BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Manassas Junction

VA -- Manassas Junction:

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[1] MANASJ_081108_004.JPG	[2] MANASJ_081108_009.JPG	[3] MANASJ_081108_017.JPG
[4] MANASJ_081108_022.JPG	[5] MANASJ_081108_027.JPG	[6] MANASJ_081108_032.JPG
[7] MANASJ_081108_042.JPG	[8] MANASJ_081108_044.JPG	[9] MANASJ_081108_056.JPG
[10] MANASJ_081108_077.JPG	[11] MANASJ_081108_081.JPG	[12] MANASJ_081108_099.JPG
[13] MANASJ_081108_104.JPG	[14] MANASJ_081108_110.JPG	[15] MANASJ_081108_116.JPG
[16] MANASJ_081108_117.JPG	[17] MANASJ_081108_129.JPG	[18] MANASJ_081108_136.JPG
[19] MANASJ_081108_140.JPG	[20] MANASJ_081108_146.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MANASJ_081108_032.JPG: Wartime Manassas "Fortifications of Immense Strength" (During the Civil War, two railroads -- the Manassas Gap and the Orange and Alexandria -- intersected here. Manassas Junction was strategically important to both the Union and the Confederacy as a supply depot and for military transportation. Two of the war's great battles were fought nearby. Diaries, letters, and newspaper articles documented the war's effects on civilians as well as the thousand of soldiers who passed through the junction.) Early in May 1861, Col. Philip St. George Cocke arrived here to refine plans for the fortification of Manassas Junction, which had already begun. Confederate President Jefferson Davis had directed Gen. PGT Beauregard, the "Hero of Fort Sumter," to take command of the forces here and direct the construction of the fortifications. In three months, thirteen earthwork forts, numerous rifle pits, and a network of connecting trenches were built to protect the railroad and the army's base surrounding the junction. "Spades and pickaxes [were] so disgustingly plentiful that the mere sight of them was enough to send men to the hospital." -- Diary of Henry C. Monier, 10th Louisiana Infantry "I frequently strolled down to the Junction, to watch the progress of our preparations. A large redoubt about half a mile long, and a quarter wide had been erected. It was at least ten feet high, and as many wide on top, with a large ditch in front. ... There were several smaller batteries placed in front on elevations, and the works altogether seemed formidable enough to protect the depot and stores, should the enemy penetrate so far." -- "An English Combatant" describing Manassas Junction about June 1861 "The sound of the spade and axe handled by individuals who never before dreamed of becoming experienced in an art so extremely fatiguing and unprofitable. Among those becoming experienced in the use of the spade you might find your humble sevt." -- Letter, Charles I. Batchelor, Atchaffalaya Guard, Louisiana, to Albert Batchelor, Oct. 10, 1861
2. MANASJ_081108_104.JPG: Wartime Manassas "On to Richmond!" (During the Civil War, two railroads -- the Manassas Gap and the Orange and Alexandria -- intersected here. Manassas Junction was strategically important to both the Union and the Confederacy as a supply depot and for military transportation. Two of the war's great battles were fought nearby. Diaries, letters, and newspaper articles documented the war's effects on civilians as well as the thousand of soldiers who passed through the junction.) On July 16, 1861, Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard received a coded message here from the famous Confederate spy, Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow, in Washington. She warned him that she had copies of orders for Union Gen. Irving McDowell to march 35,000 troops to capture Manassas and then move on to Richmond. Beauregard wired Confederate President Jefferson Davis to request reinforcements. Davis confirmed McDowell's advance, then ordered Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army from the Shenandoah Valley to Manassas Junction. Early on July 18, just as Union Gen. Robert Patterson telegraphed Washington that he had "succeeded in keeping General Johnston's force at Winchester," Johnston slipped his command out of town. Johnston did not tell his men where they were going, and their forced march did not end until 2 a.m. on July 19, at Paris, Virginia. As the soldiers rested, Johnston rode ahead to Piedmont Station (present-day Delaplane) to arrange for trains to transport them there. When he learned of the fight at Blackburn's Ford earlier that day, he sent word to Beauregard that he was on his way. About 6 a.m., Johnston's first brigade, under Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, marched into view and soon boarded railroad cars for the eight-hour ride. The brigade arrived here in time to help defend the junction at the First Battle of Manassas. Within 28 hours, the men had covered 60 miles and made history as the first soldiers ever to move from one theatre of war to another by train.
3. MANASJ_081108_116.JPG: Wartime Manassas Jackson's Daring Raid (During the Civil War, two railroads -- the Manassas Gap and the Orange and Alexandria -- intersected here. Manassas Junction was strategically important to both the Union and the Confederacy as a supply depot and for military transportation. Two of the war's great battles were fought nearby. Diaries, letters, and newspaper articles documented the war's effects on civilians as well as the thousand of soldiers who passed through the junction.) You are standing on the site of a massive Federal supply depot. On August 24, 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and his forces on a sweeping march north and east around Union Gen. John Pope's right flank to cut the Federal supply line and force Pope out of his defenses. Lee followed with Gen. James Longstreet's command. A day and a half later, Jackson arrived at Bristoe Station, a few miles west of here on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, where he tore up track, destroyed the bridge over Broad Run, and derailed two Federal supply trains. He then launched a night attack on Manassas Junction, capturing 300 Union prisoners and 200 railroad cars loaded with delicacies. His hungry men swarmed through this area, ate their fill, loaded their knapsacks, and burned all that remained. Learning that Pope was marching toward him, Jackson led his men to the old Manassas battleground and took up a strong position to await Lee and Longstreet. "Just imagine about 6000 men hungry and almost naked, let loose on some million dollars worth of biscuit, cheese, ham, bacon, messpork, coffee, sugar, pants, shirts, caps, boots, shoes, socks, blanket, tents, etc, etc ... I saw the whole army become what appeared to me an ungovernable mob, drunk, some few with liquor but the others with excitement." -- Chaplain James S. Sheeran, 14th Louisiana Infantry "Twas a curious sight to see our ragged & famished men helping themselves to every imaginable article of luxury or necessity whether of clothing, food, or what not. ... We had been living on roasted corn since crossing Rappahannock, & we had not brought no new wagons so we could carry little away of the riches before us. But the men could eat for one meal at least, so they were marched up and as much of everything eatable served out as they could carry. To see a starving man eating lobster salad and drinking... rhine wine, barefooted & in tatters was curious; the whole thing is indescribable." -- Lt. John H. Chamberlayne, Purcell Artillery
4. MANASJ_081108_146.JPG: Wartime Manassas The Curious Descend on Manassas for Curios (During the Civil War, two railroads -- the Manassas Gap and the Orange and Alexandria -- intersected here. Manassas Junction was strategically important to both the Union and the Confederacy as a supply depot and for military transportation. Two of the war's great battles were fought nearby. Diaries, letters, and newspaper articles documented the war's effects on civilians as well as the thousand of soldiers who passed through the junction.) In the days following the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861, Union soldiers circulated rumors accusing Confederate soldiers of battlefield atrocities. The charges were extensive and included bayoneting and executing wounded and defenseless Federals, firing on field hospitals, and mutilating the dead. Later in the war, Southerners accused Union soldiers of similar outrages. "We heard to-day, from a citizen, that after the battle of 'Bull Run,' some Northern skulls were sold here [Winchester] at $10 apiece; also that many officers had spurs made of our men's bones. I don't know whether to believe these things or not." -- Letter, Col. Robert G. Shaw, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, to his mother, March 14, 1862 "The barbarities practiced by the rebels at the battle of Bull's Run are unparalleled. These fiends in human shape have taken bayonets and knives of our wounded and dying soldiers and thrust them into their hearts and left them sticking there, and that some have severed the heads of our dead and amused themselves by kicking them about as footballs. Such barbarities are unworthy of a Christian era. -- They are a sample of the boasted chivalry of these worse than fiends." -- The Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 29, 1861 Objective witnesses affirmed that relic hunting occurred: "Strangers poured into Manassas daily to see the 'sights," and carry off 'relics.' Uniforms, arms, buttons, caps, and even skulls were seized with avidity. These relic mongers might be seen hovering over the fields like carrion crows, carrying off all kinds of trifles." -- "An English Combatant," Battlefields of the South from Bull Run to Fredericksburg, 1864. Northern papers printed these tales and fed a growing public outcry for revenge. The Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of War, formed in December 1861 after the Ball's Bluff debacle, investigated. Despite the fact that much of the testimony was hearsay or fictitious, in May 1862 the committee upheld the veracity of every horrifying detail. "The recent report of the congressional committee established beyond a doubt, on the testimony of unimpeachable witnesses that the rebels have committed outrages. ... This conduct of the rebels should spur us in the work of crushing out the rebellion. And let us remember that slavery is the source and fountain of all this evil. No nation except a nation of slaveholders could be guilty of such barbarism." -- Springfield Republican, May 3, 1862 Illustrated newspapers capitalized on the committee's false finding by printing fanciful cartoon depictions of macabre bone ornaments and ghoulish household furnishings fashioned from the bones of Union corpses. The vividly depicted atrocities helped rally North abolitionists.
Wikipedia Description: Manassas, Virginia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manassas is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 35,135 at the 2000 census. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Manassas (along with Manassas Park) with Prince William County for statistical purposes. The City of Manassas is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area.

