Thursday, April 11, 2019

My Interview on the Y'all Show

Yesterday, I was interviewed by Jon Rawl for the radio show, Y'all. Based out of Tennessee, the show covers a range of topics from food, travel, outdoors,sports, history, and more: all with a Southern focus of course! I have not listened to it yet, so I'm not sure how goofy I sound. 😃


Y'all Show - Masters Preview; Civil War Women; Southern Food Fests

Monday, April 8, 2019

And Now For Something Completely Different: Ringwraiths at Sudley Springs Ford

One of my favorite photographs from the Civil War was taken by George Barnard at Manassas in March 1862. 

Library of Congress:  LC-DIG-cwpb-00954
There's just something about this photograph that depicts children and Federal cavalry staring each other down at Sudley Ford.  The tension is palpable, and a viewer is quickly immersed with the unknown.  What transpired between the children and troopers?  What was said?  Regardless of the subsequent events, one thing for sure is that the lives of these individuals would be changed forever in the coming days, months, and years.   Specifically, the innocence of the children would be stolen by one of the most profound tragedies in American history that was the Civil War. 

[HERE] is a post containing then and now photos of the area.  And in [THIS BLOG POST] one researcher identified the children as belonging to the Thornberry family. 

The troopers are unknown, but for whatever reason, when I saw this photo for the first time, I couldn't help but thinking of them as the Ringwraiths in The Fellowship of the Ring and the scene depicted as "Flight to the Ford."