who wins, who loses, and which party will control the house and senate. our coverage begins at 8:00 eastern with results and analysis. you will see victory and concession speeches in some of the most closely watched senate races throughout the country. we want to hear from you with your campaign 2014 election night coverage on c-span. >> warren perry discusses the battle of cedar creek which took place in virginia of october 1864. it was fought between confederates and jubal early and union troops under general sheridan and resulted in a decisive union victory. he shares pieces from the collection related to the battle to illustrate different aspects of the fighting. the national park service hosted this hour and 10 minute event.

>> i am going to introduce our speaker, warren perry. he is originally from memphis, tennessee. he has a graduate degree in medieval literature and from the catholic university. his one-man play, walt whitman and the civil war. and he cowrote elvis, which received the bronze award from forward magazine in 2010. in his 12 years at the national portrait gallery, he wrote over 200 articles for print and the web. more than 40 on the american civil war. he received one of the secretary research prizes for 2013 for the smithsonian congress of scholars. we are very proud of him. he is founder and director of

the perry library of theater. i would like to introduce amy bracewell, the site manager and she is going to make a few remarks and then we'll have warren come up here. thank you. >> thank you. i would like to thank you so much for coming out. cedar creek and belle grove historical park was excited to partner with the smithsonian for this lecture. thank you for agreeing to speak on this great history. we think it is such a perfect fit to be able to marry the resources that the smithsonian has with the battlefield. cedar creek and belle grove national historical park is a small part in the shenandoah valley. we are one hour outside of the valley. the park was established in 2002 to share the history and

spectrum of history in the shenandoah valley. we have a 1790 plantation house all the way up to the battle of cedar creek and beyond the modern culture and vibrancy of the valley. we will like to welcome you out to our 100 50th anniversary events. this part of our lecture series happening throughout august through november about various topics on the valley campaign. we will be commemorating the battle specifically on the weekend of october 19th, our anniversary. we encourage you to check out our website and our facebook page to the schedule and follow along on all of the events. as you may know, we have several items outside for information. the national park service developed the free sentinel guide, it is for the washington invasion of 1864.

we have various materials on the events happening in october and the latest event coming up this weekend is the battle of winchester that we are commemorating this weekend in winchester. we encourage everyone to come out and visit and a special thanks to elizabeth wilke and associate and warren perry for sharing this information in the great resources. thank you. >> hi, good evening. my name is warren. i would like to thank you for inviting me to talk about cedar creek and the smithsonian collection. i will like to thank the associates and park service staff in virginia for allowing me to speak this evening post a as i conclude my own time at the

smithsonian, it was wonderful for me to be able to address this audience and tell everyone how much i have enjoyed this work. i would like to thank a couple of other folks. frank, who is director of the museum of art. he is a great colleague and friend who invited me in the production of -- invited many people on the ride of the production of the civil war book. and john barber, one of the great civil war historians, who has taken time to enlighten me over the years. and his door was always open to me and i was grateful for that. michelle delaney made it is to happen and i am thankful to her and my boss at the national portrait gallery. linda is the chief archivist of portraits and she put up with me for 12 years. i have always been grateful to

her. and ben bloom for being a great partner. putting things on the smithsonian website and also would like to thank the family of the late marty. he gave me a lot of time and assistance to complete the work i wanted to finish. in the past few years, i have been too many battlefields and taken a lot of photographs. i have taken my wife, shannon, and my daughter. they have eaten a lot of national park hotdogs. our daughter, jamie lynn, was two weeks ago when we dragged her out of the crib to go to antietam on anniversary of that battle. also my brother, dr. patrick perry, i have dragged them out many days after christmas to shiloh and nothing says

christmas more than 100 mile jaunt to a battlefield. first, i want to talk about this war that we are produced. this mighty work that so many smithsonian individuals participated in and i am honored to have had a part in producing this book. a very small part. i wrote four articles and that was 150 articles. our photographers and archives and so many people. i want to speak briefly about the going ons after we talk about the book, about 150 years ago included in notes on sherman and the war in the south. last, i would like to talk about

