"One of the largest Cavalry battles of the American Civil War you never heard of"
Neither have most students, scholars and those who have a keen interest in the Civil War. They can easily name the historic battles of Gettysburg, Shiloh and Antietam and countless others, yet chances are good that even a Civil War expert will draw a blank if asked about the Battle of Jack's Shop (so named for a blacksmith's shop near the area of this battle) . While I attempted to take a detour to avoid an accident and road closures on the major byway some distance away, I found myself on small back roads that seemingly were in the middle of nowhere. Completely and unexpectedly, I glanced out of the corner of my eye and noticed a small plaque located just inside a crossroad. There before me stood the vast expanse of a field recently cleared of crops, with the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, far off in the distance.
Apparently one of the largest, bloodiest and deadliest two day Cavalry battles of the war took place here, where at the time, the battlefield was littered with enormous numbers of wounded and dead solders from both sides. So fierce was the fighting and the toll taken by local conscripts, that the surrounding town suffered from heavy economic loses and development for more than 150 years, while the rest of this county (Madison County Va.) moved on. The small village and homes that dot the landscape here appear much as they had more than 150 years ago. Just recently recognition of this historic location has taken place, with both the placing of a new roadside marker and a large battlefield reenactment of this little known battle. Upon subsequent visits to this location recently, I often notice a confluence of unusal weather patterns in the sky, close to the crossroads and it reminded me of the saying "The Winds of War".
Some of the surviving weary troops of the Battle of Jacks Shop marched on, 50 miles to the north, to Manassas Va., where well known historic battles of the war took place on what has become known as the Battlefields of Manassas Va. and Bull Run. I previously posted some images from this historic area.
The two images below are more for historical perspective than photographic value. Both were taken with the Pentax 645Z & FA 45-85mm.
The 1st image was taken of the Battlefield at Jacks Shop. The 2nd image was taken on one of the small hills on the Manassas Battlefield, where untold numbers of both Union and Confederate solders lost their lives and a historical memorial marker was placed. Until recently two Civil War canons flanked each side of the memorial marker but have been moved for what I believe might be their restoration. Facing west, it often makes for some striking and moving sunset images, of which I took previously with another camera system but have not yet posted
Dave (D&A)