After visiting the farmers market in Manassas this morning, I went out to tromp the battlefield. The anniversary of the First Battle of Bull Run is coming up on July 21st.
This Stone House served as a field hospital during the two Bull Run/Manassas battles. The house was often in the midst of active fighting and changed hands at various times. Flags, like the red one in this photo, were placed in the windows to notify the belligerents that it was serving as a hospital.
One witness at the time of the first battle reported, “In this building were 32 wounded, many of them dreadfully mangled by cannon shot. There was but a single surgeon, and he was young and apparently inefficient. Men lay on the floor with their clotted wounds still undressed. Some had died and not been removed…”
Fascinating history tour as always! The narrative account by the witness reminds us of the senseless slaughter and suffering of war, and the Civil War was especially gruesome.
I came back because I'm still wondering how you managed to get such a very sharp image of the building in the forefront, as well as such a sharp and far ranging capture of the grounds behind it
@skstein Thanks, Sandy! I was actually quite a distance away from the house on the opposite Henry Hill. I zoomed in to get a close up of the building. The zooming in foreshortens the background and flattens out the distance between the house and the hill behind, so they're all in quite equivalent focus. This would not have worked if I was to close to the house.