the east and how that experience dovetailed into our discussion of the battle of cedar creek which happened 150 years ago next month. first, this book. generations of americans are drawn to the history of the civil war. this volume and site national collection is indicative of the fact that war was more than battle. it was central to the horror and experience. that is not all the war was about. it was about slavery, certainly, and states rights. it was about family. men leaving to fight and homes being torn apart by separation and loss. and considering the obvious in the smithsonian collection, the objects which represent the war are as diverse as the experiences of the war. this war was assembled by 50

scholars and a handful of editors and the support of scores of other staff, photographers, researchers, librarians. many would argue the american civil war was the most important event in our nation's history and the moment that would take shape from the earliest sign of the declaration of independence. others would argue the possibilities of such a war found his first moment with the arrival of the first captured african in jamestown. the civil war was transformative and horrible. while the goal was to keep the union together and eliminating slavery was met, more than 600,000 men were killed and land ravaged. it is impossible, john meacham notes in the foreword, this was the time of too much importance to the civil war. history is not a fairytale and nothing is inevitable. the war started with cannon fire

at fort sumter and ended in the death of president lincoln in 1865. just as the nation was shackled to the tragedy, so the national collection of the smithsonian is tied to the war. pamela, director of the institution of history division of the smithsonian archives, state in the first chapter "as storm clouds gathered over washington, d.c., the smithsonian which was a single building housing smithsonian secretary and his family along with the museum, library, and other facilities experience the first of a divided nation. he faced questions about his loyalty to the nation. he had close friends who favor secessionist including regents who were expelled from the board

for confederate sympathies." even jefferson davis had ties to the smithsonian. from 1847-1851, he was a regent of the institution. the range of attention represented in the civil war collection is astonishing. it is not just guns and uniforms, though there are many both on display and in storage. it's not limited to photographs and flags. there are signs announcing options and identification badges worn by slaves which signify that injustice. there are postage stamps on letters to soldiers and letters to those the soldiers left behind and there is a horse. however, we will discuss the

horse later. first, i would like to talk about the object i am most familiar because i contributed for the volume. the first piece is the national portrait gallery. it's called the vanity of beast butler. few men on either side collect as much ire as benjamin franklin butler. when he arrived, his reputation was already in place. the administration of the city augmented with everyone already believed which was he was difficult and argumentative. however, he was in importantly vain individual and was unskilled and whose corruption

in new orleans with a keen understanding of the method of bringing a city into order. butler came to be called beast butler by issuing edicts as general order number 28 which declared women in new orleans found to be covertly disrespectful to the occupied union forces would be "regarded at how liable to the treated -- butler's authority with mostly unchallenged. he was placed at odds. president lincoln removed butler from command in 1862. during the hiatus, butler -- self-servingly participated in a biography which was meant to increase his presence in favorable posture.

after been reassigned, he failed terribly in the assault on forces and was discharged by president lincoln. this bust of general butler was the work of sculptor edward. it concerns the general's vanity and the later he wrote to his wife at fort munro, virginia. and the note, general butler stated "do you want to see me? do the next best thing, up the marble bust." he served as governor of massachusetts and a congressman it lost a bid for presidency. as a biographer notes, both hated and loved, but let remains a figure immensely amusing and much-maligned.

here's a great picture of the general. it shows him on the field and you see his wearing slippers. oops. i gotta go back. my second contribution to this large collaboration is called the haunted relic of gettysburg. this object is a poignant piece. the confederate victory at gettysburg would've changed the course of the war. men in the north were growing tired. and robert e lee from believe there were people who could capitulate and bring it to a close.

