Today is the Day and You Let the World Slip Through Your Fingers: Fredericksburg

Next Jerry and Anna Lee spent a lovely day in Fredericksburg, VA with RV friends Paul and Carol (last visit in Asheville in May). We learned a lot about early America and the Civil War (War of Northern Aggression here) on our trolley ride around the historic district. Founded in 1728 the town was a significant location during colonial and revolutionary times. The city sits along the Rappahannock River which was a major shipping lane with a significant port and later the dividing line and death trap for soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. Many original structures are still occupied as homes, churches or businesses.

Hugh Mercer whose statue occupies an important place in town, owned an apothecary shop that was known for its advanced medical methods of bleeding, the use of leeches, and medicine laced with alcohol. The nurse beckons for treatment.

Even back then taxes were a bane and to be avoided if possible, so many of the buildings are narrow. Property tax was based upon the width of the property. Narrow meant lower taxes. (See another example in previous blog entry.)

The town is half way between Washington DC and Richmond, the Union and Confederate capitols; therefore it was the scene of four major battles during the Civil War. It is on the edge of the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg, where the CSA set up a slew that ensnared Union troops.
The South burned the existing bridges across the river so, to attack the town, the North had to have another way to cross the river. The bridges they built to cross the river cost of thousands of lives taken by Southern sharpshooters. Yet, at quiet times troops on both sides would trade tobacco and coffee between forays. When the bridges were complete, General Burnside marched lines of soldiers through mud and muck across a mile of open field to attack a fortified position.

They were easy targets for the Confederate cannons and rifle fire. The Confederates stood behind the rock wall and fired downhill on the advancing Union troops. 15,000 soldiers died. One Southerner soldier, Richard Kirkland, was so anguished by the cries of the wounded and dying that he disobeyed orders and risked his own life to comfort them with sips of water. At the end of that battle, troops from both sides stood to honor him. He was killed weeks later.

Four designated battles took place within the town or a few mile away and 100,000 troops died in the area. The town changed hands ten times during the Civil War. On the edge of the cemetery, filled mostly with unknown soldiers, is a spire built in honor of Mary Washington.

George Washington spent his youth here and had family in the area for generations. His mother, Mary, widowed with 10 children, was honored with this the only monument to an American woman funded by American women.

This monument honors the first amendment, Freedom of Religion, first written into the Virginia Constitution. Thomas Jefferson considered this the most important one and used it as the basis of the First Amendment.

War was not the only the only tragedy the town experienced. Repeatedly, and as recent as 1972, floods ravaged the area. This 1813 Old Stone Warehouse is four stories high but silt has buried three stories leaving the main entrance on the first floor. It is a small architectural museum still lacking water and heat. The “curator,” a private archeologist, has been collecting artifacts throughout the area. He explained the origin of the term “clip joint.” Back when money was in “bits,” some unscrupulous shop owners would clip a bit or short change the customer, hence the term.