USO Canteen FReeper Style....Liberty R&R Goes to Virginia Join Us .......July 6,2002

Aquamarine and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

.

.

Monticello.......Thomas Jefferson’s home

The Blueridge Mountians of Virginia

Virginia Beach

The wonderful Daffodil Festival in Gloucester, Virginia

Music performed by the Fifes and Drums of Colonial Williamsburg. Tap your toes to the exhilarating martial music that marked the routine of military troops during the 18th century and sent the patriots marching into battle.

A large area of the town of Williamsburg consists of buildings preserved from Colonial times, i.e. from before the Declaration of American Independence in 1776.

Think of the Williamsburg Area... and the images that come to mind are...

`Small Town' Colonial Life...

the Search for American Independence...

the Model for Democracy used throughout the world.

Enjoy a 'Cold One' in the same Taverns where the likes of Tommy Jefferson and Patrick ("Give me liberty, or give me death") Henry, argued over the fate of a super power's Colony… and their lives.

College of William & Mary - Second oldest Institution of Higher Education in the Nation… with today, Graduates from all over the world. There is where Thomas Jefferson and some of his buddies went to school.

Don't forget to ask about the friendly ghost that's been dropping by the Wren Building for several Centuries.

College of William & Mary... which was the school to young law students like Thomas Jefferson.

The second oldest institution of higher learning in the United States... William & Mary began the Honor Society that was based on individual Responsibility... as well as the Phi Beta Kappa Society... which recognized and acknowledged individual Excellence.

The College's Wren Building, was constructed in 1695.

Williamsburg Historic District - the political and intellectual Capitol of England's colony in the New World. Where the ideas and ferment originated for the modern concept of Democracy now used throughout the world. Authentic reconstruction's, shows, exhibits, interpreters. Referred to as the 'Largest Living Museum in the World'.

It was here that the colonists (and their `legislators' who were permitted to make recommendations to the King)... began to understand that they did not have to be ruled by a foreign power... but could manage their own country under rules which they themselves developed by community consensus (discussions and voting).

Walk through and actually dine in the same Taverns... where the arguments took place between the `Crown Loyalists'... and the `Revolutionaries'... and where the concepts that became the America Constitution were discussed by the likes of George Washington and Patrick Henry ("Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death").

Then let's take a little trip over to Yorktown.

Yorktown is still the small little village on the York River where a Revolution ended… setting the stage for a New American Nation to begin.

Yorktown may be a tiny village, but it's important in American history because the definitive battle of the American Revolution was won by George Washington there in 1781. After Lord Cornwallis surrendered his huge army to the American and French allies on October 19, 1781, Britain soon appealed for peace. As a result, the 13 colonies emerged into the United States of America.

We can’t forget a visit to Jamestown.......the first English Settlement in the 'New World'… now some 400 years old. See authentic replicas of the boats that crossed the ocean seeking religious freedoms and opportunities.

Th time in sheer wonderment at the resolve and fears of men, women and children crossing an Ocean in a Susan B. Constant... a small boat that today, seems like an oversize mini van.

Roughly 400 years ago, on December 20, 1606, three merchant ships loaded with passengers and cargo embarked from England on a voyage that would later set the course of American history.

The Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery reached Virginia in the spring of 1607, and on May 14, their 104 passengers all men and boys began building on the banks of the James River what was to be America's first permanent English colony, predating Plymouth in Massachusetts by 13 years.

[andysandmikesmom]

When my husband first told us about this, I thought my dad, the ever present skeptic, would scoff...my dad however, said he knew of many people who said the very same thing as my husband did....

That taken unawares, while on a quiet night, all of a sudden, they heard sounds of a distant battle, when none was really going on....

I suppose if you look at the duration of the battle, and numbers of men that died, and the horrendous injuries inflicted, one can well imagine, that perhaps that great battlefield, and the surrounding woods, still hold the sounds of the past, and that spirits of those men still haunt the area...

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

[SAMWolf]

James Ewell Brown Stuart (1833 - 1864)

Known as: "The Cavalier of the Confederacy"

The Confederacy's best-known cavalry commander was born at "Laurel Hill" in Patrick County, Virginia in 1833. Originally educated at home and later in Wytheville, Virginia, he attended Emory College and Henry College from 1848 to 1850. He then entered West Point, graduating thirteenth in his class.