of course, the victory denied the ability does -- to disprove that notion. lee out generaled his counterparts. the confederate army was out number at gettysburg and lee fought against long odds. a man fights hardest retracting his own home. -- protecting his own home. also, union general made chosen the surroundings of gettysburg positions and many of the officers made excellent decisions during those three days fighting. historically, the great battle like gettysburg place a burden on war leaders to justify the carnage. and henry the fifth, "we died at such a place, some swearing and

some crying. some upon their wives. some upon the debts they owe us some upon their children. there are few that i will in battle to charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument." the number of lives lost in any of the major engagements is staggering. the descriptions of the troop movements, the engagements and encourage displayed at place like little round top is the largest discourse of the glories of the conflict. though the antiquated image here is clear enough, this is a man's loved ones was awaiting his call. again, poignant. this loved photo before -- and beyond the battlefield. we do not know the fate of the soldier and if he was from the

north or south. our imagination tells us it might be the last object from home he consider before you marched to his end our imagination tell us it signifies that yearning of the woman pictured that yearning and waiting for her husband more presumably who has his last letter as spoke about taking part in a mighty battle in a tiny village called gettysburg. the third piece i have in this book is on the fall of fort fisher. very germane to the war after. cedar creek in october of 1864 at this summit's the last of major fighting in the deep south and the army seizing control. one of the great names associated with the union naval success is doing the war is admirable david porter. he was a key player at both new orleans and vicksburg.

later while sherman summers georgia in complete war, a plan was devised by general butler and porter to take fort fisher by sending a boat with 215 tons of powder beyond the fort and let the powder taking it out one mighty explosion. fort fisher, south, protected the access of where it and was critical. it faced the water and made it more difficult to penetrate. a dramatic design was drawn up with that. it felt not only because the powder did not quit the damage which was believed to be capable but also because butler failed to follow up the explosion with

a proper assault. butler had fallen out of favoritism and was removed in command and replaced by alfred terry. he joined in executing a new attack. it was a deliberate shelling of force with dozens of ships. after which terry's men launched an assault. both sides suffered heavy casualties. it will smuggled into

wilmington, north carolina since the earliest days of the war, is suddenly stopped. one of robert e lee's chief sources of supplies was eliminated. in this photograph, admirable portal -- porter, it is alexander gardner image. porter is on the ship where he planned to the assault on fort fisher. ensuring the union army that lee's pipeline was severed. the last essay i contributed to this volume is the one which segues into the battle of cedar creek. this work is more than a painting. at the front of the group of mortals is ulysses s. grant while the men, who ride along, many could've known that number

of lives it would've taken. grant understood that armies would battle and he pushes soldiers into the field. he was irreplaceable. this man fights, said lincoln. they are not information but rather keeping a pace of their leader. this configuration, one in which we see a classical arrangement where they are level with each other as the figures would be depicted on a pediment. among the warriors represented, george armstrong with the golden hair on the far left. he is a light-colored horse, sherman, on our left.

and then again, you see general sheridan. this portrait captured -- it captured in this tribute were painted from life by a norwegian american artist. not only is the work of grace encompassing the portrait of no less than 27 jewels but also the scale of the work is grand. i know many of you have probably seen it. this measures 10 feet high by 16 feet wide. the initial sketches of the manner depicted were done in the autumn in the field headquarters asked the union army gradually forced lee's army and to

capitulation. he was familiar with battle. he completed the final oil painting in 1865. peter hansen bolling consider grant to be his masterpiece. president abraham lincoln granted him permission to begin work while he visited the generals after the various stations of duty. mounted with especially fabricated site-specific curved frame, this work embraces the northeastern spear well of the old building which is now the donald reynolds building. the connection of his work to cedar creek can be found and the generals accompanying general grant, not all of them.

