Reflections - Chicamuxen Creek, Charles County, Maryland 

Last week I spent a couple of days in the swamps of North Carolina around the site of Buffalo City. There is nothing left of this old logging town, but there are lots of waterways to explore and the weather was perfect. I will be posting pictures from this trip next week and hope you will stop by for a visit. Thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Marching into battle  - Battle of Stanardsville - Greene County, Virginia 

The reenactment of the Battle of Stanardsville took place in the afternoon and a large crowd stood on the sidelines and watched the battle unfold. A narrative of the action was broadcast over a loudspeaker. The presence of civilian spectators during a Civil War battle is not without historic precedent.

For example, on July 21, 1861, spectators from Washington flocked to Manassas to witness the first major engagement of the war at Bull Run. Several soldiers circulated through the crowd and offered commentary on the action, most of which took place out of sight. The presence of spectators at Bull Run was a reflection of the naive view of the coming war that was common at the start of the conflict.

Boy Soldier - Battle of Stanardsville -  Greene County, Virginia 

Estimates vary, but as many as one million boys under the age of  eighteen may have served in the armies of the Civil War. There are accounts of children twelve years old or even younger being present on the battlefield. Many ran away from home and lied about their age to join the fighting, but the the reality of a brutal war soon dispelled their boyish enthusiasm for war.


 

"As we lay there and the shells were flying over us, my thoughts went back to my home, and I thought what a foolish boy I was to run away to get into such a mess I was in. I would have been glad to have seen my father coming after me"  Elisha Stockwell, 1862

Quoted in The Boy's War by Jim Murphy
Clarion Books - 1990

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 Photograph on the left is from the Library of Congress
Portrait of Boy Soldier  #LC-B8184-10573

Battle of Stanardsville - Greene County, Virginia 

The re-enactment of the Battle of Stanardsville takes place on a field not far from our home. We can hear the cannons from our deck, but had never been to the event. I am not a student of the American Civil War, but my wife's genealogical research has piqued her interest in the period, and I thought that the re-enactment would be interesting to photograph, so last year we decided to attend.

We arrived several hours before the battle reenactment. There were displays of camp life and performers playing period music. There were horses with wagons and tents and open fires, but it was impossible to ignore the cars, trucks, horse trailers and food concessions that formed an unavoidable modern backdrop. The artifacts may have been authentic to the period, but in 2009 the atmosphere was carnival. In 1864, carnage prevailed.

The history of the Battle of Stanardsville is brief. In late February 1864, General George Armstrong Custer and 1400 Union soldiers conducted raids in the Virginia counties of Madison, Greene and Albemarle. On March 1, 1864, as he was drawing back from a raid on Charlottesville, Custer encountered J.E.B Stuart's Confederate cavalry near Stanardsville. The skirmish took place along the South River and ended with Custer retreating to Culpeper.

 

Eight gulls - Chicamuxen Creek - Charles County, Maryland 


Gulls are not usually seen in the swampy creeks that flow into the Potomac. These gulls were probably seeking shelter from the cool winds that were gusting down the river from the north all day. The gull in flight passed on by without joining the sociable group perched on a log floating in the water.

Great Blue Heron (ardea herodias) - Chicamuxen Creek - Charles County, Maryland 

Blue Herons are common up and down the Potomac River. They are large and easy to spot, but it is difficult to get close. On a trip to Chicamuxen Creek last week, I took along a telephoto lens in the hopes of getting a good shot of this beautiful bird. Shooting with a long lens from a rocking boat is not as easy as I thought. The photo above is about the best shot of the day.

Herons wade in shallow water on their long legs and spear small fish with their sharp beak. The Chicamuxen wetland is typical of the environment preferred by the herons.

Chicamuxen Creek - Charles County, Maryland

Last week my friend and I took a late October trip on the Potomac River. The weather was nearly perfect, sunny with a cool autumn breeze that made a sweatshirt feel good. We took the small inflatable boat for a trip into the Chicamuxen Wildlife Management Area and next week I will posting some more pictures of this wetland from the trip. Also, we will be visiting the re-enactment of the Battle of Stanardsville, Virginia. Hope you will stop in and visit next week. Thanks for reading Photography in Place.