You Can Feel Their Presence Here!

[PaigeBooth]

Yesterday, I visited Kernstown Battlefield located in Winchester, Virginia, and saw some incredible sites that I wanted to share!

If you would like to see pictures and video from my trip, simply click or touch this link: https://twitter.com/April14th1865

The first Battle of Kernstown occurred on March 23, 1862. Here, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson believed the Union troops numbered roughly 3,000 men, but upon arrival he found there were, in fact, approximately 9,000 Union troops awaiting him and his men! It was, no doubt, a Union victory that day.

The second Battle of Kernstown was fought on July 24, 1864. This battle involved Confederate Generals Jubal Early, Gordon and Breckenridge, who utterly defeated the Union Army. This time, it was a resounding Confederate victory.

[LincolnMan]

You look like you were having lots of fun there! Did you enjoy the rations?

[PaigeBooth]

(07-25-2016 07:09 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  You look like you were having lots of fun there! Did you enjoy the rations?

Hi Bill,
Yes, we had a great time! The rations, called "hominy" was actually corn that had been soaked and washed. He served it to us in an old cloth sack and I took a few kernels. It was very crunchy with little flavor, but it really gave you an idea of what the soldiers had to eat. After giving us his rations, the soldier put the hominy back into his pocket and, from his other pocket, pulled out what looked like a small piece of brown, twisted rope. Having never seen anything like this, I had no idea what it was. It was tobacco! Jokingly, the Confederate soldier offered me some; I politely had to refuse his offer.
These men portraying the Cofederates were so into it, they were literally sleeping in those tents you saw in my photo all weekend, eating only their rations, and continued marching over the battlefield even though it was 90 plus degrees that day. They were really getting a feel for the life of a soldier and totally enjoying every moment of it. Did you happen to notice the expressions of their faces in the photo they took with me? They really got into character.
I will post another video clip of these men later for you to see more.

[Gene C]

(07-25-2016 11:31 AM)PaigeBooth Wrote:  Did you happen to notice the expressions of their faces in the photo they took with me? They really got into character.
I will post another video clip of these men later for you to see more.

Paige, let's not overlook the fact that an attractive young lady was taking an interest in what they were doing. That can change a guys expression. It probably did 160 years ago too. Some things never change.
Glad you had a good time.

[L Verge]

I'm showing my age and my upbringing here, Paige, but hominy and hominy grits were regular staples on our supper table when I was growing up. We had them as both starch and vegetable at least once or twice a month. My mother cheated and bought them in a can, however. Hot and with plenty of butter (and a tad of sugar on the grits), they are pretty good.

The twist of tobacco should have been familiar to you because we display them in the tavern, and most guides make a point of letting the visitors smell both the twists and the plugs. And we have "The Imp" plug cutter sitting on the bar itself. On the hearth, sits a spittoon to catch the juices. We tell folks that our tavern is lots cleaner today than it would have been in the Surratts' time. Can you imagine ladies' skirts dragging in tobacco spit that didn't reach the container? Or, muddy boots mixing with the spit? We have also read accounts where bar patrons would have spitting contests in the old taverns to see who could hit the "bulls-eye" hole of the spittoon.

Despite the abundance of tobacco in our area, cigarettes did not become popular in America until after the Crimean War when British soldiers began to use them, and the habit floated across The Pond.

P.S. One of the soldiers who posed with you should have been disciplined after the photo was taken. He did not look straight ahead while standing at attention.

[PaigeBooth]

(07-25-2016 12:14 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I'm showing my age and my upbringing here, Paige, but hominy and hominy grits were regular staples on our supper table when I was growing up. We had them as both starch and vegetable at least once or twice a month. My mother cheated and bought them in a can, however. Hot and with plenty of butter (and a tad of sugar on the grits), they are pretty good.

The twist of tobacco should have been familiar to you because we display them in the tavern, and most guides make a point of letting the visitors smell both the twists and the plugs. And we have "The Imp" plug cutter sitting on the bar itself. On the hearth, sits a spittoon to catch the juices. We tell folks that our tavern is lots cleaner today than it would have been in the Surratts' time. Can you imagine ladies' skirts dragging in tobacco spit that didn't reach the container? Or, muddy boots mixing with the spit? We have also read accounts where bar patrons would have spitting contests in the old taverns to see who could hit the "bulls-eye" hole of the spittoon.

