As we were packing up the car to head to our next destination, we stopped to chat with a Grandma heading home with a cute-as-a-button granddaughter. She lives on the Outer Banks, right where the hurricane bands are just touching. Safe travels.
A cold front came through during the night. No rain, but we woke up to a temp of 70 degrees. Very cloudy, but so nice after the last few really hot days.
First stop was the visitor center of the Fredericksburg Battlefield. It was just about ten minutes from our hotel. The hike there was short one through the National Cemetery. It was fascinating. They had grave markers with a grave number only. Unless they used the same site for multiple unknown bodies, in which case an extra number indicated how many bodies were interred. Actually kind of eerie to consider the sheer number of men killed on both sides.
Next we drove out to Chancellorsville. There we saw the site where Stonewall Jackson was wounded by friendly fire. They moved him away from the battlefield out to the Wilderness nearby. There his wound got much worse, so his arm was amputated there. But rather than toss it into the massive pile of other limbs, the chaplain took it and gave it a special burial in the nearby cemetery of a relative. Yep. Just his arm.
Sadly he died later of pneumonia as they tried unsuccessfully to get him to the capitol, Richmond. His wife traveled to be with the body as it was transported to Lexington for burial. His wife, when told they could go retrieve the arm and reunite it with the body for burial:m, said, “No, the arm has already had a Christian burial (with full military honors).”
We tried to do the driving tour of the area. I say “tried” because at one point Rangers were dealing with a huge tree that had fallen across the road.m, completely blocking it. Not going that way.
Instead we drove into The Wilderness. Not just random wilderness, though. That’s THE Wilderness. Yep. The place they buried that amputated arm. I was suddenly on a mission. It wasn’t too difficult to find the right road. Thankfully, the Ranger had told us there would be a hike involved to get to THE ARM.
We plodded through a massive cornfield and finally reached Ellwood Manor. And through a little more of that corn was the family cemetery and … THE ARM’S headstone. Actually, it was the only headstone in the fenced-off little cemetery. Found it!
After a key find like that, we started back toward … WAIT! … Short Cut! We saw a sign that led us to none other than Montpelier. “So what?” You may ask. “What’s that?” I hear you thinking. Montpelier was the home of President James Madison. Yep. Time to shift gears … or years in this case. Not Civil War era this time. We raced back in time to the Revolutionary War (and beyond) period. Madison helped write the Constitution and first Bill of Rights. Pretty important little dude (we learned he was short - smart and short. Oh, and he had a cool wife named Dolly).
After the grand tour of his house (and a hike out to the family cemetery to make sure he was there-all of him), we turned our attention to … oops. The clock. It was already almost five. We whipped out the old map book and the hotel app and matched us up with a room in beautiful Culpeper. We’ve been there before. Stopped at Walmart with the Lynchburg bunch for a bathroom break. So … we’re baaack!
Psalms 84:5 says, Happy are the people whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
Father, thank you for short cuts and discoveries. Amen.
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