so i'm going to close out today's program if you here at the beginning of the day i am carrie janie i'm the director of the now center. and it is my pleasure to shift

our attention to the years after second manassas. so we're going to spend the next little bit thinking about the decade after appomattox, after that, to after second manassas and the question of memory and how that plays out on the plains of manassas or bull run. how many of you have been to the battlefields at manassas? wonderful. and how many of you have seen this monument? how many of you've seen the monument? are good? there's two of these monuments. one for the battle of bull run. and i'm going to be using the union term for the battle. we haven't even addressed that really today. the union side tended to call this battle bull run confederates, manassas, second, manassas second. bull run. but the dedication of the monuments perhaps you've been to the henry hill monument. that's what all of these photographs were of took place

on june 11th, 1865. union dignitaries gathered atop henry hill and the old bull run battlefield to dedicate what would prove to be one of the very earliest monument of the civil war. the was unimposing by later standards, you don't see any sort of figure atop this. this is simply carved out of red sandstone. most of it that came out of the deep cut on the second manassas battlefield, an identical monument was also built at grove on the site of the august 1862 battle. only two months after. the surrender of lee's army on the fields where union forces had been defeated not once but twice by rebel armies. union veterans and civilians alike. re claimed the space dedicated to the battles of union dead,

the monuments and their ceremonies honored the union cause in no uncertain terms. they left no doubt about had been the ultimate victor of the war if not necessarily the here the present. they presumed that the memorials to their fallen would remain undisturbed on these hallowed fields. their meaning and form unchallenged and unchanged for perpetuity. indeed, if you've ever had the chance to look at alexander gardn's sketchboo y might notice that this is the last two image in the book. this is this is the bookend to two what the war meant. and yet by the early hundreds, the monuments had been largely forgotten, so much so that even some veterans denied that these monuments even existed. efforts by a handful of union veterans to create a national park on the site would focus the

nation's attentions once again on these stone. but congress, to offer any support, any funds to protect them. ironically, it took the determination of confederate veterans and their female allies to preserve the field as a southern memorial, to ensure that these monuments union patriots would remain protected for future generations. how did these monuments come about? well, in may of 1865, brigadier general william gamble's first separate brigade of the 22nd corps remained on duty near the fairfax courthouse, near fairfax courthouse, where they encountered the skeletons of men who had fallen in the to bull run battles. disturbed by the sight. gamble asked the war department if his men might gather and bury the bones of those men on that field to wreck some sort of memorial, to commemorate what what they had achieved in. the war, if not in these

battles. with permission granted on may 28th, may 28th. so those of you might be thinking about the grand review only a few days after the grand review. these men are not participating in the grand revie they began the wk these monuments. many of these our members of the fifth pennsylvania heavy artillery. important to point out that none of the men who participated in building these monuments had fought at either battle with no attempt to condemn land or otherwise acquire to it. the soldiers selected the site near grove ten. so the battle of second bull run on the dogan farm, near the deep cut of the unfinished railroad, where some 1500 soldiers remains. now reposed using wood and stone hammers provided by the war department to quarry the red sandstone from the unfinished railroad cut. they placed a ten box containing history of the battle, a written

history of the battle, and other relics that they picked up from the field put it in the cornerstone. and then from there, they constructed this obelisk, a 16 foot obelisk. they planted four cedar trees, one on each of the monument's earthen terraces. and then they enclosed the entire area, a cedar fence. next moved to henry house hill. the fighting of the 1861 battle where they again repeated the process. minus the cornerstone went on this one. when both shafts had been completed, the soldiers traversed the battlefield, collecting shells to adorn the monuments. i think if we look back at grove ten monument in particular, you can see all the shells that they had collected on henry hill. one side of the obelisk was inscribed to the memory of the patriots fell at bull run, july 21st, 1865. the grove. the monument was identical, except for the name and dates and the reverse side of the both

monuments had a simple plaque read erected june 10th, 1865. the very next day, trains leave washington, d.c., for a monument, dedication. so they're finished on june 10th. by june 11th. there is an impromptu monument dedication again aend primarily by soldiers. some of the genera w had been there on the field, but also it included civilians. i know it's always risky to show these colorized photographs, but i like to use these in class becae think they remind what we all know well, and that is past was not black and wte, but it also clearly points out the man of the clergy here in this in this particular image, because this is very much a funeral for the men whose remains were on this field. for the men who this monument dedicated to this occasion serves as a funeral service

denied to the christian soldiers who had died fighting on the field. it included a reading from the psalms, an invocation. and in all of this, they were explicit in what the men had died for. and i think it's going to be interesting to compare this to some of the things that that john was telling us just a little bit ago. a hymn written for the occasion and sung by the assembled congregation heralded slavery as the cause of the war. and the president as the cause of both the war and the president's death. and that union soldiers had secured freedom. the second stanza, for example, here on virginia's soil where slavery bred and drove the gangs the horrid lay in coil here freedom's sons first felt her fangs. but the third stanza invoked a refrain that would become standard in union memories of bull run. they fought. they fell, but not in vain.

