A day to remember! Went to Fort Ward this morning, and walked their trail. The weather is perfect here this week! When we went into the Museum--it was yesterday all over again--tears and tissues! EE's red kepi is there, and locks of his hair--Civil Wargasm indeed!! The most interesting artifact, however, was a child's chair. It belonged to James Jackson, and I have never seen a photo of it anywhere--so I inquired about it. Seems it is on loan from the Daughters of the Confederacy, which is a notoriously difficult group to get permission from for anything. I have to seek their permission to photograph the chair!
I sneaked a snapshot of it, but it is all behind glass and reflects the windows on the opposite wall. Now I have one more thing to add to my to-do list.
The folks at the Fort Ward Museum were terrific! I stood around and talked Ellsworth for over an hour with historian Walton Owen and a lovely fellow at the cash register. It could have gone on much longer, but my patient friend Bree finally stepped forward & said, "We have to go!" So we went. The picture to the right was taken from Seminary Ridge, at Fort Ward.
The cab driver that drove us back to Old Town Alexandria didn't hold back a bit telling us the Ellsworth story from the Confederate point of view. He even drove us by the statue of the Confederate soldier in downtown Alexandria--the one with his arms folded . . . and his back to the North!!
Sounds like you had an amazing day! Love the fact that you had chats with so many about EE...his life made an impact on many---and there are many opinions of him! I am so excited to see all the pictures and hear the stories again....enjoy!!
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