In two weeks we officially open our books at All-Access Battlefield Tours. I cannot express how excited I am about this project, nor convey how much work it is to open a small business. Requirements include securing a National Park Service permit, commercial liability insurance, guest waivers, custom wheelchairs, portable ramps, guide-shirts, battlefield maps, handouts, a website, brochures, vehicle magnets, and of course press releases, media promotions, and advertising. We are the first and only Civil War battlefield tour service in the country to exclusively cater to wheelchair travelers and the support that we have received thus far has been extraordinary. Look for upcoming articles on us in The Free Lance-Star, Civil War Traveler (VA), the Civil War Trust website, and more.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking some visiting friends and their children down to the Sunken Road at the Fredericksburg Battlefield for an impromptu tour. They were familiar with the movie I produced with Clint Ross, The Angel of Marye’s Heights, and wanted to see the actual site where Richard Kirkland’s act took place. Two of my younger children joined two of theirs and this was the first time that I had a group of kids in attendance that were 10 or younger.

We began our journey at the Visitors Center so the boys could see the guns. (Boys like guns and swords more than anything else on earth.) After a brief explanation of the battle, we all took a page from the Von-Trap Family and hiked up the steep hill to the National Cemetery. Once there, I introduced the kids to General Humphrey’s statue and the Washington Artillery’s cannon. Everyone in our group was immediately stuck by the sheer number of headstones and equally impressed with the view from the heights towards the city. I was very pleased with the children’s attention span and astonished at how many good questions they asked.

The fact that the adults on this trip were outnumbered by children presented me with a unique challenge as a guide. At the same time you are trying to tell the story to your peers, you must find a way to incorporate “cool stuff” for the kiddos. The Innis House or original sections of the stone wall aren’t very exciting to a child, but when you point out the bullet holes in them, they suddenly become captivating. The depiction of damage seemed to grab the kid’s attention. I found this to be true throughout the tour. From the museum's diorama of the city in ruins, to the destruction photos on the tabletops and battle scars on the standing relics, the sheer destruction of this event really had an impact on the kids.

To think that a bunch of adults would kill and destroy everything in sight has to be a little overwhelming and a tad scary too. What I really found striking was how these kids (50% southern and 50% northern) never once implied that there was a good or bad guy in this fight, or interjected their own partisanship or politics into the discussion. They never once insinuated that their lineage was nobler in their chosen cause than the opposing army’s, or accused their counterpart’s ancestors of practicing treason or tyranny. They simply absorbed the history.

It was refreshing to say the least and perhaps 'we adults' could learn a lesson from our kids... Shut up. Listen. Learn.

This week I foolishly attempted to participate in a debate over the 1997 decision to include women cadets at the Virginia Military Institute. Personally, I’m all for it. VMI is a top-notch school and if any of my daughters wanted to attend there, I would encourage them. Not surprising, Old Virginia Blog’s regulars quickly revealed their own chauvinistic-insecurities by stating among other things that VMI's gender-normaling was quote: “an in-your-face affront to God's Design.”

Who talks like that in 2011? I should have realized that these gentlemen are quite set in their ways and could have saved a lot of mental energy if I just walked away. As irritating as it was, this discussion got me thinking about the combat role that some women have played, specifically during the Revolutionary War.

Deborah Samson of Plympton, Massachusetts disguised herself as a young man and enlisted in the Continental Army in October of 1778. She remained for the whole term of the war under the name Robert Shirtliffe and served in the company of Captain Nathan Thayer of Medway, Massachusetts. For three years Deborah acted in various combat capacities and was wounded twice, the first time by a sword slash to the head and later, by a shot through the shoulder. Amazingly, she was able to keep her true sexual identity hidden until she fell ill with a severe brain fever that was sweeping across the army. The attending physician, Dr. Binney of Philadelphia, discovered that 'he' was a 'she,' but did not reveal the charade. After the war Deborah married Benjamin Gannett of Sharon and they had three children together.

Molly Pitcher (pictured above) is a familiar legendary figure of the American Revolution although there is no proof that she actually existed. Her story is associated with the Battle of Monmouth and since 1876, she has been tentatively identified with a woman veteran of the war, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, who lived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. We do know that Margaret Corbin stepped up to the artillery during the attack on Fort Washington after her husband fell by her side and unhesitatingly performed his duties.

Sisters Rachel and Grace Martin disguised themselves as men and assailed a British courier and his guards. They then took his important dispatches, which they speedily forwarded to General Greene. Nancy Morgan Hart, another dedicated patriot, managed to kill British soldiers who invaded her cabin in Georgia. Mary Hagidorn, upon hearing the order by a Captain Hager, for the women and children to retire to the long cellar, said: “Captain, I shall not go to that cellar should the enemy come. I will take a spear which I can use as well as any man and help defend the fort.” She then did.

The following is a letter I sent to the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors in support of the Civil War Trust's plans to purchase the abandoned GM Powertrain plant adjacent to the Slaughter Pen Farm. I encourage everyone to voice their support and help retrieve and protect this pivotal part of the Fredericksburg Battlefield.