lost. they. the battle of run. the blows that broke the bowman's chains at last were on this ground, begun. so the notion that the ending of slavery starts here at bull run whether that the battle of first bull run or the second not content to merely recast the losses that bull run as battles on the way to union victory. the hymn concluded by condemning the rebel dead that still slumbered on the same ground and so upon the bloody spot where now this monument is raised shall rebel bones and memories. but patriot names for i be praised. so again, this hymn written explicitly for this occasion. there is no denying what is going on here and i think it's worth emphasizing. confederates talked about bull run both battles as these victories and here union veterans and they're not even

really veterans yet are reclaiming the spot. and all of this is celebrate in newspapers across the loya north. included in harper's weekly and again the very fact that we have the photographs of the dedication suggest important this was that gardiner's crew was there commemorating this the despite the fact that the soldiers expected as one might, that a stone sitting all would last forever. it quickly became apparent that these monuments again constructed in virginia, surrounded by those still loyal to the confederacy in the summer of 1865, might stand the test of time touring the field. the summer of 1865. reporter whitelaw reid found the inscription altered someone he wrote had carefully and conspicuously intertwined the original text that it now read in memory of the confederate

patriot. they also found that many of those shells, the artillery pieces had or the shells had been taken. the cannonballs taken away. even more troubling to people like reed and, other veterans, union veterans who are coming to the field was the state, the battlefield itself in march 1866. a union colonel reported that the exposed bones on both the bull run and grove and fields, and often you'll see them refer to the second battle as groat and instead that the exposed bones were being carried away by trophy hunters and the fields being plowed up for spring planting like many unionist. he begged the government do something about collecting the bones, about properly entering them. and it's during this time, as in february of 1866, that the federal embarks on what would become the beginnings of the national cemetery system. so the united states burial corps is traversing virginia.

it's going throughout areas of former battlefields looking to create national cemeteries. how many of you have visited the national cemetery at manassas? really, the national cemetery at manassas. it's not there. there isn't. there isn't one in this. this becomes problem. it's a problem because it means that those monuments, there's no one there to take care of them. a quartermaster general may decide to instead reinterred the remains of union soldiers, both bull run and other sites along the orange and alexandria railroad in arlington national cemetery. excavations began on the plains of manassas in of 1866, a handful whose skeletons remained intact would receive individual graves, but most would rest for eternity, and a collective tomb for the unknown dead adjacent to

mary lee's rose garden. there are the skeletal remains of approximately thousand 111 soldiers co-mingled in a vault toppedy a large altar tomb that soon became the center of the cemeteries. memorial activities. the inscription, which was authoredy meggs, paid homage. the soldiers, quote, gathered after war from the fields of bull run and the route to the rappahannockhose names could not be identified, but whose grateful, country honored as the noble army martyrs. well, even as the bull run dead at arlington came to symbolize the sacrifice, every union soldier, the lack of a national cemetery on or near the battlefields, meant that there would be no federal presence there to watch over the monuments. and so in 1879, the quartermaster department ordered an inspection of memorials in part because it was dorothea dix of people, the former superintendent of army private

nurses, who asked general miggs about the status she had heard reports that the monuments were in a state of disrepair. so meg sent someone down to look at the monuments and they provided a sketch. a sketch that found that the henry hill monument particular was sound. if leaning a bit the grove, the monument likewise appeared in good condition other than the defaced inscription white wall read had seen and the missing shells and official in the war department recommended some minor repairs. but meggs cautioned the land did not belong to the federal government and. therefore, he recommended the expenditures not exceed $100. he replies to dix's inquiry, assures her, assures her quote that the monuments are in a state for their age. so here we are in 1879. and even though it's leaning there in a good condition, he

would direct, quote, small, necessary repairs to preserve them, provided the land owners consented, the sites do not belong to the united states. he informed dix the long term fate of the memorials was a little concern to meggs or the federal government to put all this in a larger context as we move out of the 1870s into the 1880s. so the 15 years following the war, the pace of union monument d intensified, and almost every community in the loyal north in milwaukee, in small towns in new york, in connecticut, new hampshire, you name it. small towns were dedicating monuments to their soldiers but gettysburg of course would prove the most popularion for regimental and state memorials for veterans of the army of the potomac. all of this unfolding during the years in which the united states

began moving toward a spirit of national reconciliation, a spirit in which the causes and consequences the war were not discussed. instead, they focused on april of 1861 to april of 1865. talking about the heroic of both sides and in the eighties and 1890s union and confederate veterans began to participate in joint blue gre reunions. popular such as the century. increasingly we valorize battles and leaders of the war. playwrights even get into this. as you can see this play that is using grant's campaign slogan. let us peace to show the blue and the shaking hands. all of this is the spirit of national reconciliation. it never is the dominant way in which veterans of either side are choosing to think about the war. but it certainly plays a significant role in commemoration. and we can see that in particular, the creation, the

fit five national military parks, the first one being chickamauga, chattanooga, ga. that was authorized in 1890, dedicated in 1895, but also shiloh, gettysburg and vicksburg, all created in the spirit of national reconciliation. national reconciliation don't always play out that way on the ground. but but this is the larger context amid this wave of national park enthusiasm. veterans, both north and south began to recommend other battlefields that might be potential sites. and every you can think of veterans that field began to say well we, need a national battlefield here as well. and of course, that included manassas and february of 1900 represent that of peter j. o.t., a confederate veteran from lynchburg, virginia, introduced a bill to establish a battle park on the site of the battle of bull run. this is a 1900 stall boys and

committee following year 1901. george car round a manassas resident, a union veteran and a very active member of. the local j.r., the grand army of the republic veterans in in manassas. up began what would to be a decades long campaign to protect the monuments and his ultimate goal in the monuments was to create or have established rather a park at manassas. this is an image 1896. this is the henry hill monument. if you can find it in this particular pictureyou can see that it's very much been the trees have grown up around it. most of the shells have taken from it. in december of 1901, round to congress urging the federal government to protect the monuments by acquiring proper title to the land on which they

stood and to establish a national park. following year, april of 1902, the committee on military affairs began hearings on the bill. but what is really fascinating to me about this is that one of the central questions that the committee asked was who built monuments? they did not believe that the united states government had built these monuments. so called to testify, ron offered newspaper clippings. he offered the gardener photographs from the 1865 dedication. he offered pam flits from the 1865 dedication. he even called in some of the men, some of the soldiers who who had labored to build the monument to testify before congress. all of these, they insisted, meant that the federal government had a responsive ability to protect these monuments, because, in fact, they had been crafted by united

states, soldiers. but the bill never even makes it out of committee, completely flounders. while this bill is lingering in committee. in 1903, round turns to the grand army, the republic to the j.r., the nation's largest and most powerful veterans organization. and he's trying to get them to lobby on behalf of this bill. you might keep in mind that the j.r. had been one of the most influential or probably the most influential lobbyist groups in the late 19th century in securing pensions for union veterans. and so what round is trying do is to leverage their their political connections. but again, he meets resistance as his staunchest opponent proved to be the past. j.r. a commander in chief. brigadier general louis wagner, the captain in the 88th pennsylvanian, pennsylvania, who was wounded and captured at second bull run wagner declared

that no such monuments existed at bull run. now, part of the problem is hadn't been back to bull run since 62. but attitudes begin to shift in 1904 because brown says, come on down to manassas, come see for yourself that these monuments do exist. and again, you can see the state of these monuments by 1904. so society of the army, the potomac meets manassas for its its annual reunion, which there's some irony in that, that the society of the army, the potomac, decides to meet there. but the proximity washington helps this general wagner and other pennsylvania comrades who had objected to the proposal in 1903 decide they'll attend the two day event. and they listen to rounds. they listen to him recount the history of the bull run monuments. they attend a picnic, lunch over at groton.

but equally noteworthy was the attendance of confederate veterans, including now us senator john walker, daniel leveraging the reconciliation of spirit of the day. the speakers gushed about the fraternal feelings on the field, while newspapers newspaper headlines reported that the blue and the gray had reunited at bull run. most important for round. confederate veterans began to get on board of supporting legislation that would protect the monuments at the national encampment the ga that august the j r finally agreed to appoint a committee on the battle on the bull run battlefield monuments. but again, nothing happened. while the j.r. is still trying to figure out how to do things confederate veterans and their descendants become active on the field. and in 190 if you have visited a national cemetery in, manassas, you sited the

confederate national cemetery at manassas, which is establied by the udc. in 1904. the following year, members the seventh georgia erected seven small marble markers denoting the position during the two battles. only two of these remain on the fieltoy. but they too are trying to mark the field and then there's going to be another wave. union regimental markers. in 1906, the first union regimental monuments appeared when new york unveiled four monuments. but at this dedication, the dedication of the new york monuments, confederate veterans joined their former enemies for ceremonies where calls for a more expansive effort to secure the battlefield, found support. before departing union and confederate veterans joined forces and formed the bull run battle park association to promote the idea of a park here. still, congress refuses to act.

in 1907, former confederate veteran again senator john warwick daniel introduced another to the senate. but again the bill never makes it out of committee. now, to be clear here, this isn't just happening at manassas. this is happening at appomattox. it's happening at frederick's burg. it's happening at a host of different places. and you can see all these interest groups, different veterans groups that are pushing for battlefield parks at different places. stirring the semis. anthony, on 1911 to 1915, that attention once more turns to two manassas in april of 1911, just before the 50th niversary at first bull run dubbed the peace jubilee, which was organized in large part by george round new bills protecting the monuments were submitted in both the house and the senate. and again, this piece is as part of in part the height of

reconciliation. we can see lots of gestures on both sides of bearing the hatchet, at least among veterans not so much among the women's groups. there's some great stories of union veterans complaining about gog manassas. and it's really hot. it's july there. there just they are thirsty. and the united daughters of the confederacy refused to give them anything to drink because they refused to have anything to do with the yankees. so this reconciliation, this notion alive and well among veterans, so much among the women. but again, george round is going to to once more to congress. he's going to to push efforts to save these monuments. and a representative from the galleries committee detailed association's increasing concern with the fact that no one is paying attention to these monuments. all agree that congress a duty to protect the monuments that

were already there and that might be erected all time. so even more regiments are now starting to to express desires to put monuments on the field. all of them though, are using the occasion to ask for. they want the land designate as a national battlefield park. but unlike the 1902 testimony that featured only union veterans, ten years later in 1912, the hearings that of former confederates whose motivation had little to do with the union monuments. while the union veterans least positioned their pleas for the battlefield park under the pretext of protecting the monuments. confederate confederate veterans couch their call for a park in the reconciliation of spirit of the day. speaking on behalf of the confederate, for example, captain d b mull of fitzgerald, georgia, which, if you know the story of fitzgerald georgia, this is a sidebar, but that is a

community that is created it as a reconciliation, as community. so the fact that mall is coming, so it has both union and veterans. so he is is very much a spokesperson for reconciliation. you may captain mall noted, quote bull run is a sacred spot for many of our soldiers on both sides. but even more astounding, the testimony of mary el al, the president of the local united daughters of the confederacy chapter. although she described the poor condition of the union monuments at grafton, she explained that her principal work was in protecting the confederate monument erected by her chapter in 1904, which, unlike union monuments, she pointed out, had been paid for solely by women. unlike veterans on both who proved capable of indulging in the blue great gush when practical. the udc proves skeptics at best, if not resistant to reconciliation as gestures. alexander was no exception. so this is alexander.

testify before congress. if i were to stand here and say that i was not a rebel, i would tell an untruth. i was born and raised the cradle of the south and stand here, the daughter of a confederate soldier. and as a woman who went through four years of war. but now was the time to lay aside unfriendly sentiment and come together to care for these monuments. so even she is pushing for protection of the monuments once more. in 1912, the efforts. by 1917, the had turned its attention to europe as a world war. still, george brown persisted in his efforts. protect the bull, run monuments. in a petition to congress titled is the united states poor to own its own monuments, he described the government's to act as a national, and he goes through all of the issues. you can see at the top. this is a national disgrace.

the pamphlet recounted the monuments as well as the campaign to protect them. imploring congress act before the union veterans who built them had all perished. and is his his quote. you might see on the bottom while expending billions in preparedness for the future. i submit we ought to expend a few thousand tpreserve these unique as lessons of posterity. he closed. unfortunately, roundwood. not live to see the monuments protected. he would pass away in 1918, but his constant efforts to rally union veterans to e monuments defense after his death. it would white southerners, ironically, who oversaw who oversaw the field its interpretation. in 1921, 1921, the united daughters of the confederacy and sons of confederate established the manassas battlefield corporation, which developed

into a which developed a confederate park at the henry farm, to quote, give voice to the south and challenge depictions of their confederate ancestors as enemies of their country. 14 years later, the franklin. roosevelt administration incorporated the confederate park into new deal recreational demonstration area and not 1940,ith the federal government established the manassas national battlefield park. tellingly, calling manassas instead of bull. and also that year, the of the stonewall jackson monument that if you've been there i surely you've seen finally taking full ownership the federal government finally taking full ownership and responsibility for. the memorials established by the soldiers on a field where they had lost twice but thought they had inscribed the meaning of the war. in 1865.

all of this is to say that although unique in, many respects the bull run and grove the monument stand today as representatives of many facets of similar civil war memorials. and i will offer you three in closing. first, they serve as a testament the immediate desire of union to commemorate the human of the war. their devotion to the union cause and slavery as the cause of the war. second, the story of their preservation embodies the surge of reconciliation sentiment surrounding the smithsonian and of the war, and the challenges incumbent upon it. but third, and perhaps most important, they function as stark that monuments and efforts to preserve and or abandoned them have always been and always will be a product of their contemporary, social and cultural context. thank you.

questions. dr. janie, my apologies if i missed. when george brown passed away and then the confederate, you know, the confederacy, it was more taking over the park. was there any pushback after george brown died from the north saying, you know, we should be involved in this, too? right. so the question is whether or not anyone picks up the slack in a union veteran's pick up the slack after rounds passing in 1918. not really. and there had been a movement among many of the confederate groups already to try to make manassas a confederate park. if a national park than a confederate park. and and he a local. by that point, he had moved to manassas in 1868 and had embedded himself in the

community he had been part of the local school system. but he just simply couldn't seem to get it done. and no one else rushes in to pick up the banner. great question. it's okay if there's no questions. i know it's a it's the end of a very long day. okay. that that some. since no one is asking you anything directly on what you said, i'm going to the elephant in the room now about the newest national disgrace at manassas as the dive center lobby against the world's largest data center being right next to the broader to field and know the now center is not lobbying about that but if you're not familiar with the fact that it's a data center being built adjacent to the battlefield. i mean, one of the there's there's been tremendous growth, encroachment. we can call it whatever we want

around that battlefield. and it's amazing what is still there today. but but you're absolutely right. if you're out at bronner farm and and look, you can can see this. i mean, it's going to be absolutely surrounded in many ways the same way that fredericksburg is now. i thank you for your great presentation. what do you think about groups like the civil war trust, american civil war trust and other organizations that are trying to save battlefields? i think that the american trust and what it's done and one of the most important people in preserving land is sitting right up in front is has done tremendous work. and and gary was instrumental in that. and and gary, you're the part of the reason that we don't have disneyworld sitting in haymarket. and and i mean, it's somewhat funny, but it's not because it could be even worse than it is

now in many ways. so that is because of the the work of gary and others in that from happening really the destruction of chantilly kicked up even before disney really kicked off the whole preservation going on wilderness. yep, absolutely. i mean, at the american battlefield trust is fantastic in what they're doing and the the land that they've been able to save it places, whether it's as big as gettysburg or a small is appomattox station that their work is incredible you know the flag marched through of jackson's army is being lost right now they're there completely yeah. but sections of it really seem. a quick so i like the difference in manassas versus bull run but like was how controversial was like the twin terminology of not just this particular but like all the various battles of the civil war having like a

confederate name versus, you know, a union name. was that like in the actual, like newspaper arguments about what to call it or did they just call it based on what they felt and just didn't really about it to talk about at the time of the time of the battle. yeah. they just call it what they call it. i will ask maybe john i'll put you on the spot. was there a debate about manassas in bull run about what to name it now? and there's not a debate about what to name shiloh ever orientate them. i mean, they all have multiple but but yeah. good question. thank you very for your presentation. are there any efforts to add to or take away from the monuments that are already there at bull run first and second bull run, not that i am aware of, but that is course one of the larger questions that's going on as we discuss monuments everywhere

about what should happen at national parks. personally i believe that the monuments that are national parks should stay at national parks, that the the rangers, the interpreters, historians, they are best equipped to provide context and and that is precisely what of these monuments need. dr. jenny, back on names. is it true that? manassas national battlefield park is the only national park with the confederate on it. the only one i can think of that true because antietam is the northern name and silos northern name and is that because the southerners had bought the the property and they had the confederate or the that the scv and udc had created that memorial park that then became

the national park. yeah. great question. all right. i'm going to send you all on your way. thank you all so much. please stay tuned for further events. next fall. we already know that professor liz barron will be delivering a lecture about her new, long, straight book. professor justin edwards, who will likewise be delivering a lecture, her forthcoming book on the freedman's bank. and we will keep you posted on all of our other upcoming events. there are books still for sale, i'm sure people will be happy to sign those for you. otherwise, have a wonderful rest of your day and we'll see you soon.