After graduation JEB was appointed a 2nd lieutenant in the Mounted Rifles. That same year in October, he was commissioned and sent to Texas. In March 1853, he was assigned to the 1st U.S. cavalry and spent the next six years on the frontier. While there he married Flora Cooke, the daughter of Philip St. George Cooke, the future Union general. Promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 20, he spent some time on developing an invention. During the summer of 1859, he traveled to the War Department to try to sell the army his invention; a device to hold a cavalry sword to the belt.

JEB Stuart had already seen plenty of action before the Civil War. Graduating low in his class at West Point (1854) he went into the cavalry and saw action against both Indians and white on the frontier in Bleeding Kansas. He was in the 1st Cavalry and was the courier who took orders for Robert E. Lee to proceed to Harper’s Ferry and capture John Brown. Stuart talked Lee into accepting him as an aide-de-camp and went along. Lee sent Stuart to read the ultimatum to Brown, and then Stuart led the storming party of Marines that apprehended Brown.

After this, Stuart returned to Kansas until April 1861 when his home state of Virginia seceded from the Union. Now a captain in the U.S. Army, he resigned his commission to join the Confederate army, accepting a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia Infantry.

Just days after Fort Sumter Stuart was promoted to Captain, but there wasn’t anything that would have held the Virginian in the Union; within two weeks he was in Virginia service as a lieutenant colonel of infantry (May 6, 1861). Two weeks later he transferred to the cavalry (down to lieutenant), but in mid-July he was already Colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, and in September he was a brigadier general.

His first service was in the Shenandoah Valley, but he was at First Manassas where he nipped at the Union right flank, and then tried to organize a pursuit. After that he had an unusual role. Nobody had foreseen entire brigades of cavalry, so Stuart kept command of his regiment but was also responsible for the whole army’s outposts. By late October 1861 he had a cavalry brigade. He saw action in most of the battles in the eastern theater. Just before the Seven Days Battles he led his brigade in a raid behind the Union lines. He couldn’t do much physical damage – there were too many Union troops in the area, and he had to keep moving lest a large body crush his small command – but he had wider effects. Of course it boosted Confederate morale (and depressed the Union) but it gave McClellan just one more thing to worry about. Just after the Seven Days Battles Stuart was promoted to Major General and given command of a whole division of cavalry.

He fought in the Second Manassas campaign (losing his cloak and plumed hat), but later on over-ran John Pope’s headquarters and captured Pope’s full dress uniform. Stuart also grabbed important orders that told Lee what Pope intended to do, something more practical than a braided uniform. After Antietam Stuart went on another raid around the Army of the Potomac, again not causing much damage but bolstering Confederate morale. (Stuart didn’t destroy the one bridge that could have choked the Union blockade. Most hard-coal shipments to the blockaders went across one bridge, and had he realized it he could have blown it up. As it was, he saw no point in tarrying to demolish a stone bridge when he could burn so many more wooden ones.)

His cavalry didn’t play much role at Fredericksburg, only covering a flank, but the next spring at Chancellorsville they were vital. Hooker had detached almost all the Union cavalry (it turned out to be a wild-goose chase) and Stuart found the open Union flank. Jackson’s Corps smashed into the XI Corps, giving them the nickname of “Flying Dutchmen” but when Jackson was mortally wounded Stuart stepped up. It was his largest command to date, and a difficult time. In the middle of the night he had to figure out where his men were, where the enemy was, give orders to move his men to where they could do the most damage. He pulled it off, but may have been happy to return to his Cavalry Corps afterwards.

His next action was at Brandy Station, where the Union cavalry showed they were finally learning. The losses were roughly equal, Stuart held the field, but he hadn’t routed the Yankees – as he almost always had before. Lee then moved into the North, ending up in Pennsylvania at Gettysburg. Stuart had interpreted his loose orders they way he wanted to, and gone raiding. It was the wrong decision, and Lee found himself moving blind. He didn’t know where Meade was, and found himself in a battle he didn’t really want at Gettysburg. Stuart arrived on the second day, and late in the day. Then he couldn’t force the Union rear, being checked by Gregg and Custer. He was left with the less heroic, if still important role, of covering Lee’s retreat to Virginia.

The Cavalry Corps saw plenty of action in the Bristoe Station campaign, but couldn’t help A.P. Hill save disaster. The was less to do over the winter of 1863-64, aside from smothering Dahlgren’s Raid, and the cavalry didn’t have much of a role in the Battle of the Wilderness. Stuart couldn’t prevent Sheridan raiding the communications of the Army of Northern Virginia, but Stuart intercepted Sheridan as he was returning to his base. The result was the Battle of Yellow Tavern. Stuart’s force (not his whole Corps) was outnumbered; Union cavalry had matched the Confederates in quality, and Sheridan was as fine a general as Stuart. Stuart lost the battle, and was mortally wounded in the process.

He was evacuated to Richmond, and died the next day, May 12, 1864. Lee later said he had lost his right arm when Jackson died, and his eyes when Stuart was killed.

[Light Speed]

Lazy Saturday and a Coffee

Remembering Benjamin O Davis Jr and the "Fightin 99TH"...The Tuskegee Airmen

Skies over Europe 1945

Skies over Vietnam

[SAMWolf]

Great picture of the ME-262 making a pass at the B-24 formation.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"In Norfolk, there really WERE signs on lawns that said:
Sailors and Dogs - Keep Off The Grass !!"

My home port was Norfolk '66-'69 and I remember seeing some of these signs.

[HiJinx]

Glad you liked it...I stumbled across it while reading ARMY Magazine this month...the ad shows the cover of Infantry Journal, which sold for 35 cents a copy in July of '42!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Great thread Aquamarine and Bunny! Thanks for all the work you guys do.

One of my favorite Jazz singers besides Louie Armstrong is Ella Fitzgerald. Ella was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1917. Despite never having received formal vocal training, Ella's technique and range rivaled that of the conservatory trained singer. Her voice remained uniform in its clarity and her intonation was absolutely flawless. As amazing as Ella's musical talents were, equally amazing was the fact that she managed not to fall through the cracks of the segregated child welfare system of the 1930's. A victim of poverty and abuse, Ella was able to transcend circumstance and develop into one of the greatest singers that America produced. Ella died on June 15th of complications associated with diabetes. She was 79 years old. Despite suffering poor health Ella remained an active performer until 1992.

click on the photo

Ella Fitzgerald & Louie Armstrong, Summertime

[SAMWolf]

Morning Victoria!

Virginia has given us a lot of great people.

Richard Arlen actor, Charlottesville
Arthur Ashe tennis player, Richmond
Pearl Bailey singer, Newport News
Russell Baker columnist, Loudoun Cty
Warren Beatty actor, Richmond
George Bingham painter, Augusta Cty
Richard E. Byrd polar explorer, Winchester
Willa Cather author, Winchester
Roy Clark country music artist, Meaherrin
William Clark explorer, Caroline Cty
Henry Clay statesman, Hanover Cty
Joseph Cotten actor, Petersburg
Ella Fitzgerald jazz singer, Newport News
William H. Harrison U.S. president, Charles City County
Patrick Henry statesman, Hanover Cty
Sam Houston political leader, Rockbridge Cty
Thomas Jefferson U.S. president, Shadwell
Robert E. Lee Confederate general, Stratford
Meriwether Lewis explorer, Ambemarle Cty
Shirley MacLaine actress, Richmond
James Madison U.S. president, Port Conway
John Marshall jurist, Germantown
Cyrus Hall McCormick inventor, Rockbridge Cty
James Monroe U.S. president, Westmoreland
Opechancanough Powhatan leader
John Payne actor, Roanoke
Walter Reed army surgeon, Gloucester Cty
Matthew Ridgway Army Chief of Staff, Fort Monroe
Bill Bojangles Robinson dancer, Richmond
George C. Scott actor, Wise
Sam Snead golfer, Hot Springs
James Jeb Stuart Confederate army officer, Patrick Cty
Thomas Sumter General, Hanover Cty
Zachary Taylor U.S. president, Orange Cty
Nat Turner leader of slave uprising, Southhampton Cty
John Tyler U.S. president, Charles City
Booker T. Washington educator, Franklin Cty
George Washington first U.S. president, Westmoreland
James E. West inventor, Prince Edward Cty
Woodrow Wilson U.S. president, Staunton
Tom Wolfe journalist, Richmond

[Victoria Delsoul]

Great looking sign, Doughty. Thanks.

[Aquamarine]

What a fascinating story about your husband and his dream about the battlefield.
I also enjoyed reading about how your dad was one of the first men to step up to the call to arms and how the other men in your family were right behind him. What great Patriots they all were!

Here is a picture of a scene in Williamsburg.

[Pippin]

I have heard about the ghosts at the Gettysburg Battlefield. It's really scary!

[Pippin]

Good afternoon, Souris!

[Pippin]

Hi, Sorry it took me so lng to answer. I went out to do some chores. YUCK!

[andysandmikesmom]

Thanks for your kind reply, and special thanks for the pic of Williamsburg...that is a fascinating place to visit, and everyone once in their life, should visit there, and get the feel for those times...