August 8, 2011

Benjamin T. Pitts

Chairman

Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors

Post Office Box 99

Spotsylvania, VA 22553

Dear Chairman Pitts,

I would like to take this occasion to voice my absolute support for the proposed purchase of the General Motors Powertrain plant on Tidewater Trail by the Civil War Trust. As a Civil War author, guide and documentary filmmaker, I am well aware of the historical significance of this location. The fact that we now have a chance to properly preserve it during the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War presents the County with a tremendous opportunity.

As a local small-business owner providing battlefield tours to wheelchair travelers and disabled veterans, I rely on the continued protection of our region’s hallowed grounds. The Slaughter Pen Farm — just northwest from the GM plant — is one of the most pristine and unique spots on any of our area’s battlefields. Visitors routinely comment on how it is one of the few remaining places where they can truly “go back in time.” Together with the GM site, which the Civil War Trust plans to restore to its 1862 appearance, Spotsylvania County will have a true cultural — and economic — treasure, complete with interpretive signage and walking trails. This investment will further showcase our area as a historical gem while strengthening our visitation numbers.

I understand that since GM closed the plant last year, there has been little to no interest by other commercial entities to purchase it. Unfortunately, there is simply no market for large industrial structures in this economy. By razing the abandoned plant and transforming the property into a new destination park, the Civil War Trust estimates that this will translate into $1.2 million in heritage tourism benefits to the county per year.

This purchase appears to me to be the right decision on all counts — for our historical and economic benefit alike. Spotsylvania County has a wonderful opportunity to expand on its already stellar draw in heritage tourism and, at the same time, boost the many local businesses which rely on the visitors to our historic sites for our well-being. In today’s economy, we must embrace what sets us apart from other places and find ways to capitalize on them. Allowing the Civil War Trust to buy and restore the GM property is exactly what Spotsylvania needs.

Sincerely,

Michael Aubrecht

All-Access Battlefield Tours

www.pinstripepress.net/AABT.html

On a clear winter's day, you can hike to the top of Marye’s Heights at the Fredericksburg battlefield and see all the way to Stafford County. In the fall, the brightly colored trees that line the walking trails at Chancellorsville and The Wilderness vibrate with color, while springtime reveals an ocean of wildflowers at Spotsylvania. They are romantic places to visit to say the least, like walking through a picture postcard.

Unfortunately these peaceful and serene settings are a façade that make it far too easy to forget that at the time of the American Civil War, these were not nice places to be. In fact, they were terrifying, and nauseating, and covered in the putrid stench of battle. A living nightmare would be more accurate, drenched in the grotesqueness of death and destruction.

Touring Civil War battlefields means walking among the dead. Therefore we must consciously remind ourselves from time to time that the beauty surrounding us is misleading. It is essential that we recall what really happened and never forget that the men who fought and died here baptized the soil with their blood.

As the country acknowledges the war's 150th anniversary more people will visit these hallowed grounds than ever before. It is our job to convey what made them worthy of our memory in the first place. In doing so, we must remind visitors that although our battlefields are beautiful; the war that took place on them was ugly.

We all want our guests to appreciate the surroundings.
We also want them to appreciate the sacrifice.

Dunker Church photo by Michael Aubrecht

Last night I had a great conversation with a historian friend of mine over the economic crisis in Washington DC, or as he called it, an EPIC FAIL on behalf of our government. He is a freelance political journalist who often covers White House events and although he didn’t cover this train-wreck, he did pen an editorial that will hopefully get some play in the local papers. One topic that came up during our discussion was how this debt-ceiling debacle would be recorded historically and even more importantly, how would it be ‘spun’ in order to make America look less like the disappointment we have become.

After all, isn’t that what we have done in this country? We manipulate, revise, and ignore our true history in order to present a more appealing heritage that we all can live with. Ask a foreigner from any other country what we think about American history and they will likely say we are full of bullshit. Frankly, it looks like we’ve been trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes for generations and now that we live in the Age of Information, it’s harder to pull off. Several bloggers have brilliantly summarized the dishonesty that exists in our historical memory and what we must do to overcome it:

“[Thomas] Jefferson's story reminds us that history is complicated. As Christians, we must always remember that there are no heroes in history. …History reminds us that when we put our confidence in people, whether they lived in the past (such as the founding fathers) or live in the present, we are likely to be inspired by them, but we are just as likely to be disappointed.” – John Fea, author of Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?

“I believe we can honor our ancestors for their admirable qualities and their misdeeds, without needing them to be infallible or blameless. I believe we can look at atrocities and injustices honestly, whether perpetrated by the victors or the vanquished …and start taking responsibility to give an honest appraisal of the evidence of history and its legacy today.” – Tim Abbott, “Pride and Shame 150 years after the Fact,” Walking the Berkshires

“Therein lies the danger of American exceptionalism. It discourages compromise, for what God has made exceptional, man must not alter. And yet clearly America must change fundamentally or continue to decline. It could begin by junking a phase that reeks of historical arrogance and discourages compromise. ‘American exceptionalism’ ought to be called ‘American narcissism.’ We look perfect only to ourselves.” – Richard Cohen, Washington Post

To acknowledge our faults and failures as a nation (past and present) is not at all unpatriotic, nor does it mean that we hate our country. It’s simply acknowledging the truth. As historians should we not question the lives and legacies of those who came before us? Isn't that the whole point of research and analysis? In recent years I have, albeit painfully at times, come to accept that it doesn’t matter if we like the answers we may find. What matters is that we find them.