Pointless Prize: Civil War History

[Boomer Cycles]

#civilwarmarker

One of three remaining civil-war era culverts under The Orange & Alexandria Railroad near Lake Accotink Park, discovered along with [mention]reji [/mention] and [mention]HokieBeth [/mention] with Lynn Salvo accompanying us

A culvert is a tunnel carrying a creek under a railroad bed. This is one of several culverts located beneath the Orange and Alexandria Railroad bed within present-day Lake Accotink Park. The Conferderates hid in this culvert prior to damaging the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The O&A railroad crossed over this culvert. The incribed brick artifact displayed in the Visitors Center was reported to have been removed from this Culvert.

Sent from Boomer_Cycles via my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BicycleBeth]

I have a rule reminder and clarification for the #civilwarstreet game.

The Civil War streets, other than those used for troop and supply movements, should be named after historical FIGURES from the Civil War to include topics related to secession, slavery, abolition, the Underground Railroad, and Reconstruction and the politics of these events. Just to be clear, a key figure or historical figure is a PERSON not a city, battlefield, park, ship name, etc. The key figure should be historically remembered in some way that was relevant to one of these topics. Streets do not need to literally be named after the person. They can just be the same name as the surname of the historical figure.

Reason for clarification: I have seen people use places, battlefields, and ship names for the #civilwarstreet hashtag. At first, it was just with casual players but today I saw it in one of the top players who has a chance of placing for the prize. So I wanted to nip this in the bud before more people start doing this. Let me know if you have any questions.

Retroactive grace period: I will allow ONE non-figure #civilwarstreet name that was documented in Strava and otherwise meets the rules up to and including the date of Monday, 2/8/2021.

[AlanA]

@BicycleBeth 207293 wrote:

I have a rule reminder and clarification for the #civilwarstreet game.

The Civil War streets, other than those used for troop and supply movements, should be named after historical FIGURES from the Civil War to include topics related to secession, slavery, abolition, the Underground Railroad, and Reconstruction and the politics of these events. Just to be clear, a key figure or historical figure is a PERSON not a city, battlefield, park, ship name, etc. The key figure should be historically remembered in some way that was relevant to one of these topics. Streets do not need to literally be named after the person. They can just be the same name as the surname of the historical figure.

Reason for clarification: I have seen people use places, battlefields, and ship names for the #civilwarstreet hashtag. At first, it was just with casual players but today I saw it in one of the top players who has a chance of placing for the prize. So I wanted to nip this in the bud before more people start doing this. Let me know if you have any questions.

Retroactive grace period: I will allow ONE non-figure #civilwarstreet name that was documented in Strava and otherwise meets the rules up to and including the date of Monday, 2/8/2021.

Dang. I guess I should have used my “Appomattox” Ave. before this clarification. But, I thought that would be pushing the limits, so I didn’t even bother. Or, I could be a sleaze and use it for tomorrow!! (Although I won’t, because that’s not the way I am).

Oh, and Beth. How about a reminder of posting something in the picture or ride description as to why the picture is significant.

[BicycleBeth]

@AlanA 207301 wrote:

Dang. I guess I should have used my “Appomattox” Ave. before this clarification. But, I thought that would be pushing the limits, so I didn’t even bother. Or, I could be a sleaze and use it for tomorrow!! (Although I won’t, because that’s not the way I am).

Oh, and Beth. How about a reminder of posting something in the picture or ride description as to why the picture is significant.

Hi Alan,

Yes! I do need to do that rule reminder too. Thank you for the reminder! None of the zero description hashtags and pics will count when I review the photos for those who win. So far, the people who are the top contenders have been doing this. But I’d hate to see bad/disqualifying habits spread.

And thank you for not being a sleaze tomorrow! I have plenty of streets I’ve been avoiding that are related to battles and not people as well.

[BicycleBeth]

I also wanted to bring your attention to the requirements to write a short description of your marker or street on Strava in the comments or in the caption

From the Rules:
#civilwarmarker Write a short description of the marker on Strava. This could be as simple as retyping the text of the marker or talking about where you found the marker or why it caught your eye.

#civilwarstreet Write a short description of who this general/key figure was or why this street/street name was critical in the Civil War in the comment section on Strava.

Clarification & Reminder:
You must write a description of the #civilwarmarker or #civilwarstreet in Strava under the comments section or in the photo caption. This is especially critical with the #civilwarstreet game since we won’t even know the name of the figure you have in mind unless you make it explicit. The street descriptions will require some research or good historical knowledge.

You can go back and describe your previous markers and streets now. Any hashtags without descriptions will not count toward points for the purpose of awarding winners and prizes.

[BicycleBeth]

Top Ten Rankings for the Civil War contest as of Feb. 7, 2021.

This is still a very competitive game! You can earn up to 7 points per day, 5 points per marker and 2 points per street. The max possible score right now is 266 points.