Despite the abundance of tobacco in our area, cigarettes did not become popular in America until after the Crimean War when British soldiers began to use them, and the habit floated across The Pond.

P.S. One of the soldiers who posed with you should have been disciplined after the photo was taken. He did not look straight ahead while standing at attention.

Laurie-- If there is a twist of tobacco on display at Surratt House it was not brought to the attention of myself or my family during our visit. Nor were we invited to smell it.

I do appreciate you letting me know though-- I will be sure to look for it next time I visit.

And yes, I too often think what a shame it was that the ladies beautiful dresses often drug in such squalid conditions.

As far as the soldier looking at an angle in my photo, his pose was intentional and the soldiers were not standing at attention during that time. I took several photos with them, and in each one this soldier chose to look at an angle as part of his character.

When they were standing at attention during their reenactment, all heads were straight. Therefore, we will "let him up easy" no need for discipline.

[Thomas Kearney]

(07-25-2016 11:31 AM)PaigeBooth Wrote:  

(07-25-2016 07:09 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  You look like you were having lots of fun there! Did you enjoy the rations?

Hi Bill,
Yes, we had a great time! The rations, called "hominy" was actually corn that had been soaked and washed. He served it to us in an old cloth sack and I took a few kernels. It was very crunchy with little flavor, but it really gave you an idea of what the soldiers had to eat. After giving us his rations, the soldier put the hominy back into his pocket and, from his other pocket, pulled out what looked like a small piece of brown, twisted rope. Having never seen anything like this, I had no idea what it was. It was tobacco! Jokingly, the Confederate soldier offered me some; I politely had to refuse his offer.
These men portraying the Cofederates were so into it, they were literally sleeping in those tents you saw in my photo all weekend, eating only their rations, and continued marching over the battlefield even though it was 90 plus degrees that day. They were really getting a feel for the life of a soldier and totally enjoying every moment of it. Did you happen to notice the expressions of their faces in the photo they took with me? They really got into character.
I will post another video clip of these men later for you to see more.

next time give the tobacco to me. I've had good chewing practice from sticking an entire Big League Chew bag in my mouth on my way back from my college visit to SUNY Oneonta.

[Eva Elisabeth]

The hominy sounds like corn flakes.

[L Verge]

Paige - If you were not shown the plugs and twists, then I apologize on behalf of a wayward or forgetful docent. They have been part of our tours since 1976. In fact, the then-county historian and his family traveled with my husband and daughter to Appomattox for a visit and found suppliers for both forms of the tobacco as well as the unique plug cutter. We have a great time with school groups. When we first ask them what the plug is, they think it's a brownie -- and then we let them smell it...

Since you say there was a purpose to the soldiers' pose, I will grant a Lincolnesque pardon. My husband, daughter and I were Confederate reenactors (8th Virginia, CSA) for over five years until life got in the way. I have all the respect in the world for the true reenactors on both sides who are striving to keep our history alive amid a time of great ignorance. I've done Gettysburg, New Market, and many others in 90+ heat as well as freezing temperatures, however, I never had the nerve to try camping on the ground. At first, we used a pop-up trailer, but it always managed to rain, which meant popping it back up when we got home to avoid mildew. My husband and I reached an agreement - he could reenact all he wanted, and I would join him in period dress on the distaff side, however, as for sleeping arrangements - nothing lower than Holiday Inn!

Thomas - I am not going to ask what possessed you to chew a whole bag at one time. A little pinch tucked in your jaw will suffice. I assume you took the tobacco out of its pouch before chewing? Just kidding...

Eva - Think wallpaper paste as far as grits are concerned or Cream of Wheat or Cream of Rice cereal - maybe like English porridge. Our supper hominy from a can was white and pasty also, but of larger kernels which you could actually make out as kernels of corn.

[Thomas Kearney]

Laurie, Big League Chew is a brand of shredded chewing gum meant to represent chewing tobacco. They come in different flavors. I had the strawberry flavor. It was UGE!!!!!!

---

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_League_Chew

This is Big League Chew

[L Verge]

Thanks for the education, Thomas. I did not know this. Is it designed to wean the would-be chewers away from tobacco?