Medal of Honor recipient Britt Slabinski and SR Historian in Residence Chris Mackowski
From Chris
Last October, Stevenson Ridge had the honor of hosting a true American hero: Britt Slabinski, the most recent recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Medal of Honor is “the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States.” Britt received the Medal of Honor in May …
from Chris
The holly bushes, full with red berries and blanketed with snow, gave us a quick flashback to Christmas during last weekend’s snowstorm!…
from Chris
All Civil War Trails led to Stevenson Ridge last month.
We were pleased to host a regional meeting of Civil War Trails, Inc. You probably recognize the distinctive Civil War Trails logo on their many roadside signs: a red trumpet with a blue bar and white stars, pointing the way to Civil War sites and wayside displays. “Follow the bugle,” the Trails say.
With more than 1,550 signs in five states—Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West …
from Chris
I come from northwest Pennsylvania, not too far from Punxsutawney, home of the world’s most famous weather-forecasting groundhog, so unusual weather customs are not so strange to me. The South has its own weather-related traditions, of course, including one intended to keep the skies clear and brides and grooms dry on their wedding day: burying the bourbon.
According to legend, if the bride and groom bury a bottle of bourbon upside down at the site of their wedding, …
from Chris
I always love the sense of possibility I feel when I walk into the Lodge and the room is arranged and the table linens are set for an event. Anything could happen. The event decorations have yet to appear, and people have yet to fill the room–both, in their ways, will transform the space. Right now, though, the room is a fresh, clean slate, waiting to become something special for someone. That in itself makes the room special. …
Army of the Potomac commander George Gordon Meade was nearly captured by Confederates on Myer’s Hill. A newspaper artist sketched the incident, “Narrow Escape of Genl Meade.”
from Chris
Our friends at the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) announced some big news recently: they’re saving a key piece of Civil War battlefield at Spotsylvania Courthouse that’s right across the street from Stevenson Ridge.
The property is known as Myer’s Hill, and it saw a lot of action on May 14, …
from Chris
The first faint blush of fall has crept into the leaves at the Ridge. We’re getting a few random yellow leaves blowing into the pond from the surrounding forest, but the trees directly around the pond are all still full green—except, that is, for a single small blush of dark crimson. See if you can spot it!
…
from Chris
Madeliza wrote last month about the great blue heron we’ve had along the pond’s edge this summer and fall. I had the chance today to watch him as he considered accommodations at the Riddick House.
…
from Chris
Here’s a splash of color for you, courtesy of the begonias growing in front of the Riddick House!
…
from Chris
I’ve written in the past of two wartime images that show the property that is now Stevenson Ridge. We’ve recently come across a third image that shows the property, and it’s the earliest image of the three.
Sketched on May 10, 1864—the same day that Thomas Greeley Stevenson was killed nearby–the image shows reinforcements from the Federal IX Corps marching down the Fredericksburg Road past the Gayle House toward the front. Artist Joseph Becker captured the scene for …