As a reminder, here’s the formula for the points as mentioned in the rules: 5 points/marker * # of markers + 2 points/street * # of streets
*If you let me know that you over reported your streets, then I have subtracted off those streets in the count. However, I have not done any other auditing or policing of the numbers.

The top three players at the end of Freezing Saddles will be the winners. (I am playing the game but will not be giving myself an award if I finish in the top 3. So I’m not showing my results in the below rankings.)

Name, # of points
1. Matt W 258
2. Alan A 207
3. Cathy M 144
4. Bill B 102
5. Ken N 64
6. Chris R 50
7. Glenn 46
8. Jo M 32
9. Boomer 32
10. Beth D 29

[AlanA]

@BicycleBeth 207318 wrote:

Top Ten Rankings for the Civil War contest as of Feb. 7, 2021.

This is still a very competitive game! You can earn up to 7 points per day, 5 points per marker and 2 points per street. The max possible score right now is 266 points.

As a reminder, here’s the formula for the points as mentioned in the rules: 5 points/marker * # of markers + 2 points/street * # of streets
*If you let me know that you over reported your streets, then I have subtracted off those streets in the count. However, I have not done any other auditing or policing of the numbers.

The top three players at the end of Freezing Saddles will be the winners. (I am playing the game but will not be giving myself an award if I finish in the top 3. So I’m not showing my results in the below rankings.)

Name, # of points
1. Matt W 258
2. Alan A 207
3. Cathy M 144
4. Bill B 102
5. Ken N 64
6. Chris R 50
7. Glenn 46
8. Jo M 32
9. Boomer 32
10. Beth D 29

Include your results. I’ll give you a prize if you win.
It’s been fun learning all the Civil War history we have around here.

[BicycleBeth]

@AlanA 207322 wrote:

Include your results. I’ll give you a prize if you win.
It’s been fun learning all the Civil War history we have around here.

Alan, you are so sweet! I have 261 points as of today.

[BicycleBeth]

@BicycleBeth 207293 wrote:

I have a rule reminder and clarification for the #civilwarstreet game.

The Civil War streets, other than those used for troop and supply movements, should be named after historical FIGURES from the Civil War to include topics related to secession, slavery, abolition, the Underground Railroad, and Reconstruction and the politics of these events. Just to be clear, a key figure or historical figure is a PERSON not a city, battlefield, park, ship name, etc. The key figure should be historically remembered in some way that was relevant to one of these topics. Streets do not need to literally be named after the person. They can just be the same name as the surname of the historical figure.

Reason for clarification: I have seen people use places, battlefields, and ship names for the #civilwarstreet hashtag. At first, it was just with casual players but today I saw it in one of the top players who has a chance of placing for the prize. So I wanted to nip this in the bud before more people start doing this. Let me know if you have any questions.

Retroactive grace period: I will allow ONE non-figure #civilwarstreet name that was documented in Strava and otherwise meets the rules up to and including the date of Monday, 2/8/2021.

I have an update to yesterday’s rule clarification that grandfathers in all #civilwarstreet posts that might have been due to my poor grammar choice.

5. (2/8/2021 edit, clarification, and grandfather clause). From the original rules under #civilwarstreet, I wrote “Write a short description of who this general/key figure was or why this street/street name was critical in the Civil War in the comment section on Strava.” This grammatical construction (in particular, “street name”) may have legitimately led people to believe that additional categories other than the two intended categories were allowed. Thus, I will grandfather in all entries referring to places, ships, ship movements, etc until 2/8/2021 as long as all other rules were followed.

To be very clear, I will rewrite this sentence into two sentences.
For Historical Figures: Write a short description of who this Civil War figure was and what role they played in the Civil War in the comment/caption section on Strava. Historical Figures includes both prominent and historically-recorded figures as described earlier.
For Troop Movements and Critical Civil War Routes: Write a short description of why this street was critical to troop and/or supply movements in the Civil War in the comment/caption section on Strava. The idea is that you will ride your bike in the same place that troops or supply wagons used during the Civil War so that you can experience the terrain they encountered. You can use the same street for troop movements multiple times as long as each time you use it it is in a different jurisdiction. The reason for this is that terrain varies between jurisdictions, and I want you to relive the troop movements.

–For example, Georgia Avenue (the Seventh Street Turnpike) was used both for the Battle of Fort Stevens (Confederates attacking and retreating and Federals in pursuit) and for Burnside moving troops and material up to Gettysburg. Based on my research, I can get Georgia Ave in DC, Silver Spring, Wheaton, and Olney since these are four generally viewed as distinct jurisdictions.

