Category: Virginia history
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Geology and the Civil War
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Just about any aspect of Virginia history is intertwined with the Civil War, and geology is no exception. Pictured is the Catherine Furnace on Massanutten Mountain. Some of the pig iron used in Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond to manufacture cannons and other items for the Confederacy came out of this furnace.…
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This DEI Crackdown Goes Too Far
I fully support the move to purge woke gibberish from Department of Defense websites, but deleting historical sites is not the way to go about it. Unfortunately, that is precisely what happened to the Richmond Armory, believed to be the oldest armory for Black militia in the United States. A photo gallery of the armory in…
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Off the Interstate: Virginia Gold
by Dick Hall-Sizemore This solitary place name marker is next to an abandoned gas station in Fauquier County. Unlike other such markers that I have written about, this one is not on a back road; it is along heavily-traveled Rt. 17 between Fredericksburg and Warrenton. This marker is different in another respect: It merits an…
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Hey, Virginia Beach, Acknowledge THIS! — the Deep Dive Podcast
Lila Maverick and Jaxon Wilder, Bacon’s Rebellion’s AI-generated avatars courtesy of Google Notebook, conduct an amazing conversation based on my previous post, “Hey, Virginia Beach, Acknowledge THIS.” I hate to admit it, but their chat is better than the column it’s based on. All I can say is, Lila and Jaxon, please, please don’t take…
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Hey, Virginia Beach, Acknowledge THIS!
by James A. Bacon The City of Virginia Beach is crafting a statement to “acknowledge” the Native Americans who lived there before the English settlers. Last week a draft presented to City Council proclaimed: “We, the City of Virginia Beach, acknowledge that the present-day land on which this city exists is situated on lands that…
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Will Virginia Universities Stand up for Virginia History? Er… No.
by Don Smith Does America have state universities? Or does it have publicly funded universities that just happen to be located in a particular state? Theyโre not the same thing. Regular Baconโs Rebellion readers know that I have more than a passing interest in Confederate history and heritage. (Insert rolling-eyes emoji here). In January of 2023, Iโd just…
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Standing Up for T.J. … at UVA
๏ปฟ Want to learn about the whole Thomas Jefferson, not the slave-holding-rapist Jefferson taught at UVA? Go to Colonial Williamsburg and meet Jefferson reenactor Kurt Smith, urges Sidney Sebold, undergraduate winner of this year’s UVA Student Oratory Competition. Memorable quote: “My professors and fellow students taught me to hate founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson. ‘He…
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The Changes, They Are Here
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Now that the Presidential election is over, Virginians can do what we always do at this timeโstart seriously considering the next election. Jason Miyares has taken care of one big unknown; he has announced that he will run for reelection as Attorney General. For those of us who have been around Virginia…
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Why Stonewall Jackson Is Worth Remembering
by Donald Smith In early August, the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (FSNMP) placed a sign inside the Stonewall Jackson Death Site. Known to many people as the Jackson Shrine, it’s a plantation office building where Jackson died after being mortally wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville.ย The sign said this: “Stonewall Jackson led…
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George Wythe’s Leadership Training School
by James A. Bacon American conservatives revere the Founding Fathers of the American republic as exemplars of the classic virtues — for good reason — but our nostalgia for the past does have blind spots (and I’m not talking about just slavery, an evil that everyone acknowledges). We rarely remark upon the fact that leadership…
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Now They’re Going After Shrines
— The Virginia Council The Virginia Council is troubled by an ongoing initiative at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (FSNMP) to change its interpretation of Stonewall Jackson’s legacy at the Stonewall Jackson Death Site.ย Known to many Virginians by its old name, the Stonewall Jackson Shrine, the Death Site is the building where Jackson…
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Bacon and the Dragon
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Washington Post recently had a story on the original Bacon who led a rebellion in Virginia, and it was not flattering. For a long time, Nathaniel Bacon was depicted in Virginia history books and tradition as a romantic figure who led a rebellion against the unpopular English governor and planted the…
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Demolishing History: Black Hospital Edition
by Jon Baliles Virginia Union conducted a staged community meeting two weeks ago to feign concern over the fate of the former Richmond Community Hospital (RCH) so they can instead quickly get shovels in the ground to build new housing developments that they find more important than preserving a critical piece of the cityโs black…
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Un-Cancel Robert E. Lee
by Gibson Kerr Cancel culture is all about tearing things down. It is inherently destructive. It builds nothing. It creates nothing. It only destroys. Like the Vandals who destroyed Rome, cancel culture is destroying American culture. Systematically, it targets and eliminates Americaโs heroes. It is fueled by anger, bitterness, envy, and vindictiveness. It is the…