this is the big picture. those generals accompanying general grant into his legacy. two of the critical players, we see sheridan and george armstrong custer and we'll talk more about that in a few moments. right now, i want to move up to cedar creek by look at things going on. where was the field elsewhere at this time? by early 1864, the endgame of the civil war was in progress. in the deep south, william tecumseh sherman would be placed in charge of the army that will sweep through georgia and into the carolinas and we'll talk about sherman. sherman's record was marginal. he was a colonel at board run in 1861 -- bull run in 1861. he had rallied his men. it was noted by his superiors although ultimately his brigade

left the field in much the same way as the rest of the union troops that day, which was fleeing. his first large command was a colossal failure and many journalists consider him as having lost his mind. he was at shiloh in 1862. it is plagued with logistical problems. however, he was one the most trusted men that were continued through the war. sherman's march georgia as subsequent action of total war as he moved up the east coast earned him his final legend in the north. in virginia, grant would meet lee at the wilderness and begin a march that would culminate in a massive siege at petersburg, virginia.

in 1864 was the last full year of the war. the army of northern virginia had had any victories under its belt. fredericksburg and chancellorsville were the biggest. meanwhile, the war machine of the north seemed to be stronger every day. when the army of the potomac at lee's army combined in the wilderness beginning on may 5, only a few miles west of lee's great victory, the first time the would face ulysses s. grant. while the name of the battle would go down in history as the wilderness, it was really the beginning of one along battle that would last a result and lee's surrender in 1865.

lee's army was imports of live. the battle would continue to exact a great toll on virginia, a state stripped of many of its resources because of three years of war. if the confederacy had any hope, a civil war historian affirms and this use of scarcity, lee was unquestionably the south's prime assets. the union hung his hopes on this leadership. the president's main objective was to reinstate the union in the north with ulysses grant. while mcclellan and burnside and meade looked good on paper, they fail us take the initiative would require of them. mcclellan in his early days simply failed to prosecute the war. brassard lost crucial battle at fredericksburg. meade, though a good leader, had failed to follow up on the retreat from gettysburg in 1860

three. grant, however, came to leave the army after secured victory after victory in the deep south. the most important was the surrender at vicksburg in july 1863 simultaneous to meade's victory. they would pitch everything at the enemy. grant intended to go at a leak from all sides and assigned a primary role, the army would've you raised -- would be raised and hurled across. grant brought in more than 100,000 men to the battle and lee 60,000. most of the in a dense forest. lee would lose more than 11,000 men and grant would lose 18,000. after the wilderness and spotsylvania county and subsequent bountiful -- battle,

lee's army won victories and maintained his army between grant and richmond. however, the losses he sustained were more than he could afford and it was getting more and more difficult for lee and the confederacy. he would continue to move -- maneuver for a few weeks and failing to crush richmond for successfully keeping lee and the field further draining the army of men at supplies. it will be known as grants overland campaign. a strategy of grant to further whittled down lee's numbers.

the above events would reinforce the criticality of the last major event and out war-torn garden of the lands north of winchester, virginia at through the fertile valley printed of the east and of the west by the alleghenies. in western virginia, home to the breadbasket, robert e lee's army, the shenandoah valley would hold what large last battle. an event that will be the final severe installment of combat in a theater of war that has saved -- seen many, many episodes. why is this area called the breadbasket of the confederacy? because it can grow anything. it is a real garden of eden. many of you have been to the shenandoah valley, some of you

may live out there. we have a couple of our fine rangers. it is a splendid area. with flowers and grapes, wheat -- grapes. [laughter] cattle. that is a llama. i came in this morning, i spent last night in lexington, virginia that i spent the night and right across the hall from the general thomas jackson suite and i went up route 11 this morning and going around 11 -- route 11 you cannot stop to buy a soda without running into a historical marker.