–What is not allowed, example: Appomotax Court in Springfield, Virginia would NOT count. Why you might think it would count: Troops fought in Appomattox and Gen. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. But does it meet either of these two tests:

*Does it share the name of a historical FIGURE (a person) from the Civil War? (No. Appomattox is not a person but rather a place.)
*Did Civil War troops or supplies move on this street and in this jurisdiction? Are you riding your bike in the same place that troops/supplies were documented to be during the Civil War? (No. Gen. Lee did not surrender in Springfield, VA on Appomattox Ct. And Appomattox Court did not exist during the Civil War so documented troop movements for this street are highly unlikely.)

I hope this helps further clarify the rules while being fair to those who were affected by my grammatically ambiguous sentence construction.

[AlanA]

@BicycleBeth 207350 wrote:

I have an update to yesterday’s rule clarification that grandfathers in all #civilwarstreet posts that might have been due to my poor grammar choice.

5. (2/8/2021 edit, clarification, and grandfather clause). From the original rules under #civilwarstreet, I wrote “Write a short description of who this general/key figure was or why this street/street name was critical in the Civil War in the comment section on Strava.” This grammatical construction (in particular, “street name”) may have legitimately led people to believe that additional categories other than the two intended categories were allowed. Thus, I will grandfather in all entries referring to places, ships, ship movements, etc until 2/8/2021 as long as all other rules were followed.

To be very clear, I will rewrite this sentence into two sentences.
For Historical Figures: Write a short description of who this Civil War figure was and what role they played in the Civil War in the comment/caption section on Strava. Historical Figures includes both prominent and historically-recorded figures as described earlier.
For Troop Movements and Critical Civil War Routes: Write a short description of why this street was critical to troop and/or supply movements in the Civil War in the comment/caption section on Strava. The idea is that you will ride your bike in the same place that troops or supply wagons used during the Civil War so that you can experience the terrain they encountered. You can use the same street for troop movements multiple times as long as each time you use it it is in a different jurisdiction. The reason for this is that terrain varies between jurisdictions, and I want you to relive the troop movements.

–For example, Georgia Avenue (the Seventh Street Turnpike) was used both for the Battle of Fort Stevens (Confederates attacking and retreating and Federals in pursuit) and for Burnside moving troops and material up to Gettysburg. Based on my research, I can get Georgia Ave in DC, Silver Spring, Wheaton, and Olney since these are four generally viewed as distinct jurisdictions.

–What is not allowed, example: Appomotax Court in Springfield, Virginia would NOT count. Why you might think it would count: Troops fought in Appomattox and Gen. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. But does it meet either of these two tests:

*Does it share the name of a historical FIGURE (a person) from the Civil War? (No. Appomattox is not a person but rather a place.)
*Did Civil War troops or supplies move on this street and in this jurisdiction? Are you riding your bike in the same place that troops/supplies were documented to be during the Civil War? (No. Gen. Lee did not surrender in Springfield, VA on Appomattox Ct. And Appomattox Court did not exist during the Civil War so documented troop movements for this street are highly unlikely.)

I hope this helps further clarify the rules while being fair to those who were affected by my grammatically ambiguous sentence construction.

It’s a dog eat dog world out there in Civil War land! We’re all trying to stretch what we have to make it last until the end of winter. It’s not easy (especially for me)! My only break is that I ride on JEB Stuarts route up to Westminster a lot, so I have been taking advantage of Rt. 97 north of Olney. And, I ride a lot on the National Road, so I’ve also been taking advantage of that. However, I usually try to connect my markers and streets for each ride. I’ve only done a few of the “most likely doubtful” street name connections.

[bikesnick]

Robert B. Elliott served as US Representative from South Carolina during the Reconstruction Era. He was born in England, graduated from Eton and served in the Royal Navy before settling in South Carolina. He formed the first known US African American law firm.
In 1874, Mr. Elliott spoke on the need for the Civil Rights Act which passed in 1875. Unfortunately, he was forced from office when federal troops left South Carolina in 1877.

Elliott Ave (McLean VA)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23832[/ATTACH]

[bikesnick]

Fort Buffalo was built in 1861 by the 21st New York Infantry (from Buffalo) of the Union Army as part of the defense of Washington. It was briefly occupied by Confederate Troops and abandoned at the end of the war.

Fort Buffalo historical marker (Falls Church, VA)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23833[/ATTACH]

[HokieBeth]

At Hunter Station Rd which was along the train route to Leesburg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bikesnick]

“Nuns of the Battlefield“
A monument “to the memory and in honor of the various orders of sisters who gave their services as nurses on battlefields and in hospitals during the Civil War”.
(Connecticut Ave, M St, Rhode Island Ave NW, DC)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23870[/ATTACH]

[bikesnick]

Charles E. Nash served as a Representative from Louisiana to the US Congress during the Reconstruction Era. He was the first African American Congressman from Louisiana and remained the only for more than a century. During the Civil War he enlisted in the U.S. Volunteer Army and was promoted to sergeant major.

Nash Street (Arlington, VA)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23874[/ATTACH]

[Author]

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