Leaving on a Jet Plane

Since we had time before our flight home later today, we decided to pad our stamp stats with a re-visit to Manassas National Battlefield Park. But we took a slightly longer route to get there via VA-28 and VA-234 so that we could check off two more municipalities, Manassas and Manassas Park (see my earlier post on collecting counties).

40 miles, 1 hour

In July 1861, the Union and Confederate armies met for the first time on the fields of Virginia near a small stream called Bull Run. The target of Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell's offensive was the railroad junction near Manassas, which would have given him control of the best overland approach to the Confederate capital of Richmond. On the morning of July 21, the Federal troops marched to flank the left of Brig. Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard's Confederates, first engaging them on Matthews Hill. The defensive force there was soon outnumbered, so they retreated south to Henry Hill in disarray. 

Fortunately for the Confederates, reinforcements under Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had arrived by rail from the Shenandoah Valley over the preceding two days. Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson's brigade was positioned on Henry Hill and was used as an anchor point to reform their lines on the eastern slope of the hill. "There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!" 

By afternoon, McDowell ordered the artillery batteries of Captains James Ricketts and Charles Griffin from their positions on Dogan Ridge to the western slopes of Henry Hill. Griffin moved two of his guns to the southern edge of the hill, but confusion over the identity of troops approaching his position allowed the guns to be captured by the Confederates. Fighting on the hill was intense, with the ground around Ricketts' cannons changing hands three times. Caught in the crossfire was 84-year-old widow Judith Carter Henry, who was mortally wounded. 

Eventually, the Federal army withdrew from the field, but the retreat turned to panic when the inexperienced volunteers found the road to Washington jammed with spectators who had come to watch the fighting. By the morning of July 22, the defeated Union army was back in Washington, DC. 

What both sides naively thought would be a quick end to the conflict (hello, picnickers at a battle?!) in actuality brought them face-to-face with fierce fighting and casualties numbering about 1700 each, as well as the obvious conclusion that the war was going to be much longer and bloodier than either expected. Thirteen months later in August 1862, the two armies would again meet here.

We arrived at the park around 9:00AM and headed out to hike the 1.1-mile Henry Hill Loop Trail while we waited for the visitor center to open. The trail covers the site of the battle that the Confederates called First Manassas or what the Union called First Bull Run.

More fall color starting to appear on the hills to the west

The position of Ricketts' battery of Union artillery and the rebuilt Henry House (1870)

For grins, here's a pic from our visit in October 2010

Judith Henry's grave

Erected by Union soldiers in 1865 in "memory of the patriots who fell at Bull Run"

From the house, the trail continued north to the position of the Confederate artillery on the morning of the battle and then east across the fields to the site of the Robinson House, where the South Carolina infantry under Colonel Wade Hampton attempted to hold their position against the advancing Federals.  

Looking north towards Matthews Hill and the Stone House

Site of the Robinson House

View of the Henry House from the east side of the hill

Confederate artillery position at the edge of the woods to the east

In 1938, the Sons of Confederate Veterans transferred land on Henry Hill to the U.S. government for the creation of Manassas National Battlefield Park, but it was contingent on the NPS allowing Virginia to erect a monument to Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The dedication ceremony in August 1940 celebrated Jackson as a role model for military leaders and perpetuated the "Lost Cause" mythology which asserts that the issue of states' rights, not slavery, was the central cause of the Civil War and romanticizes the notion that Southerners were forced to nobly defend themselves against Northern aggression. 

Even though the Stonewall Jackson monument still stands today, I'm glad that the NPS provides context to help interpret its inclusion

From the monument, we followed the trail to the southern edge of the hill where Griffin's Union artillery were captured by the Confederates on account of mistaken identity. At this point, it was just after 10:00AM, so we returned to the visitor center to go through the exhibits and get the passport stamps, finishing up around 10:30AM.

Since this was the last NPS stop of the trip, here's our passport stamp haul for the year-to-date:

   

    Units: 77

    Stamps: 235

    Regions: 6

From Manassas, we drove to the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center (part of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum) in Chantilly, VA and spent about 2.5 hours here. Admission is free, but parking costs $15.

With over 200 aircraft and spacecraft on display in two large hangars, there was a lot to take in. It was almost overwhelming!

Korean, Vietnam, Cold War, and Modern Military Aviation

World War II Aviation

General, Business, and Sport Aviation

The most iconic objects in their collection include the following...

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft

On August 6, 1945, this Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan 

Concorde supersonic airliner

...and the Space Shuttle Discovery, the third orbiter vehicle to fly in space. From 1984-2011, Discovery was flown on 39 Earth-orbital missions for a total of 365 days in space.

James S. McDonnell Space Hangar

As an aside, seeing the Discovery was of particular interest to us because our son M worked on the construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Once completed, the Space Shuttle Endeavor will be on display vertically in its ready-to-launch configuration, complete with solid rocket boosters and external tank. Because of this, the building had to be constructed around the Endeavor once everything was assembled. "Go for Stack" was completed in January this year.

Back in Virginia at Udvar-Hazy, here are a few more photos of some notable items on display...

Attached to the command module are the actual floatation bags (top) and floatation collar used on July 24, 1969 when the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission returned to Earth  

The amphibious Sikorsky JRS-1 is the only aircraft in the museum that was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941

Grumman F-14D(R) Tomcat - Maverick and Goose flew one like this in Top Gun

This McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet flew with the Blue Angels from 2015-2020

After grabbing lunch at the Shake Shack inside the museum, we wrapped up our visit and drove about 6 miles north to return our rental car at Dulles. We had plenty of time to spare before our flight home, so we took advantage of our United Club passes while we waited to board.

All in all, a very fun trip! Because we have one more unit left to complete everything in the DC region (Carter G. Woodson National Historic Site is closed indefinitely for renovations), I'm sure we'll be back for another visit!