Mysteries and Conundrums, “exploring the Civil War-era landscape at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP in an unofficial sort of way.”This is a wonderful resource!
As I continue work on annotating the Civil War diary of Betty Herndon Maury, I continue to encounter wonderfully helpful people in libraries. The Central Rappahannock Regional Library in Fredericksburg VA has helped me on several occasions. And now t…
I went to the Virginia Historical Society library today to look at a fragmentary diary kept by Betty Herndon Maury’s sister-in-law, Susan Crutchfield Maury. The library’s record for this diary says it was written in 1864. By chance, I had read the foll…
The weather was not particularly cooperative today – cold and overcast (raining now). Nevertheless I decided to see if I could find Hollywood Cemetery again. It is 7.5 miles from where I live, and I got there with no difficulty. I stopped to purchase …
Having moved to Richmond, I have been excited about the prospect of exploring this historic city. My first excursion was today. I set out armed with the address of the Maupin-Maury House, the house where Betty Herndon Maury’s father, Matthew Fontaine…
On April 12, 1858, Mrs. Senator Gwin, wife of Senator William Gwin of California, gave a fancy ball which was the talk of Washington Society for decades afterwards. This ball is mentioned in many memoirs of the era. Most recently I have read a wonderfu…
From Richmond During the Warby Sallie Brock PutnamUniversity of Nebraska Press, 1996, page 87″So ready were we to catch at the faintest shadow of hope which promised us independence and peace, that we gave credence to many ridiculous reports, and as de…
Official Records of the Union and Confederate NaviesIn the War of the RebellionSeries I – Volume 6Washington, Government Printing Office, 1897Pages 632-635Preliminary report of Flag-Officer Goldsborough, U.S. Navy, February 14, 1862:. . . I forward her…
From Harper’s magazine December 1861
