Tom Barnes's Blog: Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog - Posts Tagged "manassas"

First Manassas: July 21, 1861
For this historical event we are preempting and delaying Prologue Part 6 for one week.

Tuesday July 16, 1861
Courier delivers secret note from Washington to Confederate General Beauregard in Northern Virginia. ‘Order issued McDowell to march on Manassas tonight.’

Showdown: Beauregard immediately notifies Rebel commanders to send, without delay, divisions to be positioned along the Bull Run.

‘The Goring Collection’
Followed by FBI agents, Sam Brannan drives to Manassas Park to plant a misleading microfiche. And while in the park, the Civil War buff thinks back to the first major battle of that war, The Battle of Manassas.
Excerpt from ‘The Goring Collection.’

‘The men eased out of the car, crossed the road and crouched behind some shrubbery. Then, with the benefit of night vision binoculars, they watched the lawyer’s every move.
As Sam walked among the monuments he thought about that warm July morning back in 1861. Union and Confederate Armies had been moving into the area for days and when word reached the Capital that the first major battle of the war was imminent, the Washington gentry packed their picnic baskets, hitched their teams, and drove to a hill overlooking Bull Run. Then after finding a spot, well out of harms way, they spread their lunches and settled in to watch the Union and Confederate Armies begin the fight that could resolve the, long festering, differences between the North and South.
Sam was familiar with the top generals involved, their battle strategies, and how it played out. He visualized the early probing attacks by the Union Divisions of Heintzelman, Porter, Burnside and Sherman as they moved their blue forces into position to confront Confederates Bartow, Bee and Evans. The dawn brought on an eerie silence while the two armies trooped to colors and companies moved into battle formation. But at a precipitous moment an eight-pound Parrot shot ripped across the Stone Bridge shattering the morning silence. The pageantry was startling as the men slowly moved up to point blank range and orders are given to fire at will. The scathing rattle of muskets begins and soldiers aim, fire and reload in a desperate effort to – kill or be killed. But as the battle wore on skirmish lines began to move with the ebb and flow of a restless wind while bodies piled up like cordwood and the pungent odor of gunpowder hung just above the fray.
Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson shades his eyes from the blinding sun, and observes the gray lines outnumbered two to one begin to waver. The general thrust his arm into the air and points as he urged Little Sorrel forward, leading his brigade out of the tall pines, and down Henry Hill. When Jackson and his men arrive the Confederate lines stiffen, and halt the Union avalanche. Then with bayonet and bravado the gray men turn the tide and chase the Union forces from the field.
And by the time picnickers packed their baskets and returned to Washington, the Confederates had won the battle. Stonewall Jackson was proclaimed the hero of Manassas and a legend was born.
Sam Brannan stood silently beside fallen General Bee’s Memorial and after a long moment of reflection removed Jacob’s twig from his pocket, eased around the Monument and wedged the microfilm into a crevice. Then as he turned away, and strolled up the path he mused over the cat and mouse game he was playing with his shadows. Sam chuckled when he recalled a spy operation dubbed “The Pumpkin Papers.” It became a defining moment in the Whitaker Chambers and Alger Hiss spy scandal, a subject that still gets a rise out of the lefties when it comes up at Washington cocktail parties.
Sam continued up the path, casually walked out of the park, got into the Lexus, and drove back to Washington.’

‘Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone.’
Researching a legend. Part 6
Rumors and gossip are as alive and well in Griffin as they are in Tombstone. When Doc Holliday’s name comes up in Tombstone it’s all about the OK Corral, who were the heroes and who were the villains? In Griffin it would likely be about John Henry and his cousin Mattie – Doc and Sister Mary Melanie. Was there a romantic relationship or not?
In my research, the paper trail of documents was easy, the long stories and rumors that had filtered down through generations with perhaps a hint of bias was more difficult to sort out.
Then you throw in the iconic author of ‘Gone With the Wind,’ Margaret Mitchell and her relationship, working or kin, with Sister Mary Melanie and you’ve got your work cut out for you.
One of the more plausible rumors floating around Griffin was that Margaret Mitchell named one of her main characters Melanie in ‘Gone With the Wind,’ after her cousin Sister Mary Melanie.
My thought at the time was, if there is any solid proof of a relationship between the two it will likely be found in Atlanta.’

When it comes to census and military records, the Atlanta Archives not only houses the records, but the staff doing the day-to-day work are both capable and cheerfully willing to assist researchers with their projects.
After I was shown how to access data I spent days going through census records of the Holliday family during the 1840’s, 50’s 60’s and 70’s. From those records I got a good idea about where the family members were located, their business activities and quite a lot about their daily lives.
On the military side I looked up the war records of Henry B. Holliday along with his brothers. I also looked up Mother Alice’s brothers, the McKey’s, and the Holliday’s adopted son Francisco E’Dalgo.
While I was there I took time to look up records of my great grandfather, Absolom Farrar and was surprised to learn that the war stories I’d heard when I was growing up were just about what the Archives had in their files.
I guess I could have spent months, not weeks digging into those files, but I had to maintain some kind of schedule. So I thanked the Archives staff for their help and moved on to the Atlanta Historical Society where I intended to look at Margaret Mitchell’s papers.
I was hoping to put some of the Griffin rumors to rest by finding a relationship between Ms. Mitchell and Sister Mary Melanie.
(To be continued)

Writers Notebook:
Writing about and describing a love scene and the possible aftermath -- a sex scene.
I got the idea for this writers tip from Tom Sawyer, head writer for ‘Murder She Wrote’ last Saturday afternoon when he spoke to a writers group meeting.
Tom’s general theme was how to keep a story alive, and in a word it’s conflict. But when it comes to the aforementioned love scene and possible aftermath that kind of scene becomes quite the opposite to conflict.
Tom Sawyer’s comment was well taken, but the actual tip came from Elizabeth Benedict in ‘Ten Tips for better Sex Scenes,’ where she says. ‘Writing about sex in fiction is different from writing about harpooning a whale; it’s safe to assume that your readers have had a good bit of experience with the former and almost none with the latter. We don’t need a thorough report on the hydraulics unless they’re relevant to your character’s state of mind and your stories larger concerns…’

However, if you want to do a little research into the hydraulics, to use Elizabeth Benedict’s term, of the act itself you might want to read a couple of Harold Robbins novels.

Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
www.TomsHurricanes.com