Saturday, June 11 continued

After the Tredegar Ironworks tour, our guide took us to the museum to look around. While we were viewing the museum our guide got in period costume and then had muzzle shot demonstration for those who wished to brave the heat to see it!

Photo compliments of Keith Brown

Museum of the Confederacy

After lunch we headed to the Museum and the White House of the Confederacy. We toured the house in two separate groups, so one group to the house and one to the museum! The actual Curator of the Museum and House did our tours. The museum had some very interesting items:

The museum has over 500 displays of Confederate flags - national, state, presentation, company, and regimental flags; some made of cotton, wool, and silk; and battlefield flags that show the devastation of war.


 So now you know where some of these states got their nicknames!! Some are quite fitting and still being used by sports teams or schools.


 The hat to the left was made from corn-husks. As a child, I used to take gum wrappers and fold, join, and create with them in a zig zag fashion. This is created in a similar way.

"On going round in the battlefield with a candle searching for my friends I could hear on all sides the dreadful groans of the wounded and their heart piercing cries for water and assistance . . . Oh the awful scene . . . May I never see anymore such in life . . . I assure you I am heartily sick of soldiering" - A. N. Erskine, 4th Texas Infantry

 Items in this picture are original items belonging to Robert E. Lee. This represents his sleeping quarters when in camp. Notice his boots are taller than his bed!

One of the most unique displays was a Currier & Ives Three-Way Slat Portrait:

                      

Left to Right: Stonewall Jackson, Confederate President Jefferson Davis; Robert E. Lee

The tour of the White House of the Confederacy was interesting, and the Curator thought we (teachers) might be interested in knowing that Jefferson Davis' children "were infamous for having unbridled spirits and unbroken wills"!

We were not allowed to take photos inside, only on the outside. The interior was interesting in that it had a lots of European influenced design. The entry all below has floor cloth painted to resemble ceramic tiles and a faux bronze statue.

Photo from Museum of Confederacy website

Hebrew Cemetery

Our next stop takes us to a Hebrew Cemetery. This was the first Hebrew Cemetery established in Virginia. Within its gates lies a section known as Soldier's Section dedicated specifically to 30 Jewish Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. Traveling with our group is Dr. Arnold Krammer, Professor of  History at A&M. He was our own tour guide and great source of information here!