American Civil War Museum — Discovering Lives

Last night, I made a brief “trip report” to members of the Civil War Roundtable of the District of Columbia about a CWRDC-organized day trip to Richmond. About 10 of us boarded the train at Washington or Alexandria for what turned out to be a great day.

Here’s what we did:

Walked about a mile along the James River and Kanawha Canal. The canal (like the C&O and Alexandria Canals further north) was built in an attempt to circumvent the falls on the James River. The railroad pretty much doomed the canal system.
Visited Brown’s Island and its striking statuary. Used during the Civil War as a munitions site, it is now a recreational area with a huge Cinco de Mayo festival setting up when we were there.
Took a wooden boardwalk across the river, which has quotations in its flooring with different perspectives on the Federal entry into Richmond in April 1865.
Toured the American Civil War Museum on the grounds of the former Tredegar Iron Works, the largest such facility in the Confederacy.
Learned more about how enslaved and free Blacks, immigrant Whites, and true-believing White secessionists experienced the period.
Visited the “White House of the Confederacy” where Jefferson Davis and his family lived from 1861 to 1865.
Walked about 10,000 steps in total (various people’s step-counters gave slightly different accounts) to return to Richmond’s Main Street station for a 4:57 P.M. train home.

See below for a sampling of photos taken by me and other members of the group: