Leaving Tomorrow

Well tomorrow is the big day. Ms. Edwards and I are heading to Virginia. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 8:20 am out of Manchester and we will arive in Baltimore at 9:45 AM. We are going to pick up our car and head to to Manassas National Battlefield Park.

I decided to do a little research about the Battle. The battle actually has two names. One for the Confederacy and one for the Union. The Confederacy called it the First Battle of Manasses and the Union called it the Battle of Bull Run. It was a one day battle that took place on July 21, 1861. The Confederacy used 32,500 trrops. They lost 1,982 (387 killed, 1,582 wounded and 13 missing. The Union army used 35,000 troops. They lost 2,896 (460 killed, 1,124 wounded and 1,312 captured/missing). The Confederacy was lead by General J.E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. The Union was lead by General Irvin McDowell.

This information was easy to look up on the computer at wikipedia.com

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I am looking forward to learning more information by touring the battlefield tomorrow and taking tons of pictures. Below is a photograph a map of Virginia that Ms. Edwards received from AAA. They highlighted our route for us.

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Below is a map of the whole state that I found at http://www.virginia.org/site/main.asp?referrer=virginia

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I also though that I would do a little research on Virginia itself. I found the following information at http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?FeatureID=139

Location: Located midway between New York and Florida, Virginia is the gateway to the South. It is also sometimes classified in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Commonwealth is bordered by Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, and Maryland to the north; the Atlantic Ocean to the east; North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; and West Virginia and Kentucky to the west. Geography: Western Virginia is mountainous, covered by the Allegheny and Blue Ridge mountains with the great Shenandoah Valley falling between the ranges. The central piedmont region, with its rolling hills, flattens out into the sandy coastal plain toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Climate: Mild with four distinct seasons
Area: 42,767 square miles Population: 6,872,900 in 1999 Major Industries: Manufacturing, exports, tourism, which accounted for $13.1 billion in 2000 - up from $12.4 billion in 1999 - and employed more than 200,000 workers, high technology and agriculture
Capital: Richmond (since 1780)
Popular Tourist Attractions: Western: Abingdon, Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Bristol, Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, Lexington, Luray Caverns, Natural Bridge, Roanoke, Shenandoah National Park, Shenandoah Valley, Skyline Drive, Staunton, Winchester
Central: Charlottesville and Monticello, Danville, Kings Dominion, Petersburg, Richmond
Northern: Alexandria, Arlington and Arlington National Cemetery, Fredericksburg and Fredericksburg National Battlefield Parks, Mount Vernon, Potomac Mills
Tidewater: Williamsburg area, including Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Williamsburg Pottery and Yorktown; Norfolk; Virginia Beach; and Chincoteague/Assateague on the Eastern Shore

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Well time to finalize everything and get a good nights sleep :)