i took the ride on the 66 that tonight we're spending the night out at a manassas. every day in northern virginia is a battlefield tour, it really is. this is a llama, and it is part of a herd in the shenandoah valley. for the record, philip sheridan was not the legible to occupy the valley. this is the photograph of brigadier general chester taylor, retired united states army, whose home you see behind general taylor and the llama, is regularly occupied before the american regular -- revolution. they said passage to go with the union soldiers went through the area. these troops' kindness paved the

way for taylor's family. as i said, this land can grow absolutely anything. and this morning as i was coming up around 11, i saw another herd of llamas. and my wife saw them and said it is a llama parade. we had to take a picture and show our little girl. i want to revisit for just a moment the monumental work day grant and his generals in connection with this to cedar creek can be found. that is the generals accompanying general grant. two of the critical players in the victory can be found in this work indicated. as we are coming from our left

and we can do this as i finish up. we have thomas devins, kilpatrick, all playing a role in cedar creek. this image is just chalked full of the union greatness. if you have not seen it, i encourage you to go to the national photo gallery. it is just a spectacular installation. the battle of cedar creek should not be considered an accident or afterthought. cedar creek was a combination at -- and capstone event. the significance of this moment on october 19, 1864 is often overlooked. to fail to consider one of the

seminal moments of the war is to fail to look at what stopped on that day and what followed that day. cedar creek is one the least recognized moments. the greatest victor of this battle -- let me go through these images. the greatest victor was president lincoln. president lincoln had coming up on him the election. sheridan's victories coupled with his successes in the deep south provided in combat with great news to share with the american electorate. he always commit himself to the preservation buys first task had -- but his first task had been to bring it back through any means necessary.

one of link right detractors was mcclellan -- one of lincoln's detractors was mcclellan. he had to face mcclellan as an opponent in the 1864 presidential election. as with other challenges, lincoln faced off and won. he would live from a one week after the conclusion of the war. many of lincoln's writings and speeches were well known and quoted but it is doubtful that anything lincoln can ever say would better some of his thoughts that has set the speech march 1865. i am quoting. "with malice to none and charity for all, with firmness in the right and god gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds.

and for his widow and orphan. among ourselves and with all nations." lincoln is the alpha and the omega of the american civil war. general grant wrote in his memoirs the following. in his memoirs, general grant wrote the following characterization of the fight of cedar creek. "sheridan have left washington reached winchester that night. the following morning he joined his command is scarcely guided out-of-town when the size man returning and panic and heard heavy fire from the south.

-- the following morning he joined his command is scarcely got out of town when he saw his man returning panic and heard heavy fire from the south. he ordered them to turn back and reminded them they were going the wrong way. his presence superstore confidence they find themselves more frightened than hurt, the men returned back. many of those who had read 10 miles went back -- who had rented miles return. when sheridan got to the front, he found getty and custer holding their ground firmly. he seemed disinclined to make another battle. the contest was closed for a time. our cavalry having pushed on had gotten to the rear of the

calvary. [indiscernible] that was general grant. this is the monument as you enter the road, belle grove. the monument as a memorial to major general stephen ramseur. that is a nice monument. this one is one of the most interesting pieces on route 11 from winchester. it pops right out at you. the entrance to belle grove and

that farm is a spectacular entrance. it is one of the places where you stop and look at the mountains beyond the beautiful home and these fields it makes you want to sing "god bless america." an amazing property. there is a plaque on that monument. that is cedar creek. what stopped with jubal early's defeat is a supply chain to the east. from beginning of the war the shenandoah valley served. although places like winchester considered a model more, winchester changed hands does of times.

without the confederate breadbasket, lee would be without bread in a literal sense. as doyle noted, sheridan began scorching the earth, and before by having troops destroyed over 1000 barn and several hundred tons of wheat. very hungry, hungry people. to summarize the battle, sheridan won late and early won early.

i know there are these scholars who is studying for years and years. if custer had not been there early in the morning and [laughter] but, it is true. early in the day and somehow, the union army managed to stay in place. i took this leaning off that bridge on 11. it is really nice land.

