Pointless Prize: Civil War History

[AlanA]

@Kbikeva 203780 wrote:

In the edited rules for sites that aren’t necessarily marked as CW sites, you mentioned our bike being in the photo. I don’t see that requirement in the other rules (Markers, Streets). So — should our bikes be in the photo or is that optional except if the site isn’t obviously CW?

Obviously, I did not make up the rules. But usually, all these games require that you include your bike in the picture.

Based upon my reading of the rules, it seems like the bike is part of the game. As well as some sort of explanation/description.

P.S. Apologies Beth. I know this is your game, but I was trying to help out so you didn’t have to do more than you are already doing.

[Boomer Cycles]

#civilwarmarker – Alexandria National Cemetery

@HokieBeth took me on a ride here today…

During the Civil War, Alexandria served as a major staging ground for Union troops charged with defending the nation’s capital across the Potomac River. The Union established six infantry companies and one artillery company here. Even as the fighting shifted westward away from Washington, the city remained an important supply depot and hospital center. To provide burial space for Union soldiers who died in the city’s hospitals, the Federal Government established Alexandria National Cemetery in 1862. The relatively small site, covering just 5.5 acres, filled up quickly. Within two years the cemetery was nearly full, contributing to the creation of Arlington National Cemetery five miles to the north. Alexandria National Cemetery officially closed to new interments in 1967, and is the final resting place for over 4,000 individuals.

Find more info here:
https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/national_cemeteries/Virginia/Alexandria_National_Cemetery.html

Sent from Boomer_Cycles via my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kbikeva]

#civilwarmarker – Hunter Mill (on the W&OD between Vienna and Reston)

This crossroads was key to western Fairfax in 1862. Hunter Mill Rd was a ‘major’ thoroughfare, and the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad crossed here. Troops from both sides moved along the tracks between Vienna and Leesburg. In September 1862, Confederate General Wade Hampton moved through here on the way to Antietam. In June 1863, both Union troops (under Joe Hooker) and Confederate troops (under J.E.B. Stuart) passed through here on their way to Pennsylvania and what would become known as Gettysburg.

Despite tremendous pressure from traffic counts on Hunter Mill (it connects 66 and the Dulles Toll Road), the Hunter Mill Defense League is determined to stave off any attempts to widen or change the character of this road citing its historical importance. For cyclists, any widening of Hunter Mill would negatively affect the W&OD crossing as well. In August 2020, button activated flashing beacons were installed to improve safety of this crossing. Apparently the flashing yellow “always on” lights had lost effectiveness for drivers.

I’m having trouble posting photos upright, so if this is sideways, apologies in advance.

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[BicycleBeth]

@Kbikeva 203780 wrote:

In the edited rules for sites that aren’t necessarily marked as CW sites, you mentioned our bike being in the photo. I don’t see that requirement in the other rules (Markers, Streets). So — should our bikes be in the photo or is that optional except if the site isn’t obviously CW?

Hi KBikeva,

I looked through the rules again. Sure enough, they state that your bike needs to be in the photo for both the marker and the street categories. You are welcome to post additional photos without the bike too to give us a clearer view of the sign or place.

Beth

[HokieBeth]

Fort Ethan Allen and Lincoln, who sadly did hit a dead end.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kbikeva]

Sorry about that. I just went back and looked too. I guess I was focusing on the edited rules and got sidetracked. My apologies.

[Serdar]

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Fort Ward Museum
4301 W Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA
This museum offers rotating exhibits on American Civil War subjects and a Civil War library. It also hosts Civil War reenactments.
I first learned about this place during Judd’s African-American History Ride a year or two ago.

[JoM]

@JoM 203776 wrote:

Charles Benedict Calvert owned Riverdale Plantation, which spanned over 2,000 acres, which includes College Park and some parts of the University of Maryland Campus. In 1856 he founded the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC). While Calvert owned slaves, he was pro-union.

In April 1864, General Ambrose E. Burnside and 6,000 soldiers of the Union’s Ninth Army Corps camped on the MAC campus. The troops were en route to reinforce General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces in Virginia.

I went to a New Deal site – The Rossborough Inn at University of MD and I found that Charles Benedict Calvert used the building as a farm house, he later donated it to the University. In 1864, the Inn was a faculty residence when, during the Civil War, and Confederate Army General Bradley T. Johnson (of Frederick, Maryland) and his cavalry brigade occupied the university grounds, utilizing the building as his headquarters.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=66433

[matteblack]

@BicycleBeth 202905 wrote:

Don’t repeat the same exact historic marker for the duration of Freezing Saddles.

So if I come across a place associated with the Civil War, and there are two separate markers that say different things, I could use them both on separate days?

For example, let’s say that for the sake of argument that at the junction of 66 and the Beltway there are a pair of signs (about 25 yards apart put up at different times by different organizations). One sign says “Battle of the Beltway” and describes how contractors would raid the federal government with jacked up prices and false promises. The second sign says “Raid of the Beltway Bandits” and describes how the federal government was fleeced by contractors with their jacked up prices and false promises.

Could I ride to the first sign one day and then the second sign on another day?

[BicycleBeth]

@matteblack 204031 wrote:

So if I come across a place associated with the Civil War, and there are two separate markers that say different things, I could use them both on separate days?

For example, let’s say that for the sake of argument that at the junction of 66 and the Beltway there are a pair of signs (about 25 yards apart put up at different times by different organizations). One sign says “Battle of the Beltway” and describes how contractors would raid the federal government with jacked up prices and false promises. The second sign says “Raid of the Beltway Bandits” and describes how the federal government was fleeced by contractors with their jacked up prices and false promises.

Could I ride to the first sign one day and then the second sign on another day?

Yes. That’s exactly it. Another example: there are three different sets of historic marker signs at Fort Ethan Allen park. I got one set yesterday and am planning to read and visit the two other sets on two more rides.

[matteblack]

Thanks for the clarification…it’ll make my route planning a bit easier

[BicycleBeth]

@matteblack 204038 wrote:

Thanks for the clarification…it’ll make my route planning a bit easier

You’re welcome!

[AlanA]

@matteblack 204038 wrote:

Thanks for the clarification…it’ll make my route planning a bit easier

I also appreciate that clarification. I was going to a site today that has three signs and I was going to use them all for one visit. Thanks to the rain, I did not make it. Whew!

That rule will certainly help.

[Serdar]

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Freedmen’s Cemetery
Federal authorities established this cemetery for newly freed African Americans during the Civil War. About 1,700 freed people were interred here before the last recorded burial in January 1869.
https://www.strava.com/activities/4572294782
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[lordofthemark]

@BicycleBeth 204033 wrote:

Yes. That’s exactly it. Another example: there are three different sets of historic marker signs at Fort Ethan Allen park. I got one set yesterday and am planning to read and visit the two other sets on two more rides.

Oh dear. There are at least a dozen signs around Fort Ward, not counting the newly installed ones that tell the story of the adjacent post war AA community and its 20th century displacement.

[Author]

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