The Battle of Bull Run

After zooming our way through Kentucky and West Virginia, Eli and I finally arrived in Manassas, Virginia, where we caught up with Uncle Charlie and Tanya for dinner. They then drove us out to the Manassas National Battlefield, which is the site of two civil war battles, including the first major land battle in the American Civil War - known as the First Battle of Bull Run.

 Eli had a great time racing around, from canon to canon and pretending that the long blade of grass he carried around was some sort of ballistic weapon. Obviously the magnitude of what had happened at this spot (more than 100 years ago) was lost on him, but I also found it hard to imagine that almost 850 people died in that first battle and there were more than 4000 that were wounded or captured.

Good thing we were then in a more peaceful time - we were even treated to a spectacular sunset!