i'm not trying to politicize this by any means but i really hope as we continue to look at places like chancellorsville and manassas and this beautiful relatively new part of cedar creek, we are taking into account the advice of people like the national trust and the civil war trust. we are doing the responsible thing with the land and not try to stop development. there are beautiful moments of these battlefields. they have got to be protected. from the national portrait gallery collection, i wanted to have a couple more images. i do not believe these are in the catalog. jubal early. a great image of custer. the more you read about custer, the more you go, that i. [laughter] one of the historians was

reading was talking them in terms of being a viking. of just roared into valley and was not afraid of anything. not exactly a scholar. he had that gusto and lust for battle. that there is general sheridan, a young man at the time of the fight. and last of course is the horse. [laughter] we are going to do it here tonight. you just wait for it. that is winchester. ready to go to battle.

kathy golden writes the horse was named ramsey. it is renamed winchester after the battle at winchester. washester died in 1878 and preserved and went to the museum in new york for years and years and the story is the museum burned down and the horse came into the smithsonian collection in 1922. one of the great stories about this horse is the piece of art a piece of poetry that accompanied this horse's trip into legacy, those are both the painting and the poem. the work of thomas buchanan read -- reid.

in 1996, there was a nice article in which he talked about reed's writing both the poem at -- and painting the painting. he spent a month in new orleans and then he finished painting his self-proclaimed masterpiece in italy. there may be poets who can write a better poem, but could the man paint a better picture? there may be painters who could produce better picture. book of the same artist produce a better poem? here we go. we're going to wrap it up. i have an msa in drama.

great dismay to the chieftain's door. the terrible grumble and rumble telling about was on once more. sheridan 20 miles away. the billows of war thundered along the horizon far and longer yet into winchester rolled the roar of that red sea uncontrolled. making the blood cold. and sheridan 20 miles away. there is a road for winchester town. a good highway leading down and there through the flush of the morning light. of eagle flight as if he knew the terrible need he stretched away with his utmost steed. hills rose and fell but his heart with gay with sheridan 16 miles away. still sprung from those swift moves thundering south, the dust

like smoke from the cannon's mouth. the trail of a comet sweeping faster and faster for voting to traders the doom of disaster. the heart of this deed and the heart of the master were being like prisoners assaulting their walls impatient to be where the battle calls. every nerve of the charger was strained to full pledge with sheridan only 10 miles away. feet the roading like an outside river flowed and the landscapes sped away like an ocean blind before the wind and this deed like a bark fed with furnace fire spreads on with his wild eyes full of fire. he is nearing his heart desire. he snuck in and the smoke of the roaring fray with sheridan only five miles away. the first of the general's assault the troops and then the stragglers and then the retreating troops. what was today?

what was to do? striking his spurs. oathore he never swore in as his wife would've been very disappointed. he dashed down the line. because theretreat site of the master compelled it to pause. the black charger was gray. with the red nostrils play, he saw the whole great army to say i have brought you sheridan all the way from winchester down to save the day. hurrah for sheridan. whether statues are placed on high under the dome of the union therehe american soldiers with the glorious general's name. be it said and letters be bold this deed -- here's that saved the day by carrying sheridan into the fight. from winchester 20 miles away.

thank you. [laughter] [applause] i had to do it. [laughter] ok. thank you very much. any questions? >> i have a microphone in the back. >> yes, sir. i had -- i think i said in the -- one of my graduate degrees is in medieval literature. what i was reading that form a while back, i just had to do it. it reminds me of the green knight and also has the moments that are like paul revere's ride. and you can hear the [clacking sounds]

it has a meter around it. thatminds me of the satire chaucer wrote which is making fun of the epic pieces. i thought it was, i thought is still ran with the rhythm of the horse. it is a nice 19th-century poem. it is not like now or we go, it's not cool enough. it is a very good poem. i really enjoyed it and thank you for letting me read that. not that you could stop me. >> real quick question. how did the horse survived 20 miles of fast riding?

