Bull Run

Today we had nothing planned...no house hunting, no friends to visit, and no work.  The day was sunny and actually pretty warm, so we decided to venture out and explore a little place called Manassas, one of the nearest cities to our house.  It is a cute town that has all the shopping you could think to do, but it also has an "Old Town Manassas" that is petty quaint and I can't wait to walk around it at some point.  Manassas is where the Battle at Bull Run took place, it was the first land battle of the Civil War.  Our first official sightseeing of the area.  I will admit, I had to do some reading to find out what exactly marks this in history, I'm sure I learned it at some point in school, but couldn't have told you what it was before now.  The Confederates (South) called the battle First Manassas after the Manassas Junction, but the Union (North) named it the Battle of Bull Run after the Bull Run stream.  It was pretty surreal to think we were standing in a place where there once was a raging battle going on between the north and south...just 150 short years ago.  It was a great lesson and we look forward to exploring more of the area in the next 3.5 years...fortunately, we can choose to do these sights during times like these, in the "off season", so we don't have to deal with the tourists!

We visited Henry House Hill, named for the Henry family that lived in the house that sat on top of the hill where the battle took place.  The house served as a refuge for the wounded soldiers.

This statue was made in honor of Brig. Gen. Thomas Jonathon "Stonewall" Jackson, who, along with his "stonewall brigade" helped stop the Union assault on Henry Hill.  Guess who gravitated toward the big horse???  Zaaaaaac...my little horse whisperer just wanted to "pet it".