History:

In 1861,the First Battle of Manassas – also widely known as the First Battle of Bull Run – the first major land battle of the American Civil War, was fought near here. Second Manassas (or the Second Battle of Bull Run) was fought near here on August 21-10, 1862. At that time, Manassas Junction was little more than a railroad crossing, but a strategic one, with rails leading to Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Shenandoah Valley. Despite these two Confederate victories, Manassas Junction was in Union hands for most of the war.

The crossroads grew into the town of Manassas following the war, incorporated in 1873. In 1892, it became the county seat of Prince William County, replacing Brentsville. In 1970, Manassas became an independent city.

In modern times, Manassas's development has been strongly influenced by its position as a suburb of Washington, D.C. It has developed major problems with traffic and urban sprawl.

Manassas gained notoriety in 1998 as the hometown of John and Lorena Bobbitt, even though they resided outside the city and closer to the city of Manassas Park. Their separate trials (John Wayne Bobbitt's for rape, Lorena Bobbitt's for malicious wounding) occurred at the Prince William County courthouse, which is in the city of Manassas.

On October 9, 2002, the eleventh of the Beltway sniper attacks occurred outside Manassas city limits when 53-year old Dean Harold Meyers was shot pumping gas at a Sunoco station on Sudley Road near Interstate 66 in Prince William County.

In October 2005, Manassas became the site of the first wide-scale Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) implementation in the United States. Currently, 19 MBit/s service is offered for less than $30/month to city residents.
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