>> it is real funny. there are folks out there they will pick it to death. you know in my car and i have an audi and it is only several miles from the holiday inn. [laughter] some citizens and soldiers after it came out, so people were saying, is only 12 miles. other people were saying, there are different discussions about it. he did. he survived it. he went on to live practically another generation. yeah, i guess we'll have to leave that to equestrian scholars to re-create that route. >> i would imagine the answer to my question will be in

impression rather than anything solid. in the united states, among the hundreds, probably thousands of battle sites from the civil war. i wonder how do organizations such as the national park or civil war trust or any similar organization -- how do they sort it all out? how do they decide which site to preserve in which sites -- well, you cannot win every battle, bring on the suburbs. >> a great question. a couple times i have talked to guys at park and is a hold park service joke where the guy comes in and asks the ranger, all of these battles were fought on national park service land. [laughter] i have heard that at shiloh in cedar creek and a guy said that.

would you guys from the national park service like to address that? i could take a couple of guesses and guessing the scale of the fight would be part of that. if there is an interstate and mcdonald's nearby -- [laughter] >> i don't know if i'll have official, grand suggestions. there have been great studies done on the health of the battlefield and the history of the battlefield. some great mapping had been done in the 1990's for all of the fields that have not been recorded. as you alluded, there are probably levels of priority at the significance of this site. the national park service tries to preserve and protect nationally significant areas and obviously, every battle in the civil war war was nationally

significant for the fight for america. but, some are more significant than others or have more in-depth history. there are also instances where it may be a local community that has a nonprofit or a county government that can do a great job at preserving and protecting. if there are those place in place, the community should definitely be involved in protecting their community history. it is a mix of many factors of how it comes to the national park. >> a great question. i remember years ago going from memphis to nashville and your -- you always see this exit. i think it's only been since i have lived in washington for the past 15 years and put up the sign for parker crossroads which is a site which is right off the i-40 corridor outside of jackson, tennessee.

i know there was a big state effort to bring that into place. it is not a national park, i believe. there is community interest in keeping that. as you guys at cedar creek have so well done, winchester, virginia -- it seems like they should wall the whole place off because something amazing happened all over the community. and if you run out of civil war sites, you can go find other sites. it is just a place where history happens. i love that question. yes, ma'am and then sir. >> i enjoyed your presentation and love the reading of the poem. i have never heard it out loud before. i am concerned there is so much more to the battle of cedar

creek and what led up to it and to jubal early, the confederate general. two months ago we celebrated here in washington the battle of fort stevens. that was jubal early trying to attack washington and it was noted earlier the park service had a wonderful magazine which tells the whole story from when jubal early started violently on way of the shenandoah valley. there was a battle in stockton and then came down to d.c.. there was a battle for two days. by that time, grant has set up troops from petersburg where he was laying siege to. early went back over to the shenandoah valley at the head of -- and they had many skirmishes and battle through september and october. then we came to the big battle that weekend.

i don't know. anyway, you are right. sheridan was phenomenal. what he did, when he saw the soldiers coming out him i never , fully understood the word rallying the troops in this way but he did. he got to them and turned and they won. early was a major general. he was at gettysburg and these major battles. he was all over the place. think that piece of the story needs to be told as well even though i am a yankee. >> early spent a lot of the summer getting -- early right after this battle, he was removed. he went to richmond and was taken down. lee did not want to do it. early was so unpopular at that

moment because that's battle meant so much and you are very correct. this is the first installment of a couple of lectures. it is a good time to do an advertisement for those lectures at the battlefield. throughout the valley. our national park service will have information on that. this is by no means the complete story. what we represent here are some of these nice moments where that battle is with the smithsonian collection and the pieces in this large work, that we just put out. very good though. thank you very much.

