it will be the best dwelling house in the state, except that of Monticello; perhaps preferable to that, as more proportioned to the faculties of a private citizen. – Thomas Jefferson, 1812. Jefferson was speaking of his home near Lynchburg, Poplar Forest. Overwhelmed by visitors at Monticello, Jefferson escaped several times per year […]

Shirley, a plantation established in 1613 on the James River, is Virginia’s first. It was also the birthplace of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s mother and the site of her 1793 marriage to Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. After more than 150 years, Shirley needed a facelift, so her restored columns were pushed back into […]

After capturing Washington, D.C. in 1814, the British burned the U.S. Capitol and destroyed the Library of Congress and its 3000-volume collection in the process. Thomas Jefferson, in retirement at Monticello, offered to sell his personal library to the Library Committee of Congress in order to rebuild the collection of the Congressional Library. On 30 […]

On 29 January 1834, Andrew Jackson became the first president to use federal troops to quell labor unrest. Workers building the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal rebelled because of persistent poor working conditions and low pay. The canal project, initially designed by George Washington, was intended to ease transportation of goods from the Chesapeake Bay to […]

I remember sitting in a master’s class in American History when a professor held up a familiar book. She pointed to the title and stated, “I hope that all of you write like this author when you graduate.” The book was written by a journalist who wrote with an authoritative air despite a lack of […]

Roar of the Heavens: Surviving Hurricane Camille by Stefan Bechtel is a page-turner that will enlighten readers about Hurricane Camille’s horrific impact on Nelson County, Virginia on 19 August 1969 after it devastated the Gulf Coast. As Camille hit the mountains of western Virginia she collided with two other weather systems that squeezed millions of […]

For nine months, from the spring of 1864 to March 25th, 1865, Petersburg, Virginia was under siege by the Army of the Potomac and the overall Union commander, General Ulysses S. Grant. The two great armies had fought a bloody campaign in the spring of 1864, and then settled into trenches that stretched for fifty miles around Petersburg and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee could not win this war of attrition, but he realized the growing Yankee army could overwhelm his diminishing force when the spring brought better weather for an assault. He ordered General John B. Gordon to find a weak point in the Federal defenses and attack.

A treasure trove of military memorabilia is hidden away in a little corner of downtown Lexington, Virginia. The Museum of Military Memorabilia’s entrance is through a brick courtyard from which the visitor is greeted by the sound of military music. Inside the museum, the visitor can find well-lit display cases filled with uniforms worn by soldiers from the U.S. to Europe and even to Asia.