GoinHome to ‘ol Virginny

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.

The new seven-part HBO mini-series entitled, “John Adams,” is such a delight in acting, sets, and an extreme attempt at authenticity that it is a landmark production. HOB has outdone itself with the film, based upon David McCullogh’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography about the first vice-president and second president of this country. If you don’t have access to HBO, hopefully they’ll produce a DVD set at the end of this production. If so, I highly recommend the purchase.

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.