Battlefields

When I visit Washington, I usually go with a friend to one of the civil war battlefields in the area (we travel some distances - we spend a fascinating day in Gettysburg a few years ago). I recorded some videos of these visits

Manassas [Bull Run)] (VA)
Balls Bluff (VA)
Antietam [Sharpsburg] (MD)

But Britain has its interesting battlefields too. I have always lived in Central England - and so have been a frequent visitor to the sites of two of the most important battles in British History

Bosworth

The Battle that ended the War of the Roses, saw the death of Richard III and the start of the Tudor dynasty. The exact site of the battle was in doubt for many years - as the documentary evidence was open to a number of different interpretations. However a major archeological investigation has shown the actual site. Work was due to finish last week on the new outdoor interpretation and trail.

You can link to the website of the Bosworth Battlefield here.

The photograph on today's post is taken from the 1955 Laurence Olivier film of Shakespeare's Richard III. However Bosworth looks NOTHING like this. The film was shot in Spain. There are no mountains in the background of this green, rolling countryside in Leicestershire. As the Richard III Society would point out, that is probably one of the least of the inaccuracies of the play and film.

Naseby


The decisive battle of the English Civil War - in which the Parliamentary forces destroyed the main field army of King Charles I. It was fought on 14th June 1645.

Details of the project to enhance the visitors' facilities can be found here.

Commemorating Battles

2011 is the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War - and there will be a succession of commemorations of the great battles, and more localised ones.

Further details can be found via the following links
Fort Sumter
Manassas (Bull Run)
Balls Bluff

Today a House Resolution is to be considered under the "Suspensions" procedure in the House of Representatives - but the subject isn't a battle a mere century and a half ago. Instead H.Res. 1704 seeks to commemorate the Battle of Marathon - 2500 years ago! (490 BC).

An earlier Washminster post deal with one of the great English Civil War battles - Naseby.

A Walk Through Balls Bluff Battlefield

Further to the blog published yesterday about Balls Bluff, this video shows a walk through the battlefield site. Further details of the Ball's Bluff Battlefield Regional Park can be found here.

Balls Bluff

I wrote a post about the battle at Balls Bluff in August 2007. Press here to visit that description and explanation of the battle.

Last weekend I returned to the site, which has been much improved in terms of signs and clearing of undergrowth, that I last came to in 1999. The significance of the battle was not its size, but the death of Senator Baker - which led to the establishment of the congressional 'Committee on the Conduct of the War'. The tragedy of the battle is made clear as you look around the site. It was a pointless skirmish - which led to the deaths of 223 soldiers. A faulty intelligence report led Brig. General Charles Stone to send troops up the near cliff like sides of the Potomac. Trees were misidentified as a set of confederate tents. The battle involved close range firing in a wooded area. The Union force sent by Stone was virtually destroyed. A surviving casualty was Oliver Wendall Holmes, who become one of the greatest Supreme Court Judges.



The spot where senator Baker was shot and killed