well-informed comments. >> i am curious. i wonder if you could speak to a comparison between the battle of cedar creek and its significance to the end of the war in terms of sherman's march to the sea. there was a difference in scale. i was surprised when i first started learning about the shenandoah valley battles that this battle, nobody knows about this. nobody knows. >> it was a large battle. >> nobody knows that the valley was burned. >> some long memories out there. >> can you suggest why we hear a lot about one and thought about the other? >> it is an excellent question. this is purely my opinion. i believe it is because that happened distraction was so wide, so long, and it lasted forever.

some say there are many parts of the south that have never recovered from the civil war. i am sure this is not the case and i would have to read up on the culture of the valley, the shenandoah is such that a couple of growing seasons, it is the garden of eden all over again. it is that prolific. georgia lost a city in atlanta, and sherman affected so many people for so long. when we look at flannery o'connor and william faulkner talking about the destruction of the south, the literature reaffirms that it was a 100 year disaster. if you're african american in the south the civil rights act

is signed by lyndon b. johnson, it was supposed to end the problems that lincoln was supposed to have ended. there are still problems. with respect to sherman versus cedar creek, it was a huge body of land that he went through. it was huge. it was being followed by the press. imagine a tornado wearing blue coats. >> cedar creek was not featured in a major film. [laughter] >> now we are calling hollywood. that it happened.

>> i believe public consciousness over what has happened, more people know about atlanta and that role. >> gone with the wind. >> i have a question. in my right, did they allow reenactments on that property? most national parks don't. >> that is correct. the national park service has a policy we do not allow reenactments on national park service land as a respect for the fallen and the whole words -- and the horrors that happened. cedar creek is a unique part. we are in a partnership, the national park service does not

own much of the land inside our park boundary. it encompasses 3000 acres and national park service has 90 of those acres. the rest is a mixed of our land owning key partners. we have five that own land and manage their land and interpret their land. and we have private landowners within the park boundary. our park partners are allowed to do reenactment on the battlefield that they own. part of our 150th anniversary is a reenactment on the battlefield. that is a unique situation. national parks to not have reenactments. that is the unique situation with us and allows our partners to interpret their site as well. >> thank you. yes? let's one reason that is

problematic is that you had private landowners who needed their provisions to get through the winter and the theory a lot of the grain might have reached lee's army, but the destruction of private property meant a lot of these farmers starved in the winter. one book i read was called federal atrocities in the 19th century, destroying private food from those who might of the unit, it was considered an atrocity. i'm not surprised it is not as widely known as it was. a crow flying over the valley must bring its own vendor. the other point is we commemorate those events which we which guess which we want to commemorate. mobs seize control of the city,

it is not marked at all. there is no park service anywhere in manhattan. or less commendable events in our nation's history. the other point, homes did not yell at lincoln get down you damn fool, that did not happen. >> it's interesting how they can raise a monument. you see a whole community or moment enshrined. i'm trying to think of the most amazing things. " the monuments to the nonexistent bloom. you can fall all over dublin,

and this is where bloom spent this part of the day. this is to the work of james joyce ulysses. there are monuments of this fictitious character. you see some communities do this. they raise monuments to fictitious. there is a monument to dark canyon -- in the united states we have our own take on this. the monument to mary richards, mary tyler moore in minneapolis-st. paul. and the monument to rocky.

[laughter] they took it down? a shame. [laughter] yes? >> the story of someone who combines this with james joyce, he said yes. [laughter] >> we have entered the postmodern. >> this is more of an anecdote. my great grandfather at cedar creek with cavalry. he chose to go north. in his last year, his son, my grandfather was working for the state of new york and albany. they walked up state street to the capital, and there was a statue. i don't know what sort, of

sheridan. the capital guide was saying to the small crowd something about sheridan's ride. it may not be true. my grandfather said oh no, it was true. i was there. [laughter] >> he was from middle, tennessee? >> my great-grandfather. what i see -- >> i see. very good. >> "gone with the wind", it that the movie theater. check your newspapers. >> that's right. thank you for coming out.

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