Search Results
6/14/2025, 7:43:25 AM
>>24465041
>>24465051
sorry for the triplepost, just one more excerpt and picture I promise, it's too good not to share
>Capt. John C. Tidball witnessed a “throng of sightseers” approaching down a road from Centreville. “They came in all manner of ways, some in stylish carriages, others in city hacks, and still others in buggies, on horseback and even on foot. Apparently everything in the shape of vehicles in and around Washington had been pressed into service for the occasion.” Some brought picnic baskets, opera glasses and bottles of champagne. The baskets of food may seem frivolous, but Centreville was a good seven-hour carriage ride away from Washington, and no Northerner could expect Southern hospitality from an enemy nation. Not wanting the little ones to miss out on the novelty of visiting a warzone, some parents even brought their kids!7 Why should they miss out on all the fun?
...
>Meanwhile, the spectators watched from five miles away on Centreville Heights. All they could see was gunsmoke rising above the treetops. They may have been disappointed by the lack of spectacle, if it weren’t for the good news filtering from the battlefield by Union officers. William Howard Russell from the London Times reported on the scene. “The spectators were all excited, and a lady with an opera glass who was near me was quite beside herself when an unusually heavy discharge roused the current of her blood - ‘That is splendid, Oh my! Is not that (sic) first rate? I guess we will be in Richmond to-morrow.’” An officer rode up from the battlefield, and was reported to have exclaimed, “We have whipped them on all points!”10 Union victory was assured…or so they thought.
lol
>>24465051
sorry for the triplepost, just one more excerpt and picture I promise, it's too good not to share
>Capt. John C. Tidball witnessed a “throng of sightseers” approaching down a road from Centreville. “They came in all manner of ways, some in stylish carriages, others in city hacks, and still others in buggies, on horseback and even on foot. Apparently everything in the shape of vehicles in and around Washington had been pressed into service for the occasion.” Some brought picnic baskets, opera glasses and bottles of champagne. The baskets of food may seem frivolous, but Centreville was a good seven-hour carriage ride away from Washington, and no Northerner could expect Southern hospitality from an enemy nation. Not wanting the little ones to miss out on the novelty of visiting a warzone, some parents even brought their kids!7 Why should they miss out on all the fun?
...
>Meanwhile, the spectators watched from five miles away on Centreville Heights. All they could see was gunsmoke rising above the treetops. They may have been disappointed by the lack of spectacle, if it weren’t for the good news filtering from the battlefield by Union officers. William Howard Russell from the London Times reported on the scene. “The spectators were all excited, and a lady with an opera glass who was near me was quite beside herself when an unusually heavy discharge roused the current of her blood - ‘That is splendid, Oh my! Is not that (sic) first rate? I guess we will be in Richmond to-morrow.’” An officer rode up from the battlefield, and was reported to have exclaimed, “We have whipped them on all points!”10 Union victory was assured…or so they thought